Background

Hometown
Great Neck, NY

Undergraduate School
Boston University
Major: Hospitality Administration
Minors: Dance, Business Administration

Medical School
Eastern Virginia Medical School

Bio

Jovanna A. Tracz, M.D., is a current resident in neurosurgery at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She received her undergraduate degree at Boston University in hospitality administration with minors in dance and business administration. She worked in hotel finance before transitioning to medicine through the Postbaccalaureate Premedical Program at Harvard Extension School. She conducted research at Harvard's Whitesides Research Group prior to beginning medical school, with a research focus on soft robotic applications to biomedical technology. She completed her medical doctorate at Eastern Virginia Medical School, where she was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society and was awarded the Captain David A. Brown Aerospace and Medical Research Scholarship for her work on the effects of deep space radiation on neurocognition and fine motor control. During medical school she was also awarded the American Brain Tumor Association Jack and Fay Netchin Medical Student Fellowship to study the role of inflammatory cytokines in glioblastoma, and conducted neurosurgical spine research at the Johns Hopkins University Spinal Fusion Laboratory, where her focus was on the development of biomaterials for use in spinal fusion procedures and the use of augmented reality during surgery. Jovanna's clinical interests include spinal oncology, spinal deformity, and neuro-oncology. Outside of work, Jovanna enjoys classical ballet, golf, mentoring other women pursuing neurosurgery, and spending time with her husband, dog and pet rats.

Honors and Awards:

• Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society (2024)
• Eastern Virginia Medical School Medical Knowledge Distinction (2024)
• Eastern Virginia Medical School Professionalism Distinction (2024)
• Eastern Virginia Medical School Patient Care Distinction (2024)
• Eastern Virginia Medical School Research and Scholarship Distinction (2024)
• Eastern Virginia Medical School Community Impact Distinction (2024)
• Eastern Virginia Medical School Captain David A. Brown Aerospace and Medical Research Award and Scholarship (2021-2024)
• American Medical Women’s Association, Top Abstract Semi-Finalist (2023)
• Clínica Esperanza Clinician Service Award (2022)
• American Brain Tumor Association Jack and Fay Netchin Medical Student Fellowship (2021)
• First Place, Society of Women Engineers Collegiate Research Competition (2020)