October Alumni Spotlight: Kyra Toomey

Kyra Toomey graduated from UC Davis in 2022 with a BS in Global Disease Biology, where she made the most of every minute on campus. Kyra co-chaired TEDxUC Davis, spotlighting medicine and innovation on a global stage. She also served as a Public Health Ambassador, Educator and Co-Communications Chair for the UC Davis chapter of Global Medical Brigades, helping to spearhead the organization’s 2021 trip to Honduras where her team educated and provided no-cost critical care to local families and their 2022 trip to Greece serving local refugee populations. As the Campus Collaboration Chair and then President of the Diaper Bank, Kyra helped ensure Davis and regional families had access to postpartum essentials, regardless of their income status and ran diaper drives with campus organizations and clinics. As a student, Kyra also gained hands-on clinical research experience at UC Davis Medical Center, where she worked under two oncologists, contributing to cutting-edge research on colon, lung and breast cancers. For Kyra, the GDB program represents a critical lens for understanding how global health, community, and equity are all part of the same conversation.

That foundation carried Kyra through her early career. Her student assistant role at UC Davis Medical Center transitioned into a full-time opportunity as a Clinical Research Coordinator at the UC Davis Cancer Center, supporting patient care and clinical trial administration studying a variety of lung cancers and genetic-marker targeted therapies. Today, Kyra serves as Project and Registry Manager for the San Francisco Mammography Registry, where her work contributes to hundreds of studies advancing breast cancer treatment across the country and around the world. When undergoing the hiring process for her current role, her supervisor specifically asked about her campus involvement, and Kyra’s experiences in the GDB program gave her the opportunity to provide proof-positive of her dedication to health equity. Studying Global Disease Biology helped build both the scientific framework, but also the organizational instincts and values set that support a more targeted, patient-centered approach to the practice of medicine.