Our Team
Natalia Suarez, MA Program Manager
Natalia Suarez serves as the Program Manager of UI Health CHAMPIONS at the UI Health Office of Diversity & Community Health Equity.
Natalia also serves as Program Manager for the UIC Urban Health Club – a CHAMPIONS partner program – at the Urban Health Program. Since 2017, alongside a dedicated team of pre-health and health professional students, Natalia continues to design and implement health career exposure and health advocacy programs for high school youth across the University of Illinois Chicago, Rockford, and Urbana-Champaign campuses, with a collective mindset to prepare youth to become future health professionals and motivate them to serve as community health advocates.
Natalia earned her MA in Anthropology from the University of Kansas, and her undergraduate degree in International Relations from the Universidad de las Américas-Puebla, Mexico. Natalia has most recently completed the University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health Health Disparities Research Certificate program.
Jennifer Plascencia, BS Urban Health Program Graduate Program Coordinator
Jennifer Plascencia is a graduate student worker at the UIC Urban Health Program and serves as Program Coordinator for the UIC Urban Health Club and CHAMPIONS. Jennifer joined the team in 2019 and facilitates curriculum development, program implementation, and evaluation.
Jennifer earned her Bachelor of Science in neuroscience from the University of Michigan. She is a current graduate student at the UIC School of Public Health, where she is earning her Master’s in Public Health.
Vanessa Marquina, Nutrition Science Major, Urban Health Program Undergraduate Program Coordinator
Vanessa is a UIC Urban Health Program undergraduate student worker and currently serves as an Urban Health Club and CHAMPIONS undergraduate program coordinator. Before becoming a student program coordinator, Vanessa was a CHAMPIONS high school participant in 2017 and joined the team in 2018.
Vanessa is majoring in nutrition and will be enrolling in the UIC Accelerated Master’s of Nutrition Coordinated Program after completing her bachelor’s degree.
Daniel Carrion, Biochemistry Major and Sociology Minor, Urban Health Program Undergraduate Program Coordinator
Daniel first started as a CHAMPIONS high school program participant in the fall of 2017 and became one of the first program high school coordinators in the summer of 2018. Daniel is a UIC Urban Health Program undergraduate student worker and currently serves as an Urban Health Club and CHAMPIONS undergraduate program coordinator. Daniel is majoring in biochemistry and minoring in sociology at UIC, and is applying to the UIC Master’s of Science Education.
The UI Health CHAMPIONS team also includes University of Illinois Chicago and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign pre-health professional and health professional student volunteers and instructors, as well as UI Health Emergency Medicine Resident mentors.
