Our Team

Pran Saha is the Human Rights Initiative’s medical director for medicine and pediatrics and performs medical and psychological evaluations for clients seeking asylum. He is an assistant clinical professor of pediatrics. He spends 50 percent of his time in a busy primary care practice in the upper west side of Manhattan and 50 percent of his time as a medical educator. Besides precepting students in Foundations of Clinical Medicine (FCM) and directing the Health Promotion Block in FCM–II, his focus is developing a motivational interviewing curriculum at the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S). In his free time, he loves cooking in his tiny NYC kitchen and nurturing his recently discovered love of creative writing. 

Kathryn grew up in Boston, Massachusetts, and Los Angeles, California, and graduated from Harvard College in 2022 with a degree in Human Evolutionary Biology. In college, she co-founded the organization CARE which provides emotional support and technology literacy to seniors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her main goal in CHRIA is to help strengthen local communities, bolster public policies, and spread public awareness of medical barriers refugees, asylees, and immigrants face. In her free time, Kathryn enjoys staying active through martial arts, running, and dance or exploring the city through its cafes. 

Ken is originally from Boulder, Colorado. He studied global health and worked extensively with refugee and migrant communities as an undergrad at Georgetown, and he’s super excited to serve our migrant community here in Washington Heights. He enjoys doing anything outdoors in his free time -- running, skiing, hiking, and playing with his dog. 

Rishi was born in India and grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. He graduated from Duke University, where he studied neuroscience, philosophy, and evolutionary anthropology. In college, he helped organize free health clinics across the rural Southeast US. Prior to medical school, Rishi worked as a management consultant in Bain and Company’s healthcare practice, as well as at Headway, an NYC-based mental healthcare startup. These experiences have shaped Rishi's interest in understanding how medicine, health policy, and law can be leveraged to achieve more equitable outcomes for all. In his free time, Rishi enjoys cooking, playing tennis, and playing the guitar.

Grace grew up in Arizona and attended Princeton University for undergrad, where she majored in Chemical and Biological Engineering and minored in neuroscience and materials science. During her gap years, she did cancer epigenetics research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and worked in the ER at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Her interests lie in patient advocacy and community engagement, shaped by her experiences volunteering with neurology patients and organizing outreach initiatives for younger STEM students. In her free time, she enjoys playing basketball, hiking, and exploring NYC.

Zaid was born and raised a Palestinian American and one of a set of triplets in Southern California - his parents immigrated there at the turn of the millennium. He graduated with his BS from UCLA in 2024 before coming to VP&S, majoring in computational biology and minoring in global health. There he oversaw the UMMA Volunteer Project and its initiatives which provide free primary care screenings to underserved communities of South LA. Some of Zaid's hobbies include running, tennis, piano, drawing and cooking.

Vanessa split her childhood between Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the California Bay Area, staying in the Bay to study Molecular & Cell Biology at UC Berkeley. At Berkeley, Vanessa was heavily involved with the Suitcase Clinic and Students vs Pandemics, where she led public health education and outreach efforts. In her spare time, Vanessa likes to play board games, explore restaurants and libraries in the city, and play tennis. As the child of an immigrant, she is excited to be a part of CHRIA to serve the large immigrant population of NYC and advocate for refugee and asylee health.

Sophia grew up in a rural town outside of Dallas and graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in 2024 with a degree in Psychology. During her time at WashU, she conducted basic anesthesiology research developing novel anesthetic and psychiatric drugs, and was President of MedEd, a club that taught health lessons at underserved elementary schools. She was also leader of Chinese Table, and a recipient and mentor for the Ervin Scholars. Sophia is passionate about global health and completed a project in Denmark on different universal healthcare systems in Europe and a project in Samoa on traditional dermatological medicine in the South Pacific. She hopes to apply her previous knowledge into her position in CHRIA. Her hobbies include rock climbing, painting, and vlogging on YouTube.

Suuba graduated from Harvard University in 2022 with a degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology and Global Health. Before arriving at VP&S, she worked as a research technician in Durban, South Africa where she helped lead analyses for a vaginal probiotic clinical trial to reduce genital inflammation and HIV risk in women. She additionally worked as clinical coordinator for a preterm birth observational study. In her free time, she enjoys listening to music, long walks, watching tennis, and playing ultimate frisbee. She believes health is a human right and every person is deserving of a healthy, safe, and fulfilling life. She is excited to be working with CHRIA!