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Vanessa K. Ferrel

Vanessa K. Ferrel, MD, MPH

Assistant Professor


Department: Medicine

Practices: Partnership Comprehensive Care Practice

Specialties: HIV, Internal Medicine

Education

  • MD - University of California, San Diego School of Medicine (2018)
  • MPH - Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health (2016)

Awards & Honors

  • Departmental Award for Distinction in Health Equity and Anti-Racism, Montefiore Medical Center Residency Program in Social Medicine (June 2021)
  • Daniel C Leicht Award for Outstanding Achievement in Social Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center Residency Program in Social Medicine (June 2021)
  • Honorable Mention, L. Randol Barker - David E. Kern Housestaff Research Award, Johns Hopkins Department of General Internal Medicine (September 2020)
  • Pisacano Leadership Foundation Alumni Grant (Summer 2020)
  • Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine (AAIM) Innovation Grant (Spring 2020)
  • Health Advocacy Fellow, Prescription Drug Pricing Affordability, Doctors for America (DFA) Copello Fellowship (December 2019 – December 2020)
  • San Miguel Association Medical Scholarship for Excellence in Primary Care (Fall 2018)
  • Scholarship for Sociomedical Sciences (Fall 2016)
  • Inductee, Gold Humanism Honor Society, Arnold P Gold Foundation (September 2016)

Memberships / Professional Affiliations

  • American Academy of HIV Medicine (AAHIVM)
  • International Aids Society – USA (IAS-USA)
  • National Medical Association (NMA)
  • Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM)

Other Languages Spoken

Spanish

Vanessa K. Ferrel, MD, MPH, completed postgraduate medical training in Primary Care and Social Internal Medicine and obtained board-certification in Internal Medicine. Dr. Ferrel is passionate about employing health equity, social medicine and antiracism as practices to achieve liberation for marginalized and oppressed people. Dr. Ferrel seeks to apply an antiracist, health equity and intersectional justice lens to all aspects of medicine and health care.

Medical services provided: primary and preventative care for people living with HIV, including caring for comorbid conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, chronic kidney disease; treatment for people living with Hepatitis C; and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)

Residencies

  • Internal Medicine - Montefiore Medical Center Moses and Weiler Campus (July 2018 – July 2021)

Vanessa K. Ferrel, MD, MPH, is an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at Drexel University College of Medicine.

Research Interests

Anti-blackness and antiracism in health care environments, race concordance and language concordance effects on health outcomes

In the Media

“Meet Vanessa K. Ferrel, MD, MPH, AAHIVS, Chair of the Committee for Diversity & Inclusive Excellence”
Pulse (Spring 2024)

“Meet the Provider: Vanessa Ferrel, MD, MPH”
Drexel Medicine Blog (May 4, 2023)

"Structural Violence, COVID-19 and the Bronx"
Lopez, S., V. Ferrel, F. Feliz.
Interview on OPEN BXRx. BronxNet TV (June 2020)

"Antibody, Ep 3: Combat"
Sariahmed, K., A. Azan, B. Ding, NZ Dzurinko , VK Ferrel, M. Gonzalez, M. Khan, and M. Shi.
The Dig. Digital Podcast (June 2020)

"Interview with Vanessa Ferrel on Public Health, Med School and Health Equity"
KUCR 88.3 FM. Riverside, CA (March 2017)

"Episode 80: A Beautiful Way to Resist"
Another Round Podcast. New York, NY (March 2017)

Publications

"Structural Violence, COVID-19, and The Bronx: A Black Physician on Health Inequities"
Ferrel, V.
LeftVoice Magazine. Published online. (May 19, 2020)

"A Culture of Supremacy in Medicine" Ferrel, V.K.
Academic Medicine, 92(8), 1071-1072. (2017)

"HIV/AIDS"
Nuyen B.A., Glick J.L., Ferrel V., Mathews W.C.
In: Lehman J., Diaz K., Ng H., Petty E., Thatikunta M., Eckstrand K. (eds) The Equal Curriculum. Springer, Cham. 02 (November 2019) (2020)

"Ally. Accomplice. Advocate. Accomplish"
Ferrel V.
Op-Ed. Journal of the Student National Medical Association. Fall 2016: Equity in Healthcare. (October 18, 2016)

"Health Equity and Intersectional Justice for All"
Ferrel V., Tantoco N., Chang J., Munir N., Berquist S.
In American Medical Association, ed. Turn Med Ed on its Head: American Medical Association Medical Education Innovation Challenge. Chicago, IL: American Medical Association; pg 15. (2016)

Presentations

Oral Presentations

"Medicine as a Microcosm: Deconstructing Kyriarchy in Healthcare"
Ferrel, V.
UC San Diego Design Lab (April 2021)

"Anti-racism in Graduate Medical Education"
González Corro L., Ferrel, V.
Santa Clara Valley Medical Center Grand Rounds (November 2020)

"Design of a social justice and community-based curriculum to expand the critical consciousness of resident trainees"
González Corro L., Rock R., Ferrel V., Diaz C.
Social Medicine Immersion Month: 2020 Learn Serve Lead Conference. American Academy of Medical Colleges (AAMC). Washington, DC (November 2020)

"Copello Catalyst Talks: DFA’s Health Advocacy Fellows Share Their Stories"
Ferrel, V.
Doctors For America National Leadership Conference; Healing America 2020 (August 2020)

"Anti-racism in Graduate Medical Education"
González Corro L., V. Ferrel.
Montefiore Medical Center Department of General Internal Medicine (July 2020)

Poster Presentations

"Design of a social justice and community based social medicine immersion month"
Ferrel V., R. Rock, C. Diaz, L. González Corro
2020 Annual Conference. Society of General Internal Medicine. Birmingham, AL (May 2020)

"Racial bias and other euphemisms: the importance of actively anti-racist language in medical and public health literature"
Ferrel V.
10th Anniversary Celebration & 2nd Pre-Faculty Career Development Conference. Building the Next Generation of Academic Physicians. Phoenix, AZ (January 2020)

"Racial bias and other euphemisms: the importance of actively anti-racist language in medical and public health literature"
Ferrel V.
Fifth Annual NYU Langone Health Disparities Symposium. New York, NY (October 2019)

"Assessment of Medical Student Skills, Attitudes, Knowledge and Familiarity Regarding LGBTQ Health"
Ferrel V., Sánchez NF.
2018 LGBT Health Workforce Conference. Building the Next Generation of Academic Physicians. New York, NY (May 2018)

"Prospective Analysis of Clinical Skills, Attitudes, and Knowledge of LGBTQIA Communities at UC San Diego School of Medicine"
Ferrel V., Tantoco N., Berquist S., McDonald D.
2nd Annual Public Health Research Day. University of California San Diego Institute for Public Health. La Jolla, CA (April 2016)