2023–2024 NHLCC Scholar: Christopher Alba

Christopher Alba
MD
Harvard Medical School

Chris Alba is a third-year medical student at Harvard Medical School. He was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA as part of a Mexican and Salvadorean family. Having been a Medicaid recipient, Chris witnessed stark differences in health care quality between publicly and privately insured people, and even among those publicly insured within his family. These experiences sparked a curiosity in health care delivery and inspired a mission of improving health care quality for those communities who have historically been underserved. Interested in health and policy, Chris studied Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology as well as Economics at Yale University. While at Yale, he served as a volunteer EMT for on-campus and local town agencies. After college, Chris spent two years at Massachusetts General Hospital working on public health research, studying the cost-effectiveness of COVID and HIV public health interventions. Eager to return to direct patient care, Chris is now pursuing an MD degree at Harvard Medical School. During this time, Chris has remained committed to increasing accessibility of health care, both as a service and profession. He volunteers with student-faculty partnership clinics, enjoys mentoring younger students, and supports local and regional Latino Medical Student Association initiatives. Chris continues to be interested in health care delivery innovation and performs research with the Smith Center for Outcomes Research in Cardiology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He aspires to a career in Cardiology and advising health policy. Outside of academics, Chris enjoys backpacking, staying active, attending live music events, and chatting with his 7-year-old sisters.