Madeleine Babb, President

Hello everyone! My name is Madeleine Babb and I am the President here at PreMedCC. I started my academic career at Santa Barbara City College where I majored in Biological Sciences and worked as a Tutor for Biology and Precalculus classes. I also served as President of the SBCC Biology Club and Secretary for the Pre-Med Club. I then transferred to University of California, Los Angeles and graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology and minor in Genetics and Society. I recently took the MCAT and am starting two gap years working as a Mohs surgery histology technician before starting medical school. My ultimate goal is to pursue a medical career specializing in either dermatology or obstetrics. I am very excited to be at PreMedCC and I am eager to assist other current or former community college students in reaching their goals!

Trinity Papamandjaris, Executive Vice President

My name is Trinity Papamandjaris and I am from London, Ontario, Canada. I am entering into my third year of university at the University of Guelph. I am studying biomedical science. I am also a varsity athlete on the women’s basketball team. My family is pretty small since I don’t have any siblings. I live with both of my parents, who are chefs, as well as my two dogs Kobe and Luna. My hobbies include tennis, cooking, and reading mostly fantasy novels.

My professional goal is to become a doctor. The two fields that interest me most are emergency medicine and surgery. I am not quite sure which will suit me best but hopefully through experience I can find which field I am most passionate about. I also volunteer with the Canadian Red Cross as a personal disaster volunteer. That means that I help families in my community cope with emergencies such as house fires and floods. 

Other causes that are important to me are animal rights and social justice. I support animal rights by maintaining a vegetarian diet. I also volunteer with animal rescue organizations and local dog shelters when I can. As for social justice, I do my best to learn from others and to be an active ally for minorities in my community.

Two personal goals of mine are to learn sign language and to volunteer abroad. I would love to learn sign language to improve accessibility in health care. Finally, volunteering abroad would give me a more profound understanding of the daily life of people around the world.

Jovana Vincent, Programming 

Hey everyone, my name is Jovana Vincent and I am a sophomore at St. Joseph’s High School in  Kerala, India. I’m interested in the medical field and intend to become a doctor. Some fun facts about me is that I have been learning classical music for over 9 years and I am a professional singer. I have also learned Bharatnatyam a classical dance form for a couple of years. I spend a lot of my time listening to music and podcasts, playing piano, watching medical shows and dramas, cooking and by hanging out with my loved ones. I really like to socialize. My favorite T.V shows are Hospital playlist and Descendants of the sun. And lastly my favorite colour is lavender.

Giselle Pineda, Vice President of Social Media

My name is Giselle Pineda. I come from a Salvadorian background but was born and raised in New Jersey, USA. I am a First-Generation student at Seton Hall University, which means I am the first in my family to ever attend college and am pursuing a double major in Biology and Catholic Studies. I plan on becoming a Physician Assistant specialized either in pediatrics or family medicine. I am currently working in the healthcare field as a National and New Jersey State certified EMT volunteering for the local first aid squad. My hobbies include drawing/painting, reading, and hiking or taking long walks. Here at PMCC I am one of five chiefs in the PR/Outreach team which means I work alongside my team to create flyers, announcements, emails, posts etc. in order to connect and spread the work about our events.

Minh Ngoc Nyugen, Vice President of Creative Design

My name is Minh Ngoc Nguyen. I’m a sophomore student at the Honors College at the University of Houston majoring in Biochemistry. After college, I plan to go to dental school and become an orthodontist. 

I’m also a freelance graphic designer and graphic design teacher at Skillshare. I started self-studying graphic design when I was in high school and it soon became one of my passions in life. It is the summer of 2020 when I began teaching graphic design online on Skillshare. So far, I have published two courses with over 530 students from all over the world. My curiosity fuels me to learn new things and I love to share my knowledge with people like-minded.

