Leadership Committee

John Cuenca

University of Texas

John Patrick Cuenca is a second year PA student at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston.

Prior to PA school, he attended the University of Texas at Austin and graduated in 2010 with a Bachelor of Arts in the Plan II Honors program and biology. Since then, he has worked as a health care management consultant with a focus on health care strategy and operations, workflow improvement, and health IT integration. He also completed a Master of Business Administration from Texas A&M University Commerce in 2015. His prior clinical experience includes working as an EMT, andrology technician, home health aide, and a research assistant.

With a personal passion for student leadership and empowerment, Cuenca also serves as the UTMB student liaison for the Texas Gulf Coast PA Association, where he worked closely with board members to develop and implement a PA student mentorship program. When he’s not studying, Cuenca enjoys taking photos, cooking, traveling, and woodworking.

Katie Lukovich

University of Detroit Mercy

Katie Lukovich is a second-year PA student at the University of Detroit Mercy in Detroit, Michigan. Lukovich received a Bachelor of Science from Oakland University with a major in applied sciences.

During undergraduate studies, Lukovich worked as a surgical first assistant. She volunteered her time serving as director and secretary for her state chapter of the Association Surgical Technologists. She volunteered on national boards and committees for certification examination development for the certified surgical technologist and surgical first assistant. Lukovich was also the recent graduate commissioner for the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health care programs (CAAHEP) as well as the practitioner member on the board of directors for the Association of Specialized and Professional Accreditors (ASPA).

Lukovich also helped form Vitality, the first dance club at Oakland University. She served as president and choreographer during her undergraduate career. She continues her passion for dance and teaching and choreographing for the competition team at the Art of Dance in White Lake, Michigan.

Lukovich is involved with her school’s student society and served as the AOR representative for the 2019 conference. She has also organized donor drives at her university to sign students up to be organ, tissue, and eye, registered donors. Lukovich’s clinical interests include neurosurgery, pediatrics, and rural medicine.

As North Central Regional Director, Lukovich hopes to encourage collaboration of resources and ideas amongt constituents of the district. She also is eager to serve as mentor and share her passion for leadership and advocacy with the Student Academy Representatives in the district.

In her free time, Lukovich enjoys spending time with her husband, Ryan, and their three westies, Lucy, Ricky, and Levi.

Will Kabrich

Wake Forest School of Medicine

Will Kabrich is a second-year PA student at Wake Forest School of Medicine PA Program, where he currently serves as class president. Kabrich completed his undergraduate education at Clemson University in South Carolina with a Bachelor of Science in biological sciences. Upon graduation, he worked as a scribe in the Greenville Hospital System in Greenville, South Carolina. After his experience as a scribe, Kabrich switched professions and worked as a Maui Jim Sunglass Brand Marketing Ambassador. Quickly, he realized that medicine was his true passion and moved back to Greenville, South Carolina. There he worked as a medical assistant for two years before starting PA school.

In addition to being a student at Wake Forest School of Medicine Program he is a part of the North Carolina Medical Board Emerging Leaders Program,a program designed to foster and train emerging student leaders for clinical practice. Kabrich is also a part of Wake Forest’s Medical Education Certificate Program. This program is designed to improve students’ knowledge of the science of learning in order to improve their performance as future medical educators. He is mentored and challenged by Wake PA faculty through an initiative called OnLeadership which teaches positive change through the application of transformational leadership. He has gained great insight from being a part of the leadership at Wake PA School. Kabrich enjoys using his gifts and talents to further make a difference for the PA profession.

As the Southeast Regional Director Kabrich desires to connect, relate, and empower students across his region. He plans to serve as a mentor for student representatives from each school hoping to unite the Southeast region as a cohesive team. Kabrich is passionate about getting to know individuals. He wants to learn PA students’ dreams in the Southeast region to foster their engagement for the PA profession.

