Our People

Joseph is a healthcare professional, patented inventor, published scientist, serial entrepreneur, proven business leader, and humanitarian. He was honored as one of Utah Business’ Forty Under 40 business professionals in 2023 and is board eligible as a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. To further his professional training, he received an Executive Doctorate in Business Administration from Drexel University in Pennsylvania, pursued MBA training at Westminster University in Utah, majored in Exercise and Sport Science with a minor in Pediatric Clinical Research from the University of Utah, and obtained an Associate Degree from Ensign College. He returned to the University of Utah in 2023 for further research training by pursuing a PhD in Population Health Sciences, emphasizing in Health Systems and Innovation Research, at the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine. With a desire to treat patients directly, as well as to further his advocacy work in healthcare, he plans to pursue MD/JD training in the future.

He is committed to giving back to the community. Outside of his church service, he volunteers on various non-profit Boards of Directors to help people gain medical resources, assist future and upcoming professionals, and empower underserved communities among other works.

A lifelong athlete, he was a four-sport athlete in high school, completing marathons and triathlons afterward. As a PhD student, he joined the University of Utah’s wrestling team to compete after a two decade hiatus from the sport. Joseph was appointed Men’s Team Captain for the 2024-2025 season.

Joseph lived on the Westside of Salt Lake City for two decades before moving to Tooele, Utah in 2020. He married the love of his life, Krischa, in 2009. They live with their eight children: Brianne, Madison, Dinah, Audrey, Adam, Declan, Myles, and Blake.

Dr. Arthur is a practicing small animal veterinarian. She went to Emory University for her undergraduate degree and the University of Tennessee for her D.V.M. She has been in practice for 9 years and owns her own clinic. As she enjoys giving back to the community, she has been involved in the Student Doctor Network since 2007. Starting as a moderator in the veterinary forums, Dr. Arthur eventually became an administrator for the site. Dr. Arthur lives on the Gulf Coast of Florida with her husband and enjoys video games and spending time with her family.

Sarah serves as the Partnerships & Grants Coordinator for HPSA. She is focused on building and strengthening relationships with synergistic organizations and seeking new opportunities for grant funding.

Before joining HPSA, she worked as a program coordinator for the Research Division in the Department of Family & Community Medicine at the University of Cincinnati. Prior to that, she worked as a community recruitment coordinator and troop support specialist for the Girl Scouts of Kentucky’s Wilderness Road Council.

Sarah is an alumna of Morehead State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Convergent Media and resides in Kentucky with her husband, son, and sheepadoodle.

Lee Burnett, DO is the founder of the Student Doctor Network website.

He is a full-time practicing family physician with the US Army and volunteers his free time to the Health Professional Student Association. His hobbies include running and sailing.

Emil Chuck, Ph.D., is Director of Advising Services for the Health Professional Student Association. He brings over 15 years of experience as a health professions advisor and an admissions professional for medical, dental, and other health professions programs. In this role for HPSA, he looks forward to continuing to play a role for the next generation of healthcare providers to gain confidence in themselves and to be successful members of the interprofessional healthcare community.

Previously, he served as Director of Admissions and Recruitment at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, Director of Admissions at the School of Dental Medicine at Case Western Reserve University, and as a Pre-Health Professions Advisor at George Mason University.

Dr. Chuck serves an expert resource on admissions and has been quoted in articles by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), and has volunteered as a workshop facilitator on holistic admissions for the American Dental Education Association (ADEA). He has also contributed to the essay collection The Perfect Doctor by Pager Publications, The Intentional Life by David S. Anderson, and has developed competency-based rubrics supporting holistic review.

Since joining HPSA, Dr. Chuck has spearheaded the creation of the Becoming a Student Doctor course and Situational Judgment Test surveys. He has presented on situational judgment tests, professionalism, and interviewing for the National Association of Advisors in the Health Professions (NAAHP), the Academy for Professionalism in Health Care (APHC), Medical Student Pride Alliance (MSPA), the Association of STEMM Pathway and Bridge Programs (ASPBP), and the UCD Prehealth Conference.

Dr. Chuck is a member of the Board of Directors for Minority Postdoc, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. He is currently serving as the 2025-2026 Conference Chair of the Association of STEM Pathway and Bridge Programs.

Maria Zacnite Figueroa is a pre-med, post-baccalaureate student at Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania. She currently volunteers with the American Red Cross. She graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill with a degree in Economics and worked in public finance for five years. She is originally from Mexico but grew up in the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina. Maria loves to travel and has lived in several cities across North America. Most recently, she lived in Calgary for two years, where she volunteered at Rockyview General Hospital. Maria is passionate about helping other students reach their goals and access the tools they need to achieve them. Maria loves to hike, bike, cross country ski, play squash, and watch movies with friends (pre-pandemic).