Also, I’m the co-founder of Bluei Studio, an online store selling high-quality digital products for high school and college students. Our team strives to provide specially designed products for students at an affordable price. Besides, I’m the co-founder and social media manager for The Best Gift Giver, a website that provides gift ideas for all occasions to your loved ones. My role is to design graphics for the website as well as social media posts and edit TikTok videos.

Lucia Rivera, Creative Design

Hi, my name is Lucía Rivera and I am a Latina first-year undergraduate student from San Diego, California. While I am a pre-med student and Biology major, I am also passionate about healthcare disparities, environmental causes, and racial equity. In my spare time I enjoy volunteering, reading, crocheting, cooking, and gardening! I hope to one day help improve healthcare for underserved communities as a pediatric medical doctor, potentially within an internal medicine sub-specialty.

Hello, my name is Veronica Villasenor I was born in Salinas, California to immigrant farm-worker parents and raised in Orange County, California. I am a first generation Mexican-American college graduate and in 2023 I am applying to medical school. I graduated from Northern Arizona University with a Business Degree in 2016. In 2017 I started post bach pre-med courses made possible through the local community colleges, Chandler-Gilbert, Mesa and Gateway Community College. 
For the past 15 years, I have worked as an interpreter and paralegal assisting asylum applicants and immigrants in Arizona. During this time, I began engaging in public service by leading an organization called the V-Program dedicated to increasing Autism awareness and expanding volunteer opportunities in my local Spanish speaking community. I also volunteer as a Scribe with Street Med in Phoenix, a community based organization helping doctors and medical students provide individualized care to members of our community struggling with their unmet medical needs. I’m excited to now take part in PreMedCC’s important mission and hopefully help out individuals with facts that resemble mine. 
In my free time I enjoy cooking healthy vegan meals, powerlifting, and hanging out with my 3 dogs Hobbs, Sees, and Kish and cat CousinLe. 

Ali Esseili
Hello! My name is Ali Esseili. I was born in Queens, New York, but raised in Dearborn, Michigan. I am currently studying biochemistry at the University of Michigan-Dearborn and expect to graduate in 2024. After graduating, I plan on attending medical school. Having worked for a year in an ear, nose, and throat clinic, I am leaning towards being an otolaryngologist, however, I’m certain my experiences in med school will expose me to unexplored and interesting specialties. I am an avid movie watcher, an extreme football fan, and enjoy playing volleyball whenever I can. As an Arab-American, I hope to use my knowledge and experiences to give back to my community as well as other minority groups in hopes to aid and empower them. I am currently studying for the MCAT and hope that by joining this awesome team, I can do my part to help spread the company name and reach students that need guidance, and direct them to our wonderful resources.

Arad Arasteh
My name is Arad, and I was born and raised in Iran. I moved to the United States around four years ago. I started my academic journey at Chandler-Gilbert Community College in Arizona (CGCC), where I majored in Biological Sciences and worked as a Peer Success Coach. I got an Associate Degree in Arts and an Associate Degree in Science from CGCC. I am now a third-year Arizona State University student majoring in Biological Sciences with an emphasis on Cell Bio and Genetics. I am currently on a pre-med route, and my career goal is to become a primary care physician. I am in the process of taking my MCAT, and I am planning to apply to medical schools in the upcoming application cycle. 

Esha Singh
Hi everyone, my name is Esha Singh and I am currently a sophomore at American River College in Sacramento, California where I’m a Psychology major, and transferring for my Junior year. Although my heart has always been set on medicine I have had a variety of jobs ranging from coffee shops to law offices and currently, volunteering at Mercy General Hospital. Volunteering has opened up different parts of medicine to me and gives me a larger role of responsibility such as mentoring and patient care. Sophomore year of high school I started taking college courses through an Early College program. I benefited from the challenges I faced and truly enjoyed my time there. I was also a part of Broadcast Media which helped me channel my creativity into different outlets now including PreMedCC. Being a pre-med student I am always kept busy so when I do have free time I like to hang out with friends and family, travel with my dog, and try out new things. Recently I took up archery and although it has been a struggle I am looking forward to learning more about the sport. Some medical fields that interest me are neurology, emergency medicine, and pediatrics. I am interested in different diseases that not only affect our body but also, more neurologically, our minds. Growing up I was always surrounded by cousins in addition to my younger sister and I think that is a big reason I am drawn to peds. I hope to help change the future of medicine by helping everyone feel heard and seen as well as taking risks that work towards positive outcomes. I am excited to be a part of PreMedCC and cannot wait to complete my goals.

