University of Miami Miller School of Medicine – September 16, 2025
The Sherman Emerging Leader Prize winner says she’s motivated by seeing her patients thrive and helping others in their medical careers.
For Oriana Damas, M.D., associate professor of medicine in the Division of Digestive Health and Liver Diseases at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, the work of improving care and outcomes for underserved patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), particularly within the Latino community, has been a driving force since her days as a medical student at the Miller School.
As a student, Dr. Damas, now also interim director and director of translational studies at the Crohn’s and Colitis Center, organized Spanish language tutorials for her peers to better serve Miami’s diverse patient population.
“If a Spanish class could improve the interactions between students and patients,” she recalled, “I was intent on making it happen.”
She has been making things happen in gastroenterology ever since.
