About Veronica Manzo

Veronica was born in California to Mexican parents. Her family emigrated from small towns in Michoacán and Jalisco to the United States to seek opportunity and employment as farm workers, picking crops in the fields of Northern California. From their early struggles in America, Veronica learned about the value of hard work. She was drawn a career in medicine in order to better help her tight-knit family, and those in similar positions, face their personal struggles with disease and the healthcare system.

Veronica attended Harvard, where she studied neurobiology and global health and health policy. She conducted research on glioblastoma multiforme, a deadly brain tumor, which resulted in a publication in Nature. Following graduation, Veronica continued conducting research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Broad Institute to build her knowledge of genetics. Concurrently, she volunteered for Global Oncology, as a leader in developing patient education materials, to improve communication and cancer care in resource-limited settings.

Veronica is now pursuing an MD at Stanford Medical School, where she has served as co-chair of the Latino Medical Student Association and tailored her coursework to focus on cancer biology and community health. Last summer, Veronica helped implement key preventive medicine programs at the Ravenswood Family Health Center in East Palo Alto, California, a federally qualified health center that provides health care to all patients regardless of their ability to pay or immigration status. Veronica's goal is to integrate her interests in community health and cancer biology to improve cancer care and make a difference in the lives of patients with cancer.