James M. Herman, MD, MSPH, serves as the Dean of the University of Oklahoma School of Community Medicine in Tulsa. As Dean, Dr. Herman has overseen the school’s expansion from a clinical two-year campus for third- and fourth-year students to a four-year campus. Dr. Herman is responsible for the OU School of Community Medicine physician practice, OU Physicians-Tulsa. OU Physicians-Tulsa includes more than 300 physicians, 90 medical students, and 80 physician assistant students. They perform approximately 250,000 patient visits per year through five major clinics for outpatient services and with Saint Francis Hospital, Laureate Psychiatric Clinic and Hospital, Jane Phillips Medical Center in Bartlesville, Hillcrest Medical Center, and St. John Medical Center for in-patient care.

Dr. Herman came to OU from the Penn State College of Medicine and the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. Since 1991 he served as the Hershey Company Professor and Chairman of the Department of Family and Community Medicine. During his tenure as chairman, he successfully led that department’s development from a small department into a large department with a range of special clinical and academic programs. At Penn State, he also held Associate Dean of Primary Care and Primary Care Research and director of the Center for Leadership, in which he led a special program in “Leadership” that dealt with change at the Penn State College of Medicine.

Dr. Herman earned a bachelor’s degree summa cum laude from the University of Massachusetts, his medical degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and a Master of Science in Public Health degree from the University of Missouri. His residency training in Family Medicine was taken at the University of Rochester in New York. He is a past graduate of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine’s Marion Bishop Fellowship program and is also a fellow of the American Council on Education.

Dr. Herman is a member of many professional organizations and has been appointed to serve on many national committees. He was the project director on 15 National Area Health Education Center grants. He served as principal investigator on many grants and has published numerous papers on assessing clinical practice support and physicians’ needs in rural Pennsylvania health care. He served as the director of the North American Primary Care Research Group from 1988-1995. Other interests and areas of publication include stroke care, clinical epidemiology, and patient preferences in medical practice.

Katherine is an incoming MS1 at Ponce Health Sciences University. She graduated from Florida International University with a double Major in Biology and Applied Sciences.

“SDN helped me significantly during my Pre-Med journey and I am excited to help others on their journey as well.”

Rishika Kodaypak is a current 1st-year medical student at the Kansas City University School of Osteopathic Medicine. She completed my undergraduate degree in Public Health at the University of Washington, Seattle, while pursuing clinical experience as a patient care technician at a Level 1 Trauma Center. While she is currently still exploring her interests in medicine, she is passionate about pediatrics, sports medicine, and gastrointestinal medicine.

“I look forward to working with the rest of the council members and extending my support to those who wish to pursue careers in healthcare.”

Dr. LeRoy is Associate Dean of Student Affairs and Admissions and is an associate professor of Family Medicine at Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine. He is a native Daytonian, received his undergraduate (1982) and M.D. (1988) degrees from Wright State University, and completed his residency at Miami Valley Hospital. He completed a fellowship at Michigan State University in 1992. Dr. LeRoy’s major affiliations include serving on the Board of Directors for the American Academy of Family Physicians, CareSource of Ohio, Public Health Dayton/Montgomery County, and The Dayton Contemporary Dance Company. He is also a past board chair of The Dayton Foundation and Hospice of Dayton. He is the Chief Medical Consultant for the City of Dayton Schools. Dr. LeRoy is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians, the Ohio State Medical Association, the Ohio Academy of Family Physicians (Past President), and Phi Rho Sigma Medical Society. He is past President of the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Dr. LeRoy is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, a Fellow in the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the Golden Key Honor Society-Wright State University Chapter. He has been recognized as one of America’s 50 Most Positive Physicians. Also, as the Miami Valley Family Physician of the Year and the National Registry of Who’s Who in America. Dr. Le Roy received the Wright State University Outstanding Alumni Achievement Award, the Dean’s Award to the Outstanding medical school graduate, a Certificate of Recognition-Ohio House of Representatives and Ohio Senate, the American Association of Medical Colleges Humanism in Medicine Award, the Outstanding Volunteerism Award from Reach Out of Montgomery County, the Humanism in Medicine Award-Gem City Medical, Dental and Pharmaceutical Society, Dayton’s Top Ten African American Male Award, the National Council of Community and Justice Humanism Award, and both the Educator of the Year and Philanthropist of the Year awards from the Ohio Academy of Family Physicians.

