Emmanuel Cordova was born in Mexico and raised in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. He credits his passion for medicine being driven by the social factors he faced growing up. He lived as an undocumented immigrant for over 20 years working since the age of 13 to overcome educational barriers and poverty. He first attended the University of Illinois at Chicago and later transferred to the University of Pennsylvania graduating with a double major in Health & Societies, Hispanic Studies, and a minor in Latin American and Latino Studies. After college, he spent two years working in a health equity research lab where he came to understand the importance of both medicine and research in alleviating the health disparities of immigrant, underserved, and minority communities. He hopes to become an Emergency Medicine physician conducting health equity research. Currently, he serves as Secretary and Medical Student Representative for the UCLA chapter of LMSA.

Undergrad Institution: University of Illinois at Chicago; University of Pennsylvania

Hometown: Chicago, IL