Patient Support Corps

FM headshot_2_cropFelisha Marques is a project manager at the Health Decision Sciences Center. She oversees the  Patient Support Corps program. In addition, she oversees activities and is responsible for progress and supervision of SDM implementation efforts across the Massachusetts General Brigham System, clinician training efforts, decision aid delivery and feedback, and oversees research coordinators, staff and interns.

 

 

Brittney Mancini is a clinical research coordinator at the Health Decision Sciences Center.

She supports the PSC program management including student training, patient scheduling, and developing tools to improve the program workflow.

 

 

 

 

Jai Khurana is co-president of the Patient Support Corps. Jai was a member of the program’s inaugural cohort of volunteers as a first-year. Since then, he has helped lead the program. He works carefully to support patients and help them develop key questions before their doctor appointments through engaging conversations. He also hopes to encourage patients to feel more comfortable and prepared for their appointment. As a leader, Jai is motivated to train new volunteers and innovate the program to improve access and care for as many patients as possible.

Jai is an undergraduate and member of Harvard College Class of 2024. He concentrates in History of Science while pursuing a concurrent master’s degree in Chemistry.

 

Karina Mahida is co-president who is passionate about fostering conversations and supporting patients from any and all backgrounds.

Karina works with patients to develop question lists for doctor’s appointments. She is interested in increasing accessibility to healthcare in underserved communities while still maintaining patient-centered care.

Karina is a member of the Harvard College Class of 2025. She is studying Molecular & Cellular Biology with a secondary in Global Health and Health Policy on the pre-med track.

   Lani Tran is an undergraduate researcher working with the MGH Patient Support Corps. She is a rising sophomore at Harvard College (Class of 2026) planning to concentrate in Biomedical Engineering with a secondary in Computer Science.

At Harvard College, Lani works as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) through CrimsonEMS. She hopes to pursue a career in emergency medicine. She wants to help those who seek immediate attention and aren’t regularly able to receive it due to barriers.

Richard Zhu is a Patient Support Corps intern at the MGH Health Decision Sciences Center. He helps patients access online resources and come up with questions that help them receive better care and guidance from their physician. He is passionate about public health, patient advocacy, and improving the ways in which medicine is delivered.

Richard is a member of the Harvard College Class of 2026. He intends to pursue a joint concentration between Statistics and Neuroscience.

Sneha Yelamanchili is a Patient Support Corps volunteer at the MGH Health Decision Sciences Center. She believes that healthcare that is accessible and intelligible is fundamental to human wellbeing and hopes to support patients in navigating an often complex and confusing healthcare system. By helping patients prepare for their appointments and reflect on their health goals, she aims to improve patients’ healthcare experiences and support informed health decision-making.

Sneha is a member of the Harvard College Class of 2026. She plans to study Anthropology and Applied Math: Biology.

Sophia Lerebours, a dedicated member of the Patient Support Corps, offers assistance to patients in their journey by aiding them in preparing for medical appointments and guiding them through the intricacies of the healthcare system.

She is interested in addressing racial disparities and medical accessibility, especially pertaining to language barriers and virtual health services.

Sophia is prospectively concentrating in Statistics or Integrative Biology with a secondary in Global Health and Health Policy.

Yewon Lee is an undergraduate Patient Advocate with the Massachusetts General Hospital Support Corp. Her priority as an advocate is assisting patients to break down complexities involved with healthcare, especially in framing precise questions early in the clinical process through meaningful conversation. Yewon is also interested in pharmacological access policy, drug development, and advocating for vulnerable populations including children and rural communities.

Yewon is a member of the Harvard Class of 2026 concentrating in Chemistry.

Ankita Patil is a member of the Patient Support Corps and is passionate about empowering others to make informed healthcare decisions.

She is committed to tackling health disparities and believes that patient autonomy is a cornerstone of healthcare. Through PSC, she is eager to support patients as they navigate through the complexities of the healthcare system.

Ankita is a research fellow at Brigham & Women’s Hospital where her work focuses on incarceration and trauma-informed healthcare.

Cielo Echegoyen is a volunteer at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Patient Support Corp program by the Health Decision Science Center. She assists patients in preparing questions for their doctor’s appointment(s) and ensures patient access to educational materials. She works with English and Spanish-speaking patients.

Cielo is passionate about eliminating health disparities. She is an undergraduate student at Harvard College (class of 2025) majoring in Molecular and Cell Biology on the pre-medical track, and aspires to become an oncologist.

Izumi Vázquez is a patient support corps volunteer at the MGH Health Decision Sciences Center. Izumi is committed to providing patient-centric, accessible, and culturally informed care, particularly for medically underserved Spanish-speaking communities. She strongly believes active patient involvement in their own care is vital to clinical decision making and improves health outcomes.

Izumi supports patients by listening to their health concerns, connecting them to helpful resources, and curating comprehensive question lists to help ensure they are prepared for and comfortable at their upcoming doctor’s appointments.

Izumi is a member of the Harvard Class of 2025. She is pursuing a concentration in History of Science, secondary in Global Health and Health Policy, and citation in Spanish on the pre-med track.

Kaeo Kekumano is a member of Patient Support Corps where he helps patients prepare for their doctor appointments and navigate the healthcare system.

He is particularly passionate about indigenous health and helping other underserved populations access high quality health care. Chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes, which disproportionately affect native peoples are one of his main medical interests.

Kaeo is from O’ahu, Hawaii and is currently an undergraduate studying Human Developmental and Regenerative Biology at Harvard with a language citation in Chinese.

Benjamin Chun is a member of the Patient Support Corps and is passionate about helping patients from all walks of life.

His interests include improving accessibility to healthcare, promoting patient engagement, and supporting a patient-centered approach to medicine.

