Pass the Baton 2024

Pass the Baton!

Moderator:

Andres Abreu, MD
Dr. Andres Abreu obtained his Doctorate of Medicine in 2020 from the Universidad Central de
Venezuela in Caracas, Venezuela. He is an incoming general surgery resident at UT Southwestern
Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, where he also completed his research fellowship in the division of
surgical oncology.

Panelists:

Fernanda Romero Hernandez, MD
Dr. Fernanda Romero-Hernandez is currently a PGY1 general surgery resident at UCSF. She is International Medical Graduate from Mexico who graduated with honors from Universidad Autonoma de Querétaro in 2017. Following her graduation, she completed a one-year postgraduate research fellowship at the Experimental Surgery Department of Instituto Nacional de Nutrición Salvador Zubiran, where her research on esophageal motility disorders earned her the prestigious Bernardo Sepulveda Research Award in Mexico. She completed two years of general surgery residency at Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social in Monterrey before immigrating to the United States to pursue a career in academic surgery. In 2021, she joined the Hepatopancreaticobiliary (HPB) Research Group in the Division of Surgical Oncology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Over the past two years, she developed machine learning models to examine topics such as surgical risk stratification for patients undergoing pancreaticoduodenectomy, colectomy, or Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy (HIPEC). She has published several textbook chapters and has authored over 20 peer-reviewed publications. Beyond her professional achievements, she is an avid sports enthusiast, former soccer player, and founding member of the Celtic International women's soccer team in her middle school.

Ofelia Negrete Vasquez, MD.
Ofelia Negrete Vasquez of Kyle, TX, is a categorical general surgery PGY-2 at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, TX. Ofelia is the proud daughter of two hard working Mexican immigrants, to whom she attributes her work ethic, penchant for helping others, and thus her inspiration for pursuing a career in medicine while studying biology at UT Austin. Ofelia journeyed northbound on I35-E for medical school at UT Southwestern, where she developed a passion for service in working with the vulnerable patient population of Dallas County's safetynet medical center, Parkland Hospital. She finds it a true privilege to be able to continue to serve the patients of Parkland and learn from them. As a newly christened surgical PGY-2, Ofelia's hobbies include sleeping, eating, and sleeping which haven’t changed from intern year.

Cindy Cruz, MD
Cindy Cruz Alvarez, MD, MS, is a General Surgery PGY-1 at Loyola University Medical Center. She is an active member of the DEI outreach at Loyola, and Co-Director for Professional Development for the NHMA COR. She continues to serve as a mentor for the Stritch LMSA chapter. As a medical student at Stritch SOM, she advocated for the Spanish-speaking community both as a certified medical Spanish interpreter and volunteer for research services guided toward Spanish-speaking individuals. As a 2019 Pre-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Center for Health and Equity, she led team efforts to improve minority perinatal care services and decrease perinatal mortality. Cindy is passionate about enhancing interventions and health outcomes in underserved communities. Before medical school, she obtained a Master's in Biomedical Sciences from Rutgers University and graduated from Seton Hall University in New Jersey with a Bachelor of Arts in Biological Sciences. At Rutgers, Cindy became part of the New Jersey Autism Center and led research activities for Spanish-speaking families and community organizations. She chooses to work with Spanish-speaking Autistic families to understand better and address their needs. Cindy has also led successful fundraising and community outreach events as a Univision Telethon speaker and community health fair organizer. As a Colombian immigrant, she is passionate about mentoring the next generation of Latinos in medicine.

Rodrigo Alterio, MD
Dr. Rodrigo Alterio is PGY1 surgery resident at Florida Atlantic University. He completed a preliminary intern year at the University of Texas Southwestern, where he also completed a 2-year postdoc research fellowship. During his fellowship, he focused on health service research and healthcare cost analysis, studying the racial/ethnic disparities in the field of gastrointestinal cancer and HPB surgery. He is also passionate about surgical education and has a particular interest in curriculum development, simulation, and surgical video assessment projects. He was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela, and aims to become an academic surgical oncologist.

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