Olga Torres

As a first-generation Latina, Olga was one of the eight founding attorneys of the Bronx Defenders, a holistic public defender’s office. She used to teach at the CUNY School of Medicine. She is now faculty in the Narrative Medicine program at Columbia University, which seeks to improve the doctor-patient relationship. Olga is a Pedagogy Fellow as part of Columbia’s Faculty Assessment and Development Team. She also works as a patient advocate. Olga’s the Northeast Regional Advocacy Chair for the Lupus Foundation of America, where she does one-on-one and group advocacy work. She’s a member of the Patient Engagement Collaborative, which works with the FDA and Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative to improve communication and education on issues of medical product regulation. Olga serves as a member of the medical advisory board of Hear Your Song, a nonprofit that empowers children and teens with serious illnesses to make their voices heard through collaborative songwriting. She’s the Chair of the Multicultural Media & Correspondents Association Board of Trustees, which seeks to increase diversity across all media platforms. Olga recently became a new board member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors. She’s been published in the New York Times, New York Daily News, Next Avenue, Columbia University, and various other publications on health care, disability rights, and BIPOC issues. She received her BA from Cornell University and her JD at Georgetown University Law Center. As a mami, she returned to Columbia University for an MS in Narrative Medicine.