Meet the Team

Farah Shaheen, M.D. is an assistant professor and primary care internist who provides care for the medically underserved, which includes our undocumented immigrants and refugee population, as well as the broader recipients of Medi-Cal insurance. Her clinical interests also include teaching and mentoring medical students and resident physicians as a clinic and wards attending physician and Academic Coach. She is also one of the volunteer preceptors at Shifa Community Clinic and has enjoyed serving patients there as well as teaching and mentoring students. She co-founded the UC Davis Human Rights Initiative with Sharad Jain, M.D. in which the team completes forensic examinations to bolster asylum cases via a collaboration with local immigration attorneys. Farah enjoys spending quality time with family and friends, as well as reading, cooking, and traveling.

Sharad Jain, M.D. is a Professor of Medicine and Associate Dean for Students at the UC Davis School of Medicine. He is a general internist who sees patients at Sacramento County Health Center. Prior to coming to UC Davis, he served as program director for the UCSF/ZSFG Primary Care Medicine Residency Program where he helped start a program to conduct evaluations for persons seeking asylum, and he is thrilled to continue that work in Sacramento.

Ellen Shank is a chief emergency medicine resident at UC Davis headed into a health policy fellowship. As an organized medicine leader with the CMA and AMA, she has advocated for immigrant justice and ICE detention center reform. Ellen has assisted with asylum cases at UC Davis’s Human Rights Initiative and UCSF’s Health and Human Rights Clinic, and looks forward to continuing on as part of the UC Davis team to advocate for asylum seekers in the Sacramento area. She enjoys backpacking, whitewater rafting, and going on adventures with family and friends.

Fransia De Leon is a fourth-year medical student at the UC Davis Sschool of Medicine and rising Internal Medicine resident at Harbor-UCLA. She is a proud daughter of Guatemalan immigrants, whose hardworking and resilient background inspired her commitment to serve underprivileged communities. Her involvement in organizations such as Koreatown Immigrant Worker’s Alliance, Sacramento Street Medicine, Refugee Interprofessional Community Engagement, and the UC Davis Human Rights Clinic (HRC) solidified her commitment to promoting justice and equity in healthcare. She co-founded the UC Davis Human Rights Initiative Student Interest Group, under the umbrella of the HRC, and has also assisted with asylum cases and drafting affidavits. Alongside her dedication to medicine and the underserved, Fransia finds joy in reading fiction, conducting research, dancing, yoga, and music.

Maha Kazmi is a fourth-year medical student at UC Davis who is passionate about immigrant justice and asylum medicine. Maha serves as part of the student leadership for the UC Davis Human Rights Initiative and is currently working to expand clinic services and research opportunities.

Jazz Rai is a student at the University of California Davis who is eager to support the refugee community in any way she can. Jazz volunteers her time to develop and maintain a website for the UC Davis Human Rights Initiative. In her free time, Jazz enjoys baking, painting, reading, and spending time with her family. Her goal is to pursue a profession in healthcare with the mission of giving back to her community.