Ladan Karim-Nejad

School of Pharmacy

I was born and raised in Northern Virginia (Falls Church area) and my parents are from Iran. Where I live there’s a large population of Iranians, so growing up I always had Iranian friends and family friends that didn’t make me feel isolated from my culture. Since high school I have been interested in pharmacology/toxicology and environmental sciences. I did my undergraduate degree at VCU in Chemistry and now I’m at VCU School of Pharmacy for my Pharm D. I enjoyed living in Richmond and loved the small-city artisan quality of the area.

I enjoy taking walks. I used to walk all around Richmond and really got to know the area best that way. Since COVID-19, I started walking a lot more in my own neighborhood since I moved back up; I walked from my house to the Washington Monument and it took me 6 hours. I started picking up litter once a week on my walks about 45 bags of trash. I also enjoy painting and reading.

I chose to be an SCIE Ambassador because I wanted to learn more about ways healthcare students can contribute to their school environment and make a more inclusive, environmentally conscious campus. I believe these qualities would make future healthcare providers better prepared to meet the needs of their patients and communities. I expect to meet students from other disciplines and come up with ways to collaborate on projects and ideas.