Post by Harvard Medical School

Harvard Medical School graduate Nikki Pérez will begin her residency in neurosurgery at the Barrow Neurological Institute later this year, continuing on a journey that started in early childhood. When she was 4 years old, Pérez was diagnosed with an arachnoid cyst. The cyst didn’t require surgery, but Pérez found herself under the care of a neurosurgeon, sparking her interest in neurosurgery. In college, she majored in dance and biology. She also volunteered at nursing homes, working with residents to develop dance choreography specific to their conditions and abilities. The project became the foundation for her undergraduate thesis. After graduation, Pérez moved to New York City to work in a lab at The Rockefeller University and prepare for the MCAT. She volunteered with Dance for PD, a nonprofit project that teaches dance to people with Parkinson’s disease. Not long after she moved to New York, Pérez’s father was diagnosed with pancreatic and colorectal cancers. She understood clearly her father’s prognosis and decided to delay applying to medical school so she could serve as his primary caregiver. “It’s very different to care for someone with the perspective of a daughter than with the perspective of a provider, which you learn to adopt in medical school,” Pérez said. “I think being able to hold those two perspectives together allows me to connect with patients and their families more meaningfully.” When she arrived at HMS, she also discovered a passion for advancing the cause of global neurosurgery by addressing systemic inequalities in health care access. Pérez became involved with Mission:BRAIN, a nonprofit working to increase global access to neurosurgical care. As she worked on education and mentorship initiatives, though, she wondered if there was more that she could do to help people around the world get the care they need. In her third year at HMS, she shared this curiosity with global neurosurgery leader Kee B. Park, lecturer on global health and social medicine, part-time, at HMS. Park invited her to lead a new initiative, the Boston Declaration, a five-year effort to mobilize coordinated action to address persistent disparities in access to neurosurgical care worldwide. Pérez credits the unique, collaborative learning environment at HMS for making the Boston Declaration and her involvement in it possible. “The power of this institution is that you can dream up any idea and you tell someone about it and all of a sudden all these world-class experts will be coming to you with ideas that build on yours and allow you to make it a reality,” Pérez said.