Alumni Spotlight: Katia Vieira de Moraes LaCasse ’97, Humanitarian Doctor

Five months into a mission at a hospital in a South Sudanese refugee camp, Dr. Katia Vieira de Moraes LaCasse ’97 found herself far from the familiar pediatric wards—treating gunshot wounds in a tent. In less than a day, a tribal feud had forced the evacuation of most of the staff, leaving just a handful of doctors and midwives to run the entire hospital alongside local nurses who refused to abandon their patients. What stayed with her was not the chaos but the resilience—an affirmation of her calling to the humanitarian field.

Katia began her career as a physician at São Paulo private and public hospitals before pursuing international aid work through Doctors Without Borders and Save the Children. Her deployments have taken her to Afghanistan, South Sudan, Colombia, Haiti, Syria, and beyond.

In this issue of The Graded Gazette, Katia shares stories from the field, reflects on how her Graded years shaped her future, and offers advice for those eager to make a difference. 
 

What first drew you to humanitarian work? 

I always had the bug. My father was a strong advocate for helping others and a supporter of Doctors Without Borders, so the idea was always in the back of my mind. It took a while, but once I started, I was hooked. I couldn't imagine doing anything else. 

At the time, I was a pediatrician with a private practice, working long hours at two hospitals, Einstein and Sabará. I was happy with my profession, but I reached a point when I felt it was time to try humanitarian work. Most doctors who work for organizations like Doctors Without Borders do so on an interim basis. They'll work abroad for six months, return to their jobs, and then do another stint when they can. But after my first six months with them, I knew I couldn't go back to practicing in a city full of doctors when so many communities had none. It dramatically changed my perspective, and there was no turning back. 
 

What was your first deployment with Doctors Without Borders like? 

My first deployment to Afghanistan was life-altering. It was challenging both professionally—working with contracts and limited resources—and personally, because of the social context. It was an eye-opener in terms of gaining perspective on my life, my decisions, and just how blind the world can be to the harsh situations that exist. Leaving a place with such extreme poverty and misogyny to return to daily life felt surreal. What's normal for us is a bizarre flight of fancy for anybody there. 

I feel lucky that Afghanistan was my first mission, because the hospital where I worked was well-established. It had a very busy maternity center, which I used to tell my colleagues had more births in a day than at any hospital in São Paulo. My job was caring for the sickest babies and training local doctors. The national pediatricians were already very experienced, but part of the reason for bringing in expats was to support them with additional training. It was a busy time, but also very rewarding. 
 

After Afghanistan, what other missions did you take on?

My second mission with Doctors Without Borders was to an internally displaced population camp in South Sudan, where malaria is endemic, and many of the children were already malnourished. 

Every rainy season, the incidence of malaria surges. Children are the most at risk. You need a robust blood bank and blood transfusion system—something our small hospital didn’t have. When the rains came, we were overwhelmed with pediatric malaria cases. Despite all of our efforts, we lost many patients. It was breaking me. I also faced challenges due to the leadership's reluctance to make the investments necessary to improve conditions. That’s when I decided to join Save the Children. 

With Save the Children, I have worked and lived in many different places: Syria, Colombia, Sudan a couple of times, then back in Syria after the earthquake two years ago, and most recently, supporting the Myanmar Country Office. We couldn't get visas to enter Myanmar, so we worked from Thailand, doing what we could from there. 
 

Is there a moment from the field that has stayed with you? 

There are so many! To be honest, most stories in this line of work are depressing. But one that stands out was in South Sudan. I lived there for five months, and our hospital was in the middle of a refugee camp with about 60,000 people. During a tribal feud, more than 500 people were shot in 24 hours. Most of our staff had to be evacuated, but some refused to go because they were so dedicated to their work and to our mission. For the next two or three weeks, it was just me, another doctor, and two midwives running the hospital with the local nurses and staff. We worked 20-, even 36-hour shifts. I—a pediatrician—was treating gunshot wounds in a tent. But we managed to do it because the nurses and staff refused to leave their people. To see that kind of persistence, resilience, and dedication… It's like, who am I to complain? This job is a constant reminder that my reality isn’t the reality for most of the world.
 

