Dr. Daniel Aillaud De Uriarte is a dedicated medical professional and aspiring gastroenterologist with a strong commitment to ethical medical practice, mental health advocacy, and international research contributions. He earned his Doctor of Medicine degree from Universidad de Las Américas Puebla, Mexico, completing a thesis titled The Dilemma of the Voluntary Termination of Pregnancy from a Bioethical Perspective, which explores complex bioethical issues surrounding reproductive health. 

Distinguished in both clinical and academic settings, Dr. Aillaud holds a strong academic record. He is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Bioethics and Health Humanities, focusing on the intersection of bioethics, mental health, and gastrointestinal medicine. 

His research interests center on gastroenterology and colorectal surgery. Dr. Aillaud has presented his work internationally in multiple languages, including English, Spanish, and French, at conferences across Canada, the United States, Mexico, France, Switzerland, and England. 

Dr. Aillaud is dedicated to advancing medical ethics and supporting the development of compassionate, effective healthcare for diverse communities. 

Georgia Loutrianakis is a fourth-year PhD candidate in Bioethics & Health Humanities at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas, United States. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Neuroscience and a Master of Arts in Bioethics & Medical Humanities from Case Western Reserve University. Passionate for clinical ethics consultation and health equity, her dissertation is focused on the intersection of ethical conceptions of trust and reproductive autonomy.  

Research Interests: Clinical ethics, reproductive healthcare justice and ethics, trust & mistrust, medical decision-making, and end-of-life care. 

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Georgia-Loutrianakis  

Grayson R. Jackson (he/him) is a fifth-year MD-PhD student, having joined the John Sealy School of Medicine in 2020 and the IBHH in 2022. He holds an interdisciplinary Bachelor of Arts from Baylor University, where he graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. Grayson is an Emeritus Student Scholar in the John P. McGovern Academy of Oslerian Medicine at UTMB and an alumnus of the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship of Houston–Galveston, where he serves on the board of directors. He is passionate about health advocacy and has held leadership roles in UTMB's LGBTQ+ student organization, Allies in Health, as well as with the Texas Medical Association and American Medical Association. He is also an amateur trumpet player for the Galveston Healing Arts Orchestra and the Galveston Community Band. Grayson’s dissertation research focuses on the imbrications of medical authority, bioethics, and law in pediatric gender-affirming care. 

Research interests: LGBTQ+ health, clinical and public health ethics, and the intersection between ethics and health policy. 

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Grayson-Jackson-2 

Klarisa Lopez is a first-year MPH Bioethics and Health Humanities student within the School of Public and Population Health at UTMB. She holds a bachelor's in medical Humanities from The University of Texas at San Antonio. Klarisa was born in Houston, Texas and comes from a Spanish speaking background in which she is interested in culture and language as it impacts patient care. She hopes to pursue an MD working in emergency medicine to continue to address systemic inequities for Spanish-speaking patients. 

Research Interests:  Hispanic and Latino health, global health, Peruvian and Mexican-American health, Emergency medicine, clinical ethics 

Lorenah E. Vásquez is a second-year PhD student in the Institute of Bioethics and Health Humanities at UT Medical Branch in Galveston, TX. Originally from the Rio Grande Valley, Lorenah received a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Master of Science in Health Science at UT Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg, TX. Her long-term academic interests converge around the health of migrant and seasonal farmworker communities. 

Research interests: migrant and refugee health equity, disability justice, environmental justice, and traditional health/healing knowledges. 

Melanie Connolly (she/her) is a certificate student in the Institute for Bioethics and Health Humanities at the University of Texas Medical Branch. Trained as a Medical Illustrator, Melanie has a broad background that includes brand marketing and innovation strategy. She cares about four things in her work: 

• Getting good ideas to patients 

• The patient and caregiver experience 

• Joy in the workplace 

• Efficiency, and automation when prudent 

Research Interests: Personalized medicine, genomic ethics, shared decision making, healthcare process improvement, innovation & entrepreneurship in healthcare, social determinants of health, healthcare justice, feminism in health, storytelling, algorithmic ethics, ethics in technology development 

Mikaela Kim (she/her) is a first-year PhD student in the Institute for Bioethics and Health Humanities at the University of Texas Medical Branch. Originally from San Antonio, TX, Mikaela completed her undergraduate studies in Waco, TX where she graduated summa cum laude from Baylor University with a Bachelor of Arts in Medical Humanities. Mikaela’s primary research interests include end-of-life issues, clinical ethics, and the physician-patient relationship. Mikaela hopes to become a Bioethics Professor and Clinical Ethicist upon completion of the program.  

Research Interests: end-of-life issues, clinical ethics, physician-patient relationship, medical decision-making, medical humanities  

Born and raised in the Dominican Republic, Dr. Lluberes completed her medical school, internal medicine residency training, and worked as an internist there. She migrated to the U.S. to pursue psychiatry residency training. Bilingual and bicultural, she is a Double Board-Certified Psychiatrist. Dr. Lluberes trained in general psychiatry at the University of Texas in Houston. She completed additional community and forensic psychiatry fellowships at the University of Pittsburgh, Western Psychiatry Institute and Clinic. She has worked in public health and inpatient psychiatry in underserved/physician shortage areas. 

Dr. Lluberes is passionate about providing care for the most vulnerable patients, the incarcerated mentally ill. Dr. Lluberes is a certified correctional mental health professional (CCHP-MH) by the National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC). She has served as a psychiatric physician consultant to various penal systems and lectured on various medical/legal and forensic psychiatric topics. She enjoys teaching medical student students and other trainees about the nuances of the criminal justice system. In 2016, Dr. Lluberes received the American Psychiatric Association (APA) award “For the Advancement of Minority Mental Health” for raising awareness in underserved minority communities about mental illness. She is a fellow APA (FAPA) member and has served as chairperson for the APA Foundation Diversity Fellowship from 2018 to 2022. Dr. Lluberes is a member of the Group for the advancement of Psychiatry (GAP), American Psychiatric Association (APA), and the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (AAPL), among other  professional associations.  

Suzy is a second-year PhD student in the Institute for Bioethics and Health Humanities at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas. She holds a bachelor’s in philosophy, Philosophy of Medicine from Baylor University. After graduation, she hopes to continue her education through a clinical ethics fellowship and pursue an interest in the formulation of medical school curricula to see how ethics can be better integrated within the preclinical years.  

Research Interests: Disability justice, clinical ethics, academic ethics, and medical education