In addition, Dr. LeRoy is a practicing part-time physician at Community Health Centers of Greater Dayton, a federally qualified health plan. Dr. LeRoy’s practice is at the East Dayton Health Center, where he has practiced for over 25 years.

Kyle serves as the Sponsorship Coordinator for the Student Doctor Network. Having completed his undergraduate studies at UC Davis, he is currently a non-traditional post-baccalaureate pre-med. Prior to returning to school and working for HSPA, he served as a member of the United States Navy after a career in sales management. His experiences in the military, both domestic and abroad, strengthened a desire to become a provider and advocate for health care access for underserved populations.

Dr. Nass was born and raised in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in northeastern Kentucky. He ventured off to become well rounded by obtaining undergraduate degrees in psychology and English from Bradley University, as well as a Master of Public Affairs from Indiana University-Bloomington.

After working for not-for-profit organizations in center city Chicago and Los Angeles, he recognized an opportunity to combine his love for policy and advocacy with a career in medicine, and then proceeded to earn his medical degree from Charles R. Drew University and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

He completed his Family Medicine residency at Ventura County Medical Center, followed by fellowships in faculty development at Ventura and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. After residency, he worked full time as a hospitalist in Ventura County before serving as Associate Program Director and Director of the Family Medicine Inpatient Service for the Eisenhower Health Family Medicine Residency. He became the founding Director of Inpatient Education for the Emanate Health Family Medicine Residency Program before returning to Eisenhower Health where he now serves served as Program Director. In 2021, he became a Complex Care Physician with MedZed, partnering through telemedicine with individuals living medically and socially complex lives to help them navigate the challenges of their own health and the healthcare system.

Dr. Nass is board certified in Family Medicine and is credentialed as an HIV Specialist™ by the American Academy of HIV Medicine. He enjoys practicing broad-spectrum Family Medicine, including hospital medicine, transgender health, medication-assisted treatment of opioid use disorder, dermoscopy, and multiple inpatient and outpatient procedures (including no-scalpel vasectomies).

He is an active advocate for health equity and was selected for the inaugural class of Leaders for Health Equity fellows at George Washington University, and he is now a Senior Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity. He is President of GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ Equality, and he participates in various leadership roles within the American Academy of Family Physicians, the California Academy of Family Physicians, and the American Medical Association.

Emilio A. Russo, MD currently serves as Departmental Vice-Chair of Clinical Affairs and Associate Professor of Clinical Family Medicine at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, the Director of the LSU Rural Family Medicine Residency Program, Brian P. Jakes Professor of Rural Health Care, and Chair of the LSU Health Science Center Committee on International Educational Experience. Amidst these diverse leadership roles, Dr. Russo divides his days between administrative responsibilities, mentoring faculty and house staff toward artful medicine and health equity, and caring for his patients as a full-spectrum family physician in a rural practice.

As an inaugural member of the Rural Scholars Track, Dr. Russo graduated from the LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans in 2005 and completed his residency at the Family Medicine Spokane Rural Training Track in 2008. Before joining the LSU residency in Bogalusa in 2013, he spent 5 years practicing in vulnerable New Orleans neighborhoods as part of a developing network of LSU clinics post-Katrina and a member of the National Health Service Corps. Dr. Russo’s professional interests include family medicine’s role in reducing healthcare inequity among vulnerable populations, global health engagement, and innovation in rural healthcare delivery and medical education.

While at home, Dr. Russo spends his time with his beautiful wife as well as their four children—Giovanni, Mia, Liliana, and Luca. He enjoys reading, cooking, soccer, and playing the guitar.

Alex serves within the HPSA Student Advisory Council. Additionally, Alex faithfully serves within the Armed Forces embedded in Human Resources. His multiple assignments have afforded him the opportunity to execute different roles, including project management and flight commander.

Alex has also worked with other private organizations such as Health Occupation Students of America and American Cancer Society. His efforts have focused on enhancing community relationships and providing resources to students.

Ben Shapiro is a psychiatry resident at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. He earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in applied mathematics and statistics from Johns Hopkins University and a medical doctorate from Brown University. He is passionate about the application of math and software to improve the delivery of healthcare. When not in the hospital, Ben works with The Student Doctor Network team to create tools to help the world’s future doctors navigate their educational journey. In addition to medicine and programming, Ben enjoys DIY home improvement and spending time outdoors.

Laura serves as the Executive Director for HPSA. She previously served for eight years as Executive Director of the Student Doctor Network (SDN). Her work has been focused on providing new tools and resources to help students.

Before her work with SDN, she worked as a business analyst for The Capital Group and product management and marketing for software companies Paciolan, Adexa, and MSC Software.