In his free time, you can find Kabrich running trails in the mountains, eating a piece of delicious sushi on his fork, introducing himself to the stranger beside him, or laughing around any campfire with his friends and family.

Bailey Buhr

University of Colorado

I’m Bailey Buhr a first year student from the CHA/PA program at the University of Colorado. I am involved in my class’s Silver Society. So far I’m loving PA school and can’t wait for the opportunities to make a change.

Previously to entering my program I attended college at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction Colorado. During that time, I was on the executive board of the Graduate Education and Medical Sciences club, a resident assistant, and a member of the Alpha Chi honor society. I also worked as a waitress at Chili’s and a tutor on campus.

I grew up in the rural town of Alamosa in the San Luis Valley, where I fell in love with the idea of working in health care and rural towns. I worked in a primary care clinic on my summer and winter breaks from college, and was exposed to what it truly means to advocate for our patients.

Corinne Benson

Touro University

Corinne is a second-year PA/MPH student at Touro University California. She’s served as her school’s Student Academy Representative (SAR) and has loved getting her cohort excited and engaged with all things AAPA, including a monthly newsletter. While in school, Benson has stayed actively involved with Planned Parenthood and hopes to work closely with women’s health as a future PA. She currently lives with her partner, Brandon, and their cat, Ellie, in the Bay Area. In her free time, she enjoys riding her bike, having a movie night, or making something with lots of cheese. She is excited to work alongside fellow students on this year’s resolutions and to help join communities with an integral focus on diversity and inclusion.

Daniel Mulcahy

Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

Daniel Mulcahy is a current third year at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in Boston, MA.

Daniel grew up in Jacksonville, FL and eventually moved to Orlando and attended the University of Central Florida. Daniel graduated with a degree in Health Sciences Pre-Clinical in 2016. Throughout his undergraduate career, leadership was always a big part of his experience. He was a brother of Delta Epsilon Mu (DEM), a professional pre-health co-ed fraternity committed to representing all students pursing various health fields. He eventually went on to become the National Vice President of External Affairs where he represented the voice of many DEM students from different walks of life throughout the United States.

Diversity has also always been a large driving force in becoming a PA. Daniel is a Director at Large of the LGBT Caucus and a previous student leader fellow. Daniel is committed to providing an inclusive and caring environment for underserved communities seeking healthcare. Being from Orlando, Florida, he was very impacted by the Pulse shootings that occurred in Orlando and that event remains his main reason for becoming a PA. He utilizes his time and social media pages to educate the general population, students who are interested in becoming PAs, or PA students on caring for the LGBT community.

Delilah Dominguez

Quinnipiac University

Delilah Dominguez is a second-year student in Quinnipiac University’s physician assistant program. She is currently president of the second-year class and served as a Student Delegate for the House of Delegates in 2018-2019. She is also a scholar in the University of Connecticut’s Urban Service Track/Area Health Education Center Network Program, which promotes interdisciplinary collaboration and primary care for underserved communities.

Delilah was born and raised in Texas. She previously earned a Master of Fine Arts in Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism from the Yale School of Drama and a Master of Science in Social Work from the University of Texas at Austin.

Prior to beginning the physician assistant program at Quinnipiac, she worked as a licensed clinical social worker with older adults in central Texas in hospice care, on an inpatient geriatric psychiatric unit, and as a research associate. She is passionate about serving older adults and is particularly interested in end-of-life, hospice, mental health, and LGBTQ health. She believes that the primary mission of medicine, like social work, is to enhance human well-being and help meet the basic needs of all people. She is an advocate for social justice and is interested in helping to create and shape policies in the profession and country that will help improve our healthcare system and provide greater access to health resources.

