Kylie A. Mena, MD

My clinical specialty is neonatology, and as a hospitalist in the level IV neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), I care for hospitalized patients at Cincinnati Children's. I am passionate about health equity and feel everyone should have access to the highest standard of care.

I knew I wanted to go into medicine at a very young age when my love of science collided with my love of helping people. My dad's family is Cuban, and after learning about the struggles my grandparents encountered with the medical system after arriving in the United States, I wanted to make a difference for people like them.

I'm also a researcher trying to bridge the health equity gap and advance patient advocacy. Specifically, I work with families who prefer languages other than English to improve communication through appropriate interpretation and translation. Global Health is also a focus of my research, drawing on my residency experience in the Dominican Republic and Guatemala.

During my residency, I won the Neonatology Award for best resident in the NICU. I also won the Gittelman Family Physician Advocacy Award. In addition, I received the Global Research Opportunities Worldwide (GROW) Award research grant to study breastfeeding in the Dominican Republic.