Dr. Emily Allen (she/her) is an Assistant Dean for Student Affairs. In her role, she focuses on career development, the transition to residency curriculum, and supporting student progression through competency based medical education across their time in medical school. She graduated from Swarthmore College with a major in Political Science, and went on to work at Human Rights Watch for several years prior to starting medical school in her home state at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. She pursued residency training in the Boston Combined Residency Program at Boston Medical Center and Boston Children’s Hospital, and served as a Chief Resident in what is now called the Leadership in Equity and Advocacy Track. She went on to complete fellowship training in Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital and earned a Masters of Public Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. 

Since joining the faculty at Brown in 2019, she has been an active medical educator for students, residents, and faculty in various advising, mentorship, and leadership roles. She has been recognized with multiple teaching awards and induction into the Gold Humanism Honor Society. Clinically, she has found satisfaction in caring for adolescents with a focus on LGBTQ+ health, reproductive justice, and eating disorders. She has demonstrated a commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion throughout her clinical practice, as well as as an educator and advocate. 

Outside of medicine, she enjoys music and being outdoors with her husband and two young children.

Alex is the director of the career development office at The Warren Alpert Medical School.  She received her master's degree in counseling psychology from the Lynch School of Education at Boston College where she completed a graduate assistantship in the office of career development at Wellesley College.  While at BC, she was recruited by Brown University and has spent over 25 years counseling and advising thousands of Brown students.  Alex spent five years as the associate director of career planning services at Brown and 20 as the director of student affairs at Brown Medical School.  Now, the director of career development, Alex directs the career advising programs for the medical school which include the Careers in Medicine program, the residency advising and ERAS application process, the Match, and the Council of Specialty Advisors Council; a 78 member team of MD's who provide specialty specific advising.  Alex received national recognition by the American Association of Medical Colleges as the first recipient of the Careers in Medicine Excellence in Medical Student Advising Award and has been honored by the graduating class every year of her tenure at Brown with the Senior Class Administrative Award.  Alex also received the Member of the Year award from the Eastern College Professional Association for leadership and excellence in the field of career counseling.  

In September 2019, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University welcomed Dr. Roxanne Vrees as the Associate Dean for Student Affairs.  In her role, Dean Vrees oversees the Office of Student Affairs, working closely with the Offices of Faculty Professional Development , Student Development (Lorrie Gehlbach), Career Development (Emily Allen, Alex Morang, Kelly Whalen, Janice Viticonte), and Psychological Support Services (Laurice Girouard) on student advising as well as issues relating to student life and wellness in both the preclinical and clinical years.  She came to Brown as a first generation college student through the Program in Liberal Medical Education and completed her residency training in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Women & Infants Hospital/The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Dean Vrees has over a decade of experience in student advising and mentorship at the undergraduate and graduate medical education level and is thrilled to be a part of this incredibly gifted student affairs team.  She looks forward to fostering personal and professional growth of our amazing cohort of students at the Medical School and is committed to addressing issues of structural racism, equity and inclusion.

In addition to her role at the Medical School, Dr. Vrees is an Academic Specialist in General Obstetrics and Gynecology at Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island.  She has been recognized for her work in caring for survivors of sexual assault and provision of trauma informed care.   She has received multiple teaching awards including the Association of Professors in Gynecology and Obstetrics (APGO) National Excellence in teaching awards and the Mentorship Award in Diversity and Equity in Medicine (MADE). Dr. Vrees credits her career achievements to her extraordinary mentors, her career satisfaction to her incredible colleagues and friends alongside the diverse patient population she serves.  She owes a tremendous debt of gratitude to her scholarship parents, Francis and Willis Reese, who funded her elementary education; and to Stephen and Maryann Ehrlich, who provided her with a scholarship for her undergraduate and medical school education, in addition to years of ongoing love and support.  Because of her hard work alongside a lot of good luck, she is where she is today and has dedicated her life and career to always paying it forward.   She credits her happiness to her two children, Jordan and Lucas, and her husband, Matthew Vrees, who is also a physician in Rhode Island and a fellow graduate of The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.