Just as the covid pandemic began to consume all news media production in early March, I was introduced by a friend to a physician in Seattle named Amish Dave, so I asked Amish and his colleague Nancy Belcher if they would help understand the pandemic from a medical perspective and help me cut through the daily headline fatigue and have deeper conversation about the importance of medical communities during the covid pandemic.

Some of my concerns had to with how the multiracial working class is affected by the covid pandemic. Fortunately Amish and Nancy were able to speak the issues of how Black and Latinx, low-income, incarcerated, homeless, unsheltered, and undocumented communities are being affected during such unprecedented times.

As many issues in the medical community were apparent before the crisis, they’re now being exacerbated by the pandemic. In our conversation, Amish and Nancy were able to address why they joined a medical society and their visions of a scientifically and medically collaborative future with a focus on human rights and justice. Here’s a little about each of their journeys:

Nancy L. Belcher is a 25-year veteran of the scientific and nonprofit world with experience working directly in hospitals, medical research, business development, public policy and strategic planning. Nancy enjoyed completing her postdoctoral fellowship, working as a research scientist and administrator at Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center. For over a decade Belcher was as a professor of Biology at Seattle Pacific University.

Belcher holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Drexel University, completed her doctoral research at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wistar Institute, and received a Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Washington, Evan’s School. Working for governor’s, federal senators and mayors provided a multitude of highly valued connections. Currently Belcher is completing coursework at Stanford University in the field of Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Belcher has also enjoyed creating multiple startups in the field of medical innovation. Belcher continues to focus her volunteer activities on children, education and athletics including serving as one of the founding board members the International Leadership Academy of Ethiopia.

As the CEO of King County Medical Society, Belcher is responsible for building the Society’s presence, and developing engagement strategies that grow the Society’s impact. By leveraging the Society’s 132-year history of partnering with physicians Belcher is proactively identifying cross working opportunities, and improving the Society’s ability to deliver strategic collaborations for physicians to have their voices heard in an effort to always improve healthcare access and standards for all.

Dr. Amish J. Dave earned his bachelor’s degree in arts in History with Honors with a concentration in Russian and Eastern European History and his bachelor’s degree in science in Biological Sciences and Neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh. He completed his medical degree at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine and his internship and residency in internal medicine at Stanford Hospital and Clinics and the Palo Alto Veterans Administration Hospital.

He completed his rheumatology fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and his Masters in Public Health with a concentration in clinical effectiveness at the T.H. Chan Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Dave is an attending rheumatologist at Virginia Mason Medical Center, Seattle Washington, where he is co-chair and founder of Proudly VM and works on issues of access to medicine in rural communities, health equity, transgender medical care, and quality improvement in rheumatology. Dr.

Dave was the founder of the Art and Medicine Program at the Seattle Art Museum. He is a board member on the King County Medical Society Board of Trustees and chair of the Public Health Committee, where he has focused on gun violence prevention, screening children for lead poisoning, domestic violence prevention, and homelessness in the greater Seattle region. He is currently working on expanding access to telemedicine resources and personal protective equipment (PPE) in King County in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here’s today’s episode, you can also listen to Picture Theory on Spotify and in the Apple podcasts app.