Maya Ladenheim

Maya is a fourth-year medical student at UCSF. Prior to medical school, she completed a B.A. in Biology and a minor in Anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis. Growing up in a multicultural home, she has always loved exploring her heritage and various backgrounds that compose her identity. She built upon this interest in college by completing a four-year Medicine and Society program. Through medical anthropology and public health courses, this program ignited her passion for learning about how culture influences patients' interactions with healthcare systems and the critical role social and political factors play in molding global health outcomes. The Kean Fellowship will allow her to pursue this interest by collaborating with the Fijian Ministry of Health to investigate the barriers women face to obtaining Chlamydia trachomatis diagnosis and treatment in a resource-limited setting. After medical school she hopes to attend a residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology to continue advocating for better women’s health outcomes. In her free time, Maya loves exploring the outdoors through hiking and backpacking trips, doing yoga and cooking with friends.

What does the Kean Fellowship mean to you?
It is a true honor to be a recipient of the Kean Fellowship. This grant gives me the chance to pursue my interest in global and women’s health in a way that otherwise would not have been feasible. Although I have studied medical anthropology in a classroom setting, the opportunity to immerse myself in a new community to learn directly from a diverse group of providers and patients is invaluable. As an aspiring Ob/Gyn, this grant also allows me to contribute to efforts to decrease the significant health impact of Chlamydia on women, including pelvic inflammatory disease, chronic pelvic pain and obstetric complications. I am extremely grateful for this opportunity and eager to apply the knowledge gained to my future clinical practice and research efforts.

What do you anticipate learning?
I am excited to learn about the social and cultural factors that influence the ability of Fijian women to obtain screening and treatment for Chlamydia trachomatis. In addition, I am looking forward to collaborating with members of the Fijian Ministry of Health to deepen my understanding of how healthcare systems operate in other countries. While I have had the chance to work with patients from different backgrounds during my medical training, most have shared a Western view of medicine. Furthermore, the clinics and hospitals I have worked at are fortunate to have adequate access to the equipment, medications and staff necessary to provide comprehensive care. However, many local and global clinics are not this lucky. This project will help me further develop the skills in cultural humility and communication necessary to care for patients from all walks of life, even when resources are limited.

What interests you about tropical medicine and what problems are you interested in solving?
The spread of communicable diseases in tropical regions comprises a large proportion of the overall global health burden. Treatment of these diseases is particularly interesting to me as their prevalence is largely attributable to the lack of infrastructure and cultural competency needed to implement public health interventions. In addition, many of these diseases, including Chlamydia, disproportionately affect women and have serious obstetric consequences. Since effective vaccines, prophylactic medications and treatments exist for many tropical diseases, the potential to reduce their morbidity is vast. I am excited by the opportunity to engage in a research project that has the potential to shape current clinical practice to reduce the burden of an extremely prevalent infection and benefit patients living in resource-limited settings globally.