Aran Zakeri

Aran is a genuine leader, someone who doesn’t just get involved, but who starts a new program where there is a need. For example, after personal experience with the difficulties of navigating our health system, he founded Happy Weekends, an organization that offers free clinic services and assists undergrads in learning basic clinical skills. This is under the aegis of the Undergraduate MD/PhD Society, an organization Aran co-founded when it became clear that students from underserved backgrounds needed support to access the resources necessary to apply to MD/PhD programs.

The number of awards and scholarships Aran has earned is truly impressive. These include being twice awarded a scholarship from the For a Bright Future Foundation, granted to future health leaders. Other awards include the Diversity in Health Care Scholarship, the Iranian Scholarship Foundation Merit Scholarship, the Barry Goldwater Scholarship, the Reuben H. Fleet Scholarship, the McNair Summer Research Stipend, and the Barbara Monroe Scholarship, awarded to students who are both employed part time and have distinguished themselves as community volunteers.

Aran arrived in Southern California from Iran at the age of 17 and has been independent ever since. Early in his undergraduate career he undertook the necessary training to become a National Certified Medical Assistant (NCMA) which has been relevant in both employment and community service. This includes working with medical providers who evaluate applications for Social Security disability.  He earned a stipend to do student research at MD Anderson Cancer Center and currently serves as a research assistant in the Pathology Department working on a project that showed a link between smoking and breast cancer. He was a hospital volunteer with Palomar Health, and even volunteered as a medical assistant last summer in Mombasa, Kenya.

It should be obvious by now that Aran intends to pursue a career in medicine, with an emphasis on addressing the needs of underserved communities. He is enrolled in Earl Warren College.