Menerva Lobe

University of Utah PA Program (UPAP)

My name is Menerva Lobe, I am a 2nd year PA student at the University of Utah PA Program (UPAP). I was born in Cameroon, West Africa, where I lived till age 11 and then migrated to the United States and lived in Reno/Sparks, Nevada. In 2018, I moved to Salt Lake City Utah to attend PA school. I fell in love with UPAP’s mission driven work and efforts to increase diversity in PA cohorts and increase access to healthcare to medically underserved populations. In my 1st year of PA school, I served as my program’s Student Academy Representative. In that role, I worked with other officers within my student society, particularly the outreach chair. This experience, along with my own personal experiences as a person of color allowed to come to the realization that student societies need to take on a more active and intentional role in helping students from underrepresented minority populations learn about the PA profession and be mentors. This realization was the impetus to me authoring and presenting AAPA Resolution 2019-02 at the AAPA conference in Denver. My passion to serve my community and increase access to medically underserved populations also lead me serve as PA Student Leader for the largest free health fair in the state of Utah, known as CARE Fair. My goal is to be able to provide compassionate and competent care to my patients. In July 2019, I was recognized by my program “For Outstanding Clinical Performance” and was awarded a scholarship by the C. Hilmon Castle, MD Endowment for Educational Enhancements by the University of Utah School of Medicine, Division of Physician Assistant Studies.

I received my undergraduate degree from the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) College of Business Administration. For over 15 years before PA school, I worked in behavioral/mental health, developmental services, geriatrics and health care management. I worked as a behavioral health technician in a mental health institution for the state of Nevada, a manager in behavioral health as well as case manager for a few state of Nevada behavioral health contractors.

As a future provider, the things that I value the most are compassion, authenticity, conscientiousness and giving back to my community. After I graduate, I want to work in primary care, particularly with Medically Underserved Populations. I also plan to remain actively involved with mentorship initiatives that help underrepresented minority pre-PA students prepare to apply for PA programs. Additionally, I plan to stay involved with AAPA leadership opportunities.

Michael Farran-Brown

University of Kentucky

Michael Farran-Brown is a second-year student at the University of Kentucky PA program where he participated in the Assembly of Representatives in 2018-2019. Currently, he serves as the Student Academy Representative for his student society as well as a member of the LBGT PA Caucus. Farran-Brown is an advocate for Kentucky PA legislation. Moreover, he is passionate about the future of PA education and hopes to complete a Future Educator Fellowship through PAEA. In addition, he has presented at numerous national and regional conferences on various topics ranging from heart disease research and public health studies to curriculum and programmatic changes for university honors programs. He celebrates diversity and culture, looking to learn and grow from interactions with others.

Prior to PA school, he graduated with a bachelor of science from Eastern Kentucky University where he studied biological and biomedical sciences and a double minor in chemistry and women, gender, and sexuality studies. He first began his professional career working in biomedical research, studying the various molecular effects of estrogen on sex-differentiated cardiomyocytes in neonatal rats. He then worked as a MHA for an adult inpatient behavioral sciences unit in eastern Kentucky as well as a certified pharmacy technician for inpatient pharmacy services in Lexington. His medical background soon led him to pursue PA school, where he aspires to be a hospitalist-trained PA and work primarily with infectious disease and cardiomyopathy-associated disorders. His other medical interests include emergency medicine, critical care, and behavioral health.

Farran-Brown is originally from Dearborn, Michigan, but spent the majority of his life in Kentucky and grew up in Elkhorn City, Kentucky. In his free time, he enjoys hiking and spending time with his husband and cats, Buddy and August. He loves exploring new cities, autumn weather, and Starbucks’ Iced Americano with light cream.

Morgan McMahon

Stanford University

Morgan McMahon is a second-year PA student at Stanford University where she is concentrating in healthcare administration and leadership. She served this past year as her program’s student diversity representative. This allowed her to exercise her passion for increasing awareness and diversity of the PA profession, especially among high school students.

Prior to PA school, McMahon graduated with an Interdisciplinary global health major from Wake Forest University. She spent time performing public health research in Haiti, interning with global health organizations, and evaluating yoga as a tool in incarcerated settings.