Jazelle Flores
Hi, I’m Jazelle Flores and I’m from Mountain View, Ca. I graduated from Foothill College with a major in Biochemistry. Right now, I am just doing lots of clinical research stuff in comprehensive cancer and learning more about the study protocols. What’s more, is that I have empathy, it’s also a quality I increasingly value in others. Since we are in this new era that’s slightly (incredibly) peculiar, I have tried to expand my hobbies by learning new things, such as martial art, jiu-jitsu, urban combat, and more recently, playing the violin. With a huge curiosity about anatomy, biological aspects of medicine, and research methodology, I enjoy learning the proper terminology for things even cultural dynamics and religious/spiritual features, and how they operate. Interestingly enough, I hope to earn more equitable knowledge @premedCC about global health research, meaningful mentorship, and patient advocacy, for my path of academic ventures, which I will follow to med school. Good luck to you on your pre-med journey and delighted we could learn together as a team!

Jessica Ramirez
Hello, my name is Jessica and I recently graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Integrative Biology. I am currently taking a gap year in which I am spending learning new skills, volunteering, and conducting research. I plan to apply to a Neuroscience Ph.D. program in the upcoming cycle where I hope to investigate the molecular mechanisms of brain plasticity in response to stress and neurological trauma. In my free time I enjoy cooking, watching anime, exploring new music, and drinking hot chocolate in the forest.

Leidy Jimenez
Hello everyone, my name is Leidy Jimenez, I was born and raised in Colombia. I moved to the United States in 2015 without knowing English and I went to a special high school to learn it. I am Latina first generation undergraduate student, majoring in Biology at Bakersfield College where I also work as a Chemistry tutor. I plan to transfer to a 4-year university in California. My professional goal is to become a physician or surgeon in the field of pediatrics. My dream is to help underrepresented Hispanic communities inside or outside of the United States. My hobbies include cooking, reading, painting, and traveling. I’m also a volunteer in an organization for kids with illness where I teach them art skills. My role in PreMedCC is to edit videos which I really enjoy doing. 

Sebastian Pintea
Hello there! My name is Sebastian Pintea and I am a current second-year community college student in southern California. I attend Santiago Canyon College as a psychology major on the premed track. When I transfer I plan on majoring in cognitive science with minors in environmental science and chemistry. 
I am remaining open-minded about different specialties in medicine, but I have a particular interest in psychiatry, anesthesiology, and pulmonology. As an aspiring physician, my goal is to explore healthcare disparities through an environmental lens, focusing on how climate change is affecting medical practices. Mental health is another one of my focuses that I hope to shed light on regarding neuropsychiatric disorder treatment since there is little we know about the brain. 
Outside of medicine, I am engaged in my school’s student government where I use political activism to bolster my voice on topics in public health and sustainability. I was able to host events like Earth Week and mental health webinars to educate students on the resources available to them on campus. Servant leadership and volunteerism are key to my mission of giving back to underprivileged communities in southern California. I worked as a clinical research fellow at Columbia University over the summer to analyze energy insecurity disparities on public health issues. I continued working with my PIs remotely to look at the data in different states in addition to my work as a psychophysiological research assistant at UCI.
Some fun facts about me are that I enjoy swimming and water polo in my free time. I have a deep passion for cooking and was also ranked 47th internationally in the Just Dance world tournament. I am honored to be a part of PreMedCC to help fellow prehealth community college students navigate the waters of medicine through clinical experience, research, shadowing, and volunteering resources.