Affectionately nicknamed “Dr. Hope,” Hope grew up on a small farm and decided at just nine years old that she wanted to become a doctor. Being raised around animals also sparked a lasting empathy for them.
In college, she immersed herself in bioethics and international relations, confronting topics like interpersonal violence, war, and genocide. By the time she started medical school, she had begun tracing the ways our treatment of people and animals are connected, both historically and in the world today.
Today, Hope serves as president of Phoenix Zones Initiative, a global nonprofit dedicated to advancing the interconnected rights, health, and well-being of people, animals, and the planet. Over the past two decades, as a double-board-certified physician in internal medicine, preventive medicine, and public health, she has cared for individuals from diverse backgrounds while also shaping policies aimed at ending human and animal suffering.
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Hope has shared her work on local, national, and international radio and TV, and in 2017 the American College of Physicians recognized her as a Humanitarian of the Year. Much of her writing centers on one theme she cares deeply about: preventing suffering and helping others heal.
In 2018, the University of Chicago Press published her book Phoenix Zones: Where Strength Is Born and Resilience Lives, which explores how both individuals and society can build courage and resilience. A year later, in 2019, she helped launch Phoenix Zones Initiative, an organization dedicated to strengthening the essential connections between human, animal, and planetary well-being—and to inspiring the creation of more “Phoenix Zones,” places where people and animals can rise, recover, and thrive.
In 2025, she co-founded Kind House Publishing, an independent press built around purpose-driven storytelling. Her first children’s picture book is slated for release in 2026.
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PROFESSIONAL HIGHLIGHTS:
Hope received a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and bioethics from the University of Southern California, a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, and a Master’s Degree in public health, with an emphasis in community medicine, from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She completed an internship in internal medicine at Yale University/Griffin Hospital, a residency in general preventive medicine and public health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and an internal medicine residency at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. She served as faculty at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences and the Georgetown University School of Medicine, and she is now a professor at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine.
Hope’s medical and public health expertise covers violence and conflict, disease risk, and environmental threats. Working across six continents, she has developed medical, public health, and educational guidance and resources for nongovernmental organizations, national governments, and intergovernmental institutions.