Sri Contractor is a medical student at Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine in the Class of 2026. Sri was born and raised in Chicago and continued to pursue her education in the same city where her family is. She graduated from Loyola University Chicago where she earned a major in Biology and went on to begin medical school after graduation. During her undergraduate career, Sri served on the board for an organization supported by her university’s wellness center called “CHANGE”, which works to create inclusive and critical spaces to challenge norms, further prevention, and empower survivors of gender-based violence. Through this organization, Sri became interested in learning more about trauma-informed care and advocating for its importance in the medical field after organizing a workshop on “Navigating Trauma-Informed Care: Being A Better Ally In the Medical Field.” Her initial interest in women’s health sparked when she interned at NM Memorial Hospital during junior year in undergrad, where she shadowed in the Department of Urogynecology and worked on a research project examining gender disparities in departmental administrative and educational leadership positions across all U.S. ACGME OB/GYN residency training programs. She was especially inspired by the physician that mentored throughout the internship who both worked in academic medicine and founded a women’s health clinic for survivors of human trafficking. Moreover, growing up within a family of immigrants has been an important part of Sri’s identity and who she is today; she learned the importance of cross-cultural care through her experience of accompanying her grandparents to their doctor’s appointments as one of her family’s translators growing up. Throughout undergrad and continuing onto medical school, Sri also has passion for clinical research. Her most memorable research study she worked on in undergrad was within the Department of Biology, examining whether hormones present in active pills of oral contraceptives have an impact on the taxonomic makeup of gut microbial communities using an in vitro culture system. During her M1 year, Sri’s favorite research study she worked on was within the Department of Labor & Delivery, which examines the impact of postpartum depression on discrepancy in sexual desire, sexual satisfaction, and relationship satisfaction between female and male partners. Through her research experiences, Sri learned about the process of writing an IRB, performing a literature review, recruiting/consenting patients, data entry, chart review, and writing a manuscript – and she cannot wait to contribute these skills and continue to learn and grow through her role as Education Chair here at The Forum. With her passion for advocacy within women’s health and clinical research, Sri looks forward to contributing on The Forum and learning more from her phenomenal peers who have similar passions.