Aiena ’ s passion for advocacy and community comes from his upbringing with his parents , finding fulfillment in his leadership roles through school , as well as the warm welcome his family received since moving to Huntsville in 2017 .
“ When I moved here , the amount of support my family and I had was just unreal , both on a personal and professional level . We never felt like we were new to town , we felt accepted from the second we got here , how could you not want to be a part of that community , how could you not want that community to do well , thrive and be healthy ?” Aiena said .
Aiena leveraged his background in advocating for federally qualified health centers throughout his residency at Munroe Regional Medical Center to bring vaccinations to the area .
Aiena is a LSU alumn and graduated from the Texas Tech University Health Science Center School of Medicine in 2014 . He went on to complete his residency at Munroe Regional Medical Center , during which time he worked with the Texas Academy Family Physicians in his last year , completing a month-long rotation working at the capitol in Austin . Following his passion for advocacy , he gained hands-on experience working alongside state senators and representatives , writing reviews on bills and helping to get the ball moving towards legislation .
Without those connections and acquired skills , Aiena believes that the task of advocating on a state level to get vaccines to the area would have been far more difficult .
24 | HUNTSVILLE LIVING | JULY-AUGUST 2021