From Curriculum to Community: Advancing Health Equity Through Student Advocacy at LCOM
This presentation is released on Monday, January 18, 2027.
The work runs on two parallel tracks. The first goes through a campus social justice coalition and four co-led initiatives: helping integrate social determinants of health into the preclinical curriculum, examining food-access barriers in Vermont, supporting translation for African immigrant families, and adapting restorative justice into Community Circles, a model later taught to faculty and students at numerous institutions via the 2025 NEGEA/NEGSA/NEOR conference. The second is the UNICEF Vermont Chapter, which she founded and leads as the first in the state, hosting educational sessions and mobilizing students to contact elected officials.
Cite this presentation
Leena Ziane. From Curriculum to Community: Advancing Health Equity Through Student Advocacy at LCOM. The Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine at the University of Vermont. Accepted for presentation at the 2026–27 National Aequitas Health Conference, Monday, January 18, 2027.
Aequitas Health is a national medical honor society and 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose fellows are selected for community health work serving those in need. It is a 2023 recipient of the McNulty Prize Catalyst Fund (McNulty Foundation and Aspen Institute). This is one of 21 presentations at the 2026–27 National Conference, which is free, virtual and open to anyone.