Victor Lopez-Carmen, also called Waokiya Mani (Walks Helping) in his Dakota language, is a member of Crow Creek Sioux Tribe and a current student at Harvard Medical School. A Magna Cum Laude graduate (’17) Victor was a health sciences-premedical major in the Department of Health Promotion and Physical Education. Following graduation, he earned a Master’s in Public Health on a Fulbright Scholarship from Western Sydney University. In addition to his medical studies, Victor currently serves as the elected Co-Chair of the UN Global Indigenous Youth Caucus. He is involved in a research project as an Advisory Board Member at Ariadne Labs, focusing on minority recruitment to health care. His work also encompassed physician-patient interactions on race. Appointed as a member of Boston’s COVID-19 Health Inequities Task Force, Victor collaborates with local, national, and global stakeholders to address inequities in Indigenous and minority health.
Learn more about Victor's experiences and activities on behalf of indigenous peoples in this article "A Medical Warrior with the Heart of a Soulful Healer."