Michelle L. Izmaylov, MD

was born in Los Angeles, California and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. She received a Bachelor’s of Science in Biology and Chemistry from Emory University and attended medical school at Vanderbilt University, where she was a Cornelius Vanderbilt Scholar. She completed internal medicine residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and remained to work on the front lines of the pandemic in the role of an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine.

Thea L. Swenson, MD

née Tran, was born in Los Angeles, California and raised in Denver Colorado. She received a Bachelor’s of Science in Engineering: Product Design from Stanford University and attended medical school at the University of Colorado. She is a resident physician at Vanderbilt with interests in sports medicine.

Michelle is a published writer of several fantasy-fiction books, though her most recent literary work explores narrative medicine. She received first place in the 2016 national Gold – Hope Tang, MD Humanism in Medicine Essay Contest for “Your Soul is Not Concrete.” Her medical essays, such as “Two Creams, Three Sugars” and “The Seventh Year“, have been published in journals such as the Journal of General Internal Medicine and the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. She is a first-generation Russian American and was selected as a member of 21st Century Leader’s 20 under 20.

Thea previously worked in marketing and product design, interning at medical startups like Doximity and playing a key role in the development of the Cooling Glove at Stanford University. Her work as been presented at various technology and innovation conferences, including TEDMED and MedicineX. In medical school, she briefly studied journalism in New York City, where she gained experience with print, television, internet, and radio. She is a first generation Vietnamese-American.