Dr. Lilia Cervantes is a Professor in the Department of Medicine and the Director of Immigrant Health at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (CU-Anschutz). Dr. Cervantes completed her bachelors degree at the University of Colorado Boulder and her medical degree, residency in internal medicine, and  Master of Science in Clinical Science at CU-Anschutz.  Dr. Cervantes is recognized for spearheading community-partnered research that led to several innovative changes to a Medicaid payment rule in Colorado to give undocumented patients with kidney failure access to life-saving maintenance dialysis, home dialysis, and outpatient COVID-19 care.  The efforts have garnered national attention and partnerships, leading to strategies to enable routine improved access to care for undocumented patients in other states.  Dr. Cervantes’ more recent work has focused on eliminating structural racism to achieve kidney health equity. Funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Doris Duke Foundation, and NIH, Dr. Cervantes has conducted studies to understand the social challenges and perspectives of Latinx individuals with kidney disease, and in partnership with a community advisory panel, translated her findings to develop and test community-based interventions.   Dr. Cervantes is a member of nine civic and community activity boards, has been invited to speak at over 60 events, including interviews with NPR and CNN for her research, and has received over fifteen awards for her research and service to the community. Dr. Cervantes is also a dedicated mentor and is invested in mentoring future generations of women physician scientists.