He is currently a member of the Harvard College Class of 2023 and is concentrating in Integrative Biology.

Katherinne Fox is a patient support corps volunteer at the MGH Health Decision Sciences Center. Her passions lie in bridging health gaps across communities in hopes that everyone will have access to affordable and high-quality healthcare regardless of background.

She works with patients to curate question lists with the aim for patients to feel more comfortable for upcoming visits. Additionally, she transcribes doctor’s appointments so that patients can make the most informed decision for themselves and their health.

Katherinne is a member of the Harvard College Class of 2025 and is concentrating in Neuroscience.

Claire Yuan is a member of the Patient Support Corps. She supports patients as they navigate the healthcare system, helping them draft questions and articulate concerns to prepare for doctor’s appointments. She is interested in addressing health disparities and hopes that her work with the Corps will have a positive impact on patients.

Claire is a member of the Harvard College Class of 2025. She is still undecided on her major.

Krisha Patel is an undergraduate volunteer with the Patient Advocacy Support Group, excited to be promoting patient engagement and autonomy.

She helps patients develop more targeted questions for their doctors and feel more comfortable with their healthcare experiences. Krisha is interested in leveraging computational medicine techniques to deliver more culturally competent, patient-centered care, with a particular focus on pediatric neurodevelopment, neurodiversity, and disability.

She is a member of the Harvard College Class of 2025, and is studying Computer Science and Chemical/Physical Biology.

PSC Alumni

Anagha Kumar is a Patient Support Corps intern at the Health Decision Sciences Center. Through the Patient Support Corps, she helps patients navigate their appointment and clarify their questions and objectives while providing emotional support along the way. She also helped found the Harvard volunteer chapter and train new student interns.

She is interested in promoting patient-centered care, aiding with innovations to geriatric healthcare, and supporting patients throughout their healthcare journey.

Anagha is a member of Harvard College class of 2021 majoring in Neuroscience and the History of Science.

Akila Muthukumar is head Patient Support Corps intern at the Health Decision Sciences Center where she helps patients prepare questions before their appointment by listening to their concerns and needs. She also helped found the Harvard volunteer chapter and train new student interns.

She is interested in promoting effective communication at all levels of patient-centered care and enjoys bioethics research, with a particular interest in elevating the health of chronically ill patients and underserved populations of women, children, or non-English speakers.

Akila is a member Harvard College class of 2023 majoring in Human Developmental and Regenerative Biology and English.

Chaimaa Mansour Hossaini is a member of the Patient Support Corps.
Through both medicine and public health, she strives to bring all the patients she interacts with the best quality care now as an undergraduate and later as a prospective physician. Utilizing these techniques to provide best quality care, Chaimaa aims to aid underserved populations that have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chaimaa is a junior majoring in Biology and minoring in Sociology and Chemistry at Suffolk University.

Abby Obeng-Marnu is an undergraduate Patient Advocate with the Massachusetts General Hospital Patient Support Corps. She works with patients to develop question lists for their upcoming doctors’ appointments. She has many interests from investigating health disparities and health literacy to neurodevelopment disorders and maternal health.
Abby is a member of the Harvard College Class of 2023. She is concentrating in Neurobiology with a secondary in Linguistics, on the pre-med track.

Jason Shen is a patient support corps volunteer at the MGH Health Decision Sciences Center. He supports patients by conducting pre-visit interviews and by transcribing patient visits with their physicians. Through these two methods, Jason seeks to improve the overall experience of patients by helping them articulate their concerns while relieving them of the burden to remember the details of their visit.
Jason is a member of the Harvard College Class of 2022. He is studying Neuroscience with a secondary in Philosophy.

Cindy Wang is an undergraduate researcher working with the Health Decisions Sciences Center as a volunteer for the Patient Advisory Student Group. She supports efforts to help patients better organize their medical appointments and navigate the complex healthcare system.
She is interested in enhancing the healthcare interface for physicians, patients and families, especially those in under-resourced areas, such that patients feel support and empathy while physicians and researchers can employ effective decision aids and more intuitive data collection to spur future innovations in medicine.
Cindy is a sophomore at Harvard College, concentrating in Statistics and Computer Science with a secondary in Global Health and Health Policy and seeking a citation in Spanish.

Ausubel is an Oncology Patient Navigator for MGH and a member of the Patient Support Corps at the Health Decision Sciences Center. He supports patients with appointment preparations, accompanies, and finding supportive resources within the Mass General Brigham system.
He is interested in promoting universal access to world-class healthcare, improving patient-provider communication, and translational medicine research.

Ausubel is a graduate student of bioethics at Harvard Medical School.

Luke Tomes is thrilled to be an undergraduate member of the Patient Advocacy Support Group. His goal is to help patients feel supported and more equipped for their appointments at MGH. Luke assists patients by listening to their concerns, connecting them to information relevant to their condition, and ensuring they are prepared for medical visits with comprehensive question lists.

A member of the Harvard Class of 2024, Luke studies Government and Economics while on the pre-med track.

 

Mridula (Mally) Shan is an undergraduate Patient Advocate with the MGH Patient Support Corps. She is passionate about making healthcare facilities and their resources more accessible and manageable for patients via shared decision making processes. She strongly believes that it is important for patients to be supported in all aspects of their healthcare and that they are properly informed before making critical choices about their treatments.

Outside of the Patient Support Corps, Mally conducts translational genetics research regarding protein-DNA interactions, investigates CyberSecurity applications to secure healthcare systems and manages the Harvard Premedical Society’s Arts & Literary Magazine, Prescriptions.

She is a member of the Harvard College Class of 2025. She is concentrating in Human Developmental and Regenerative Biology with a secondary in Global Health and Health Policy.