Satema Lopez
Satema is a fourth-year undergraduate student at UCLA pursuing a major in Education and Social Transformation and a minor in American Indian Studies. Her tribal affiliation is Apache and her hometown is Visalia, CA. Satema is currently working towards completing her senior thesis titled, “Restoring Trust: Experiential approaches to culturally competent health care for American Indians in Los Angeles”. She has earned the Indigenous Knowledge Research Program Award from the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Office of Tribal Relations for her research about health equity for Native American patients. Outside of her research, Satema serves on the National SHPEP American Indian/Alaska Native Engagement Committee in which she enjoys mentoring Native youth from across the country who are interested in pursuing health professions. Satema’s career goals are to serve as a neurosurgeon and a professor to provide culturally competent healthcare with her community while empowering the next generation of Indigenous scholars to pursue STEM in higher education.
