Las Voces Oral History Project

Alejandra Gamez is a rising junior entering the Nursing School in the fall of 2024. She is from Gainesville, Georgia and a first-generation Latina college student who is thrilled to be working with the Center for Healthcare History and Policy over the summer, and potentially in the future as a nursing student. Her research interests align with CHAAP, as she believe the best way to inform policy is by considering individual lived experiences. We can bridge inequalities by incorporating the humanities and history into healthcare practices. She would love to be a part of the initiative that informs and changes medical practices, especially due to her family’s past experiences with the medical field.

Melanie Castro-Coronado is a rising junior at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. She is originally from Duluth, Georgia, where she grew up with her 5 siblings and parents. Her SURE project focuses on the experiences of working-class undocumented Latinas who seek prenatal care at Hispanic-serving clinics. She is passionate about the intersection between maternal health and labor in the United States.

Alberto Bonilla is a Mexican American, a low-income first-generation student, and the oldest of three - all aspects that inform his identity and future professional goals. His journey to Emory as a pre-nursing student, who has been admitted to the nursing school, has inspired him to keep pushing these possibilities of being able to give back to the community that has supported him to get here. His goal is to do research that can help create and sponsor opportunities for improvement in the healthcare field. He wants to be a nurse practitioner willing to listen and acknowledge the many different parts of every patient's history, culture, and practices and consider that when helping them and deciding treatment plans.