Hera is medical student at California Northstate University and a clinical research fellow at UC Davis and Integrative Skin Science and Research. She is actively pursuing a medical education and career that focuses on integrative, whole body health, and developing her own understanding and research on the needs of modern population of diverse peoples and unique solutions that work and are safe for use. She is committed to finding the bridge between hard evidence-based science and compassionate patient centered care throughout her medical education. She has interests in cultural shifts that investigate meaning in medicine and medical education as she has been active participant in meditation programs, was on the Wellness Committee, and was a student director of “Healer’s Art” program at her medical school, and is 40-hour training certified Domestic Violence Issues Advocate for the My Sister’s House (a culturally competent program for Asian and Pacific Islander advocacy for those impacted by domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking). Another major research project she undertook was investigation of the Gut-Brain-Immunity connection through looking at modulation of T cell function by serotonin. She also has experience working in the bioengineering industry working with 3D tissue engineering, 3D cell cultures, cellulosic biofuel research.

Hera is from Manhattan, Kansas or “The Little Apple,” and went to UC Berkeley for undergraduate education. She is currently living in Sacramento for medical school and a research year. She plans on pursuing a career in dermatology with interests in integrative approaches and differences in dermatopathology in ethnic skin.