Kayla Holston, MPH, SKMC ’23

Founder & CEO, Melanin Med LLC
President, Gold Humanism Honor Society SKMC Chapter SKMC ’22

Kayla Holston graduated from the University of Virginia in 2018, earned a Master of Public Health at Emory University in 2019, and began her journey at Sidney Kimmel Medical College (SKMC) the next week. She has served as the President of the Gold Humanism Honor Society and was part of the prestigious Student Leadership Forum led by Dr. Mark Tykocinski. She also completed an internship with the SKMC Physician Executive Leadership Program, working with an interdisciplinary team to develop a novel labor and delivery suite design at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Malawi. Her role was to perform a needs assessment to identify the current privacy concerns of obstetrics professionals and postpartum mothers.

Throughout her time in medical and graduate school, she has used her experience as a Black woman in the medical field to advocate for patients and professionals of color. For example, she has served as the National Policy Statements Director for the Student National Medical Association (SNMA), leading medical students across the country in publishing policy statements on current topics affecting minority patients and health professionals. During her second year at SKMC she founded a business called Melanin Med to create products for medical professionals displaying important taglines, such as "Black Patients Matter." Her goal was to uplift and inspire, while also donating a portion of her proceeds to various SNMA chapters across the country. Additionally, she launched a scholarship and mentorship program to help Black students at her high school alma mater pursue their own dreams in the medical field. Finally, she will donate a portion of profits to underrepresented SKMC students to fund their study material subscriptions.