Jasmine Brown, MPhil
Jasmine Brown, MPhil
Medical Student
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Jasmine Brown is an African American third year medical student at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with an undergraduate degree in Neuroscience in 2018. For four years, she conducted biomedical research and participated in research internships at multiple institutions. She found that numerous students of color had experienced prejudice in labs throughout the country, leading many to experience imposter syndrome, questioning if they truly belonged in the research community. To help young scientists of color, Jasmine founded the Minority Association of Rising Scientists and served as its president. This group provided minority students with biomedical research resources and a community to be successful.
During her senior year of college, Jasmine was awarded the Rhodes Scholarship. So she moved to the U.K. to complete a Master of Philosophy in History of Science, Medicine and Technology at the University of Oxford. Her dissertation focused on the social and structural barriers put in place to prevent black women from entering medicine in the U.S. Through her studies, she found that no complete history of black women physicians in the United States exists, and what little mention is made to these women in existing histories is often insubstantial or altogether incorrect. Jasmine believed that sharing the stories of black women physicians would inspire future generations of minority physicians, so she decided to publish her research as a book. She received a book deal from Beacon Press during her first semester of medical school at UPenn. Her debut book, Twice as Hard: The Stories of Black Women Who Fought to Become Physicians from the Civil War to the Twenty-First Century, was published on January 24, 2023. In this work, Jasmine champions a new history, penning the long-erased stories of black women physicians in permanent ink. Her book received positive reviews from successful authors such as Dr. Damon Tweedy, author of Black Man in a White Coat, as well as Publishers Weekly and a starred review from Booklist. Since her book went on sale, it’s become a #1 New Release in History of Medicine and in Women’s History on Amazon. It also reached #8 in History of Medicine, #17 in Black & African American History and #28 in Medical Professional Biographies on their Best Sellers Rank. Other books ranked in the top 10 for History of Medicine along with Twice as Hard were Medical Apartheid, The Emperor of All Maladies, and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
Jasmine has spoken at universities and organizations across the country. She was the keynote speaker for Columbia University’s 2022 White Coat Ceremony for their Summer Health Professions Education Program. She was also the keynote speaker for the Women in Medicine Month talk hosted by Penn Medicine’s Office of Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity. Former U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Joycelyn Elders, was a previous speaker for this event. On her book tour, Jasmine spoke at the Regional Medical Education Conference, Spelman College, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, among others. She’s been featured in the local news in multiple cities, national radio and podcasts. She’s also been highlighted in various publications including The New York Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer. Jasmine has been the recipient of numerous awards including the University of Pennsylvania’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Involvement Award and Alpha Kappa Alpha’s Presidential Award. Jasmine is committed to using her skills and platform to help create a more diverse and inclusive medical community.