2024 Finalist: Steven Gong

STEVEN GONG, an aspiring physician-policymaker from San Francisco’s Chinatown, graduated with a triple major in human biology, economics, and political science. Inspired by his family’s healthcare challenges, Steven founded the California Health Advocacy Network as a Strauss Scholar, advocating for patients through free insurance enrollment and policy reform. Championing health equity, he served as a student government senator, organizing director, and inaugural chair of the COVID-19 Response Committee among other leadership roles, including as chief financial officer of the UC-wide student government. He also published research in health disparities, strokes, and neuropolitics while clinically caring for patients as a medical scribe and emergency medical technician. Committed to becoming “the physician who advocates for patients to the point of challenging the very systems compounding their suffering,” Steven’s dedication extended to pro-bono healthcare consulting and internships at the White House, National Institutes of Health, US Department of Health, and US Department of Justice. A Truman, Marshall, and two-time Rhodes Scholarship finalist, he will begin his studies at Stanford University this fall—pursuing a vision of healthcare as not a privilege, but a right.