After graduation, she moved to Atlanta and worked for a health care start-up, Iora Health, as a health coach. In this primary care setting, she valued the relationships she was able to make with patients and the ability to rethink how we deliver healthcare.

Since beginning Stanford’s program, her professional interests have expanded to include how to better prepare PAs for future leadership opportunities. She has concurrently taken many courses at Stanford’s Graduate Business School and has been challenging herself to learn more about the business side of healthcare.

Meanwhile, she has been enjoying the sunny Bay Area with her fiancé, Matt, and their spoiled dog, Sanka. Her favorite days are filled with yoga, dog parks, traveling, local food, and a steaming cup of hot tea.

Sarah Knop

DeSales University

Knop is a second year PA student from DeSales University. A student in the five-year program at DeSales University, she graduated with a B.S in Medical Studies in May 2019. While at DeSales, she worked for the Center for Service and Social Justice as a mentor for students in the Allentown School District and participated in numerous alternative break trips serving communities in the United States and abroad. Knop worked as an intern with a local HIV clinic assisting caseworkers and medical teams in new patient intake and working with community outreach teams to connect patients to care. She is currently a volunteer with the DeSales Free Clinic providing free medical care for the homeless in Allentown, PA.

Throughout her undergraduate years, Knop volunteered for Special Olympics, serving most recently as event co-director for a regional fall sport competition. She continues her involvement as an event volunteer and assistant swim coach for a local Special Olympics program. She is committed to bridging the gap in opportunity and medical care faced by adults and children with disabilities. In her free time, she enjoys running, backpacking and hiking.

Travis Laverne

Drexel University

Travis Laverne is a second year PA student attending Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA where he serves as the President of his class. He obtained his Master of Science degree studying Organizational Leadership at Grantham University. Prior to beginning his journey into PA school Travis worked as a Clinical Research Coordinator for the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania advancing their cardiovascular surgical research program. Specifically, his focus was on novel approaches to minimally invasive surgery of the thoracic aorta. He has ambitions to rejoin the cardiovascular surgical field upon graduation.

Prior to pursuing medicine, Travis completed thirteen years of active duty service with the United States Air Force managing aerospace propulsion operations for the F-22 fighter aircraft around the globe. He continues to proudly serve in the New Jersey Air National guard, as the aerospace propulsion manager for Joint-Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. His goals while serving on the SAAPA leadership committee is to ensure the 2019 AOR resolutions are efficiently incorporated allowing PA student impact to continue to play a large role in shaping the PA profession. Travis is confident this year’s SAAPA leadership committee working closely with AAPA will bring exciting opportunities for students and the profession.

When Travis is enjoying down time, you can find him spending quality time outdoors fishing, mountain biking, and digging up the yard for dinosaurs with his two young boys and extremely supportive wife Jessica.

Jon Kilstrom

University of Nebraska Medical Center

Jon is an assistant professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) PA Program in Omaha, Nebraksa, where he primarily oversees clinical skills instruction. He graduated in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in Emergency Medical Services from Creighton University in Omaha and in 2014 with a master’s degree in PA studies from Union College in Lincoln, Ne. As a student, he served as the AOR representative for his PA program.

Following graduation, Kilstrom worked in internal medicine and urgent care for Baylor Family Medical Center in Grapevine, Texas. Upon returning to Nebraska, he began working in emergency medicine where he continues to practice in addition to his academic duties at UNMC.

Kilstrom has 15 years of experience in emergency medical services, working as a paramedic prior to attending PA school. He remains an active advisory board member for the Creighton University EMS Education program. He serves as the UNMC student society advisor, is a member of the UNMC PA Program and College of Allied Health Admissions Committee, serves on the Nebraska Opioid Treatment Subcommittee, and is a member of the UNMC Grievance Committee.

Kilstrom’s professional interests include emergency medicine, simulation in healthcare education and admissions practices in PA education.