Lara Castaneda is a third-year medical student at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in Middletown, NY. She is originally from Westchester, New York and then later headed to Stony Brook University for her undergraduate studies before continuing her path into medicine!

This marks Lara’s third year being involved with APAMSA. She previously co-founded and served as President of her medical school’s APAMSA chapter. She later served as Database Director supporting chapters across the organization, and then served as Region 2 Director, where she worked closely with schools across New York and New Jersey to help strengthen collaboration and support chapter initiatives.

Lara is now excited to serve as one of the Northeast Regional Directors and looks forward to connecting with and supporting even more schools across different states. Outside of medicine, she enjoys exploring new food spots, traveling, doing nail art, and playing volleyball, and she is excited to continue building community within APAMSA!