Meet The Team
Sophia Huynh
President
"IFMSA to me is more than just an organization, but a family. I instantly felt welcomed and fell in love the people. I stayed because of the impact our diverse events made not only in Grenada, but globally."
Fun Fact: The wind stole my passport and threw it off the Cliffs of Moher so I was stranded in Dublin!
Farrah Alarmanazi
Vice President
"I love IFMSA’s broad spectrum of activities and global impact. From the Teddy Bear clinic for orphan children, mental health campaigns, climate change talks to the strong Alumni support, IFMSA is a place where we can all fit in and participate in its various initiatives."
Fun Fact: I’ve lived in three different countries Syria, Sudan and the US!
Jennifer Dziemianko
Secretary
"I'm new to the IFMSA but I look forward to future opportunities!."
Fun Fact: I'm a Respiratory Therapist from Canada et je parle Francais (and I speak French) :)
Anthony Petrillo
Finance Director
"Baking brownies for the bake sale pre-COVID."
Fun Fact: I’m a black belt in Taekwondo.
Vyoma Patel
Fundraising Director
"I only had an experience with One meeting before COVID shut down, but I really liked their community outreach events they were doing in Grenada with the little children"
Fun Fact: I skipped a grade.
Mya Kassim
Communications Director
"I joined IFMSA last January and I have never regretted my decision. The club truly lives up to the vision of the organization ie. establishing unity among all medical students for the greater good of global health."
Fun Fact: I jumped in front of a pit bull who tried to ambush my doggo.
Nkemjika Nweke
SCOME Director
"The Mini Med school event! I love that it's a great way to engage with younger kids and help them feel empowered about their healthcare decisions."
Fun Fact: I am obsessed with crafts and DIY projects. I built an entire deck, couch, and installed an above ground pool in my free time! Just call me "Bob the Builder."
Azka Iqbal
SCOPH Director
"My favorite IFMSA event is the Teddy Bear Clinic and Mini Med School! It is so much fun to teach the children about medicine and watch them have fun. They are always so happy to see everyone and it is an experience that will stay with you for a lifetime. I also love the impact that IFMSA has in Grenada and around the world."
Fun Fact: I love to read and used to read a book a day but during med school I cut it down to 100 a year!
Gabrielle"Gabby" Arens
SCOPE/SCORE Director
"Being able to interview my peers who wanted to go abroad for IFMSA exchanges will always be a highlight. It was so cool to be able to hear about everyone's passion for travel, global health, and plans for their respective futures."
Fun Fact: I learned Arabic and Russian in undergrad, and studied abroad in Jordan.
Stephanie Moody-Geissler
SCORP Director
"IFMSA has allowed me to connect with medical students from around the world to exchange experiences and ideas expanding my understanding of cultures outside of my own. "
Fun Fact: I have traveled, worked, and/or lived in 30 different countries.
Brooke Bidwell
SCORA Director
"The incredible partnerships we have with the community and abroad, and also meeting and working with such diverse and passionate people."
Fun Fact: I served in the Peace Corps :)
This could be you!
Deputy
Chidimma Udoyeh
Membership Engagement Director
"IFMSA is like that family that is always ready to adopt you and take you in. I remember walking into my first meeting and feeling absolutely at home. Our club is a great way for you to meet and network with medical students not only in Grenada but also across the globe!"
Fun Fact: I love swimming but don’t really fancy the beach. I know, the irony.
Isabella Essilfie
Membership Engagement Director
"I am new to IFMSA and I am looking forward to having a great time in this club. "
Fun Fact: I love baking and I would make sure to bake every Saturday. It is so much fun.
Calum Macpherson,
PhD, DIC, MEVPC, FRSPH, FRSB, FRSTMH
Founding director and Vice President, WINDREF
Dean of the School of Graduate Studies, and Director of Research, SGU, Faculty Advisor of IFMSA
Dr. Macpherson completed his PhD at Imperial College, London, joined the African Medical Research and Education Foundation (AMREF: The Flying Doctors) in Nairobi, Kenya, which he worked with for 10 years. In 1982, he was appointed the Head of a National Control Program on Cystic Hydatid Disease, an important zoonotic infection amongst the pastoral peoples of Eastern Africa. He then joined the Swiss Tropical Research Institute in Tanzania, and served as Director, working on malaria vaccine trials, schistosomiasis control initiatives, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, and nutrition, infection, immunity and the environment projects. He then spent a year at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and then moved to Trinidad as Professor of Veterinary Parasitology at the University of the West Indies. He joined St George’s University in 1993 as Professor of Parasitology and Director of Research in the School of Medicine. He assisted with the creation of the Schools of Veterinary Medicine and Graduate Studies. He has been an invited speaker and conducted field based research in over 70 countries. He serves on many internal and international committees. Dr. Macpherson is the Founding Director and Vice-President of the Windward Islands Research and Education Foundation, a 501 c 3 charitable trust registered in New York and the UK and an NGO in Grenada. Over the course of his career, he has supervised over 80 master’s degree and PhD students in Kenya, Tanzania, India, the UK, Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago and Grenada. In 2014 he was appointed to the Research Advisory Committee of the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and elected as a Global Football Ambassador by the Grenada Football Association. He has served on many World Health Organization and Pan American Health Organization Advisory Committees, published over 140 peer-reviewed international journal articles and written or edited 5 books and over 30 book chapters. He has a wide diversity of research interests, but focuses on human behavior, zoonoses, vector-borne diseases, and surveillance. In 2008, he was the Founding Faculty Advisor for the IFMSA.