Jenna Lester
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Brown University
Jenna Lester | |
|---|---|
| Alma mater | Harvard University Brown University |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | University of California, San Francisco |
Jenna Lester is an American dermatologist and faculty member at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Lester founded the UCSF Skin of Color Clinic, where she is the director. The clinic looks to address health disparities by providing dermatological care to people of color.
Lester was born into a family of healthcare workers. Her grandmother, Ruby Brangman, worked as a nurse practitioner, and her mother, Sharon Brangman, is a geriatrician.[1] Her grandmother was one of the first Black women to work as a nurse practitioner in the state of New York.[2] Lester realised that she wanted to be a physician at a young age; her mother set the example.[3] Their family story was featured by NPR's Story Corps.[3]
Lester earned her undergraduate degree at Harvard University.[1] She eventually studied medicine at Brown University, where she was elected to the medical honour society Alpha Omega Alpha.[4] Black people are underrepresented in medicine, and this underrepresentation gives rise to a cycle of health disparities for Black people.[5] Lester was encouraged by her father to specialise in dermatology.[6] Whilst she was at medical school, a Black patient presented with psoriasis, but none of the physicians could diagnose the condition because they had not been trained in how to identify it on dark skin.[7] In fact, in a survey of dermatologists in 2011, half of the participants reported that they could not diagnose conditions on Black skin.[8]