Deans' Lecture Series

“Getting to Know Your Neighbors: A Local Approach to Global Health”
Amad Amedy is a fourth-year medical student at Vanderbilt University with a passion for immigrant and refugee health, mentorship, and global health equity. Born in Guam after his family fled Kurdistan, he was raised in Nashville’s Kurdish refugee community and graduated from Overton High School before earning a Bachelor of Arts in Neuroscience at Wesleyan University. Prior to medical school, he completed a Fulbright Research Scholarship in Barcelona, Spain where he studied schizophrenia. At Vanderbilt, he has served as mentorship director of our Social Mission Committee, co-lead for Chapman College, and co-president of the HEART organization. During medical school, Amad has worked closely with his Kurdish community both locally and abroad, recently completing a global health rotation in Kurdistan. Since coming back, he has partnered with Vanderbilt’s Global Health Institute to help support international students visiting Vanderbilt. With a Certificate in Health Equity and Global Health, Amad hopes to advocate for a more inclusive approach to global health, grounded in the belief that meaningful change can begin with our local communities.

“Robots, Jellies, Kids”
Anish Sarma is a third-year VUSM medical student from Plainsboro, NJ. Prior to medical school, he worked in control engineering and control theory with applications in the life sciences. These applications included the development of intracortical brain-computer interfaces and the basic science of regeneration in moon jellies (jellyfish). Clinically, he hopes to work in pediatrics, with a particular interest in disorders of the immune system. He completed a Ph.D. at Caltech in 2022.

“Shifting System, Changing Culture: Community Engagement & Partnership for Health Equity”

Wylie Liu is the Assistant Vice Chancellor for the Center for Community Engagement and Anchor Institution Mission at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). In this role, she convenes, facilitates, and influences community-academic-healthcare partnerships, with a focus on advancing health equity. Her work encompasses community-engaged research, healthcare, education, and economic inclusion, all aimed at advancing health equity and community impact.

With a career spanning multiple sectors—including health systems, local public health departments, community-based organizations, and international non-governmental organizations – Wylie has consistently worked at the intersection of healthcare, community health and community development. Her efforts have been dedicated to elevating the voice of communities and promoting inclusive approaches that cultivate equitable health outcomes.

Originally from Southeast Asia, Wylie earned her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley. She holds a Master of Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a Master of Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.