Layla Aboufares is a fourth-year, undergraduate premedical student at the University of California, Berkeley pursuing a degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology with an emphasis in Neurobiology. She has been involved in AMWA throughout all her pre-med years thus far, proudly serving as the 2022-23 Conference Chair and organizing our 2023 AMWA National Conference in Philadelphia. Regionally, she began by joining her local UC Berkeley Branch and serving in the Mental Health Committee before joining the executive board as Internal Vice President and, subsequently, as President. She is heavily active in her AMWA Berkeley Branch, most proud of her Cards for Courage and #STEMinist initiatives launched in 2021. Apart from AMWA, Layla works at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) as a stem cell researcher in the Fisher Lab, with a focus in reproductive health science. She also serves as the Campus Director for UC Berkeley in partnership with the United Nations-sponsored Academic Impact Sector where she seeks to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals pursued worldwide. She also represents advocates for women’s health as the Cal Campus Director in the PAC-12 with Rivkin Center Education, promoting breast and ovarian cancer prevention and resources alongside serving as the Health Worker for UC Berkeley’s international student population under Cal’s University Health Services. And, as the Berkeley Student Brand Ambassador for Kaplan, she aims to forward MCAT preparatory resources to all pre-medical students she encounters. Layla strongly admires AMWA’s mission and empowering network of female physicians, using her foundation here to transform ideas into initiatives and inspire impactful change in her local and global community, at large.
Hi everyone! My name is Yara Akiel (pronouns she/her/hers), and I am a third-year undergraduate student at the University of Southern California. I am majoring in neuroscience with a minor in psychology on the pre-medical track. I am also involved in my university’s AMWA branch, and I serve on its leadership board. I am also forever fascinated by the brain, and I am in two neuroscience research labs- one that focuses on language, and the other on development. I hope to work in radiology after medical school. As for who I am outside of school, I love writing and trying new foods!