Board of Directors

The Board of Directors serves to ensure that the charitable purpose of the organization is met while providing continuity for the organization especially on financial matters. The Board is made up of health professionals, recent graduates and current student leadership. Ex-officio Board members serve 1-year terms by virtue of their student leadership positions. All other board members are elected for 3 year terms in accordance with the SSRFC Corporate Bylaws.

Dr. Jay Jarodiya, M.D. M.P.H. is a past Webmaster and Technology Chair of the SSRFC (2017-20). He joined the board to continue working on innovating the technological and digital capabilities of the SSRFC in furthering its mission to promote cooperation and communication amongst SRFCs across the world and engaging them in unique and novel ways to improve our collective strengths.

Dr. Jarodiya is currently an Internal Medicine Resident at the Wayne State University/Detroit Medical Center program in Detroit, MI after graduating from Wayne State University School of Medicine. As a medical student, he was the Director of Operations, Assistant Director of Clinic Flow, Assistant Director of Marketing and Communications, and Junior Medical Director.

Dr. Jessica S. Kruger, PhD, is a health educator whose research focuses on consumption and addictive behaviors, health behavior decision-making, and pedagogy in Public Health. She collaborates with a wide variety of community-based organizations and advises students at the Lighthouse Free Medical Clinic in Buffalo. Dr. Kruger is co- editor of the Journal of Student-Run clinics and continues to promote the importance of public health within free medical clinics. She chairs the Publications Committee for the Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE).

Dr. Ayan Nasir, M.D. is a past Finance Chair of the SSRFC operating committee (2018-2020). He is passionate about the work student run free clinics do for vulnerable populations, and is excited by the advances in research that allow care to be optimized across student run free clinics globally. He is also particularly interested in evaluating value based care delivery and helping student run free clinics maximize their financial resources.

Dr. Ayan Nasir is currently an Internal Medicine resident at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL. He graduated from the University of Central Florida College of Medicine, serving as the finance chair for KNIGHTS clinic as well as president of the Business of Medicine and Medical Informatics Interest Groups. Prior to this, he graduated with a B.Sc in Financial Engineering from Columbia University and worked in various international financial institutions as a quantitative analyst.

Stephen Angelette, J.D. is an attorney board certified in health law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization with extensive experience with advising healthcare providers and business with organization and compliance.  He has historically taught health law and business as an adjunct professor at UT Southwestern Medical School, and has served on the SSRFC Board since 2018 because of his belief that it provides an integral piece of the network of care for the uninsured and underserved patient population.

Dr. Ashley Higbea, PharmD, BCPS received her Doctorate of Pharmacy from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of Pharmacy in 2013 where she first developed her passion for interprofessional student run free clinics (SRFC) and underserved care. She completed a PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency at University Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) St. Margaret where she also completed a PGY2 Pharmacy Residency in Family Medicine. During her residency she completed a 2-year Faculty Development Fellowship, and has provided presentations at local, state, and national professional meetings. Dr. Higbea is currently an Assistant Professor at the Texas Tech University Health Science Center Jerry H. Hodge School of Pharmacy in Dallas, TX. She teaches chronic disease and preventive care management, team-based learning, and IPE. She provides medication management and collaborative care at the UT Southwestern Family Medicine Clinic at Texas Health Dallas which is where she precepts learners. She also helps precepts at SRFCs in the Dallas area coordinating pharmacy student volunteers and promoting interprofessional education and practice to improve patient care. She is a reviewer for the Journal of Student Run Clinics. In 2020, she was appointed as a Faculty Advisor on the SSRFC board.

Dr. David Lee, M.D. M.S. is a past Finance Chair of the SSRFC (2016-2018). He spearheaded during his residency training the establishment of a gynecology student-run free clinic jointly overseen and operated by medical students and resident physicians as a collaboration between Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine and the Gary Burnstein Community Health Clinic. He brings experience in health policy and advocacy through his previous involvement with the American Medical Association and the Michigan State Medical Society. He is interested in medical education, quality improvement, and in advancing representation of underserved and uninsured patient populations in research studies.

Dr. Lee completed his undergraduate medical training at Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine. He then completed residency training in Obstetrics & Gynecology at Beaumont Health System in Royal Oak, MI, and is currently completing fellowship training in Female Pelvic Medicine & Reconstructive Surgery at Northwestern Medicine.

Whitney Stuard, PhD, is an MD/PhD student at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. She earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from UT Dallas and is completing her dual-degree studies in the M.D./Ph.D. program at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, where her community advocacy began through organizations such as the American Medical Association and the Texas Medical Association. She has served as the Vice-Speaker of the American Medical Association Medical Student Section. She has served her community through organizations such as the Dallas County Medical Society, the Brother Bill’s Helping Hand student-run free clinic (co-founder), The Monday Clinic, DFW Hepatitis B Free Project, and Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.

She has been the recipient of the Tylenol Future Health Scholarship, The Texas Medical Association Student of the Year award, PEO Scholars award, a Schweitzer fellowship, and the Kappa Alpha Theta 30 under 30 award. She joined the Board to be able to engage in novel ideas and innovative initiatives to promote the development, implementation, and maintenance of Student-Run Free Clinics throughout the United States. 

Safwan Elkhatib, PhD has been an active member of SSRFC since 2018. He became inspired by the commitment to the underserved he saw at student-run free clinics and served as the co-chair of the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) student-run free clinics, SHARING, in 2019. He then served as the research co-chair of SSRFC in 2021-2022 and created and implemented the annual Bridging the Gap session, which presents evidence-based approaches to address common problems at free clinics. He is an active reviewer for the Journal of Student-Run Clinics and remains interested in scholarship and expanding access to care. He is a fourth-year medical student in the combined MD/PhD program at UNMC. He completed his PhD in Integrative Physiology, studying the effects of psychosocial stress on immune function, and will continue his training as an anesthesiology resident.

Jennifer Vu is the outgoing 2022-23 National Coordinator of SSRFC. In this role, she serves as an ex-officio Board Member and as the chair of the Operating Committee.