Isabel Chen

Isabel Chen, MD, MPH, is a family medicine resident and Chief of Social Mission & Advocacy at the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center. She is a staunch advocate for social justice through the lens of health and medicine. She performs medical evaluations for asylum seekers in Southern California and is implementing a social determinants of health curriculum and patient screening tool for Kaiser Permanente. In medical school, Isabel founded Keep Safe Initiative, a grassroots organization that develops panic alarms for sex-trade workers in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. She is also co-founder of The Reading Bear Society, a citywide early education literacy program in her hometown of Vancouver, Canada, that brings together nearly 500 preschool, high school and medical students to promote inner-city health and literacy. Isabel is a former President of the Women’s Leadership Initiative at Yale University, where she completed both BA in Anthropology & MPH degrees, and her student research on domestic violence was a major catalyst for policy change in Massachusetts. She currently serves on the boards of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM), California Academy of Family Practice (CAFP) and has served as an active member on boards for Yale, UNESCO, University of British Columbia, American Public Health Association and the Federation of Medical Women of Canada.