Barbara Pastrana

Barbara Pastrana was born and raised in Mexico City. After finishing her Medical Degree in Mexico, she moved to NYC. She is a graduate student in the Population and Family Health Program at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. Before pursuing her studies in the United States, Dr. Pastrana was the head physician at a rural community clinic in her native Mexico. Her current work at Finding Common Ground focuses on the impact welfare reform has had on the health of chronically ill children and their mothers. During her internship, she worked on evaluating the quality of family planning services at a rural Government Hospital in Ghana. After completing her Masters degree, she will continue to focus on improving maternal and child health care, both at the patient and community levels.