Anum Zehra
MD Student, Class of 2027
School of Medicine
Anum Zehra is a fourth-year medical student at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) who has made an impact on the school and her class through outstanding achievement in scholarship, leadership, and service to UMSOM and the Baltimore City community.
Zehra has co-authored more than 20 articles, expert analyses, and abstracts, including numerous first-author manuscripts in leading journals such as Nature Communications and the Journal of the American Heart Association. In recognition of her research excellence, she received UMSOM’s Certificate of Outstanding Achievement, which is awarded to the top 10 percent of the Class of 2027.
Her work has earned national recognition, as well, with two publications that were selected among the “Top Ten Articles of 2025” by the American College of Cardiology. She also has served as a National Institutes of Health (NIH) research fellow and a peer reviewer for the American Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
Zehra has channeled her exposure to an abundance of cardiovascular disease in the South Asian population to effect meaningful change at UMSOM, founding the school’s first Cardiology Interest Group and expanding opportunities for student mentorship, research engagement, and clinical exposure. After her preclinical training, she became a peer advisor for the group and helped introduce a Women in Cardiology wing.
She won first-place for her oral presentation at UMSOM’s annual Medical Student Research Day (MSRD) and was selected as MSRD chair after induction into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. She also is a member of the American Medical Student Association, American Heart Association, and American Academy of Physicians.
Zehra was recognized among the top 15 percent of the UMSOM Class of 2027 for community service. In addition to leading campus blood drives as president of the Red Cross Interest Group, she founded KindKin, a student-led initiative that supports caregivers of hospitalized children by addressing unmet daily needs.
She also volunteers as a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit “cuddler” at the University of Maryland Medical Center, counsels patients at free clinics, and teaches English to low-income students in Pakistan.
Zehra, who grew up in Howard County, Md., earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
