Ariana Small is a public health scholar, bioethics trainee, and health equity advocate dedicated to advancing justice-centered healthcare delivery. She is currently simultaneously pursuing a Master of Public Health at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health and a Master of Arts in Bioethics at Emory’s Laney Graduate School. In addition, she earned her Bachelor of Science in Public Health from the University at Buffalo.
Ariana’s work bridges clinical medicine, public health systems, and ethical leadership. As a Certified Clinical Medical Assistant at Wellstar Avalon Health Park, she delivers patient-centered care across multiple populations, performing intake, point-of-care testing, and care coordination. Working on the frontlines of healthcare has deepened her understanding of how structural inequities, gaps in health literacy, and fragmented systems shape patient outcomes. These lived clinical experiences inform her commitment to redesigning care models that are equitable, culturally responsive, and rooted in dignity.
Ariana’s leadership trajectory reflects her understanding and commitment to public health equity. She serves as President of the Association of Black Public Health Students (ABPHS) at Emory, where she leads strategic programming, professional development initiatives, and community engagement efforts that center marginalized voices. Throughout her undergraduate career, she founded and led the University Chapter of Global Brigades to Panama, served as the President of the Minority Association of Pre-medical Students (MAPS), and the Public Health Club, which built pipelines for students historically excluded from medicine and public health.
Her research experience at NYU School of Global Public Health focused on functional impairment among individuals diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder, strengthening her commitment to investigating how systemic inequities intersect with mental health outcomes. Across clinical, research, and leadership domains, Ariana approaches public health through an interdisciplinary lens that integrates bioethics, community partnership, and structural analysis.
As an aspiring physician-leader, Ariana is committed to building community-based healthcare practices in underrepresented communities and advancing through leadership that challenges inequitable systems. Her mission is to ensure that healthcare is not merely accessible, but transformative, which means it is grounded in justucem cultural humility, and the belief that every community deserves high-quality, compassionate care.