With such intense work, how do you take care of yourself?

A lot of therapy. When I was single, it was both easier and harder—I could throw myself completely into the work and almost dissociate from the psychological stress and trauma. It takes a lot of self-awareness to recognize when you're not doing well. South Sudan tested that for me. I actually left early, telling my boss in no uncertain terms, ‘I did not come here to watch children die without being able to give them what they need.’ It's very hard, but when you succeed, it makes everything worth it. You forget the suffering, the sleepless nights, the 90- or even 120-hour workweeks—because it's just worth it. 

At home, I have two dogs and two cats, and my husband and I decompress over games of pool in our basement. I read a lot, especially on deployment. I used to be big on historical fiction. Dystopian novels are my favorite, but now I feel like I'm living one, so it’s not as fun.

These days, I escape into fantasy. Many colleagues feel the same, and we trade book recommendations. I recently finished The Invisible College by Jeff Wheeler. Super interesting. Well-written fantasy has become my favorite genre. 
 

Did your time at Graded shape your interest in humanitarian work?

It certainly did. I had many friends from other private and international schools in São Paulo, and they didn’t seem to have the same encouragement to do aid work or support organizations. At Graded, we always had the opportunity for leadership and the spirit of, ‘You want to do something? Let's go do it.’ Inspiring children and adolescents to see that even small actions can make a difference is something they carry with them for life.
 

What advice would you give to students who hope to make a positive impact with their careers?

Seek perspective and stay humble. That's something that's sorely lacking in the world right now. The people I admire most admit when they don’t know something—be they doctors, scholars, or academics. Humility goes a long way toward making you curious. Question. Research. Study. Experience things for yourself. 
 

What’s it like to have studied at the same school your mother attended and your grandmother worked at?

When it’s happening, you don’t realize how meaningful it is. I started to feel that special sense of community and connection—of people having known each other for generations—when I learned that my classmates were the children of my mother's classmates. Later, alumni reunions became a family affair. My mother, aunt, sister, and cousin also attended Graded, so we’d all go together.

When you think back to your time at Graded, what stands out the most?

When you spend 15 years anywhere, you collect a lot of memories. I’m 46 now, and the friendships I made at Graded are some of the most important of my life. It’s not just a school; the beauty of Graded is the community. It’s where you learn to be a free thinker, grow as a person, and realize how much we have in common with each other. It’s a uniting place. I recently reconnected with a classmate who works with the World Health Organization (WHO) in Asia, where I deployed. We hadn't spoken in 20 years, but we picked up like no time had passed.

In high school, I got really involved in extracurricular activities. A friend invited me to visit a local orphanage every Friday, and it became an absolute passion. We’d bring supplies, play with the kids, and offer emotional support. After that, I joined more service programs because I felt passionate about using what we had at Graded to help others. 

Our class also helped start the Halloween Benefit Bash. Zombie Zoo was big at the time, and we had a lot of talented student musicians. We organized a larger event to raise funds for the Adopt-a-School orphanage program; I was really proud of that. We even set up a little haunted house to raise money for other after-school programs. 

Were there any classes or teachers at Graded that inspired you? 

So many! Anyone who leaves Graded and then studies elsewhere quickly realizes how special the opportunities at Graded were. I had some really inspiring teachers. 

Mr. Benson taught us to look at history through an objective lens, to question how it's written, and to explore different perspectives. My English teacher, Mr. Campana, got me into poetry. He helped me enjoy it, understand it, and dig deeper into the meaning behind each piece. And Ms. Mills somehow managed to get us all to enjoy Shakespeare!

Many of our high school teachers still come to our reunions. We’re connected on social media. We keep tabs on each other, cheering each other on. It's really cool. 

After you graduated from Graded, you chose medicine. How did that decision come about?

My parents always saw one of Graded’s greatest benefits as the options it provided, including the opportunity to study abroad. I knew early on I wanted to be a doctor. I started college in the US but quickly realized I didn’t have the patience to attend an undergraduate program. I wanted to go straight to medical school, like students do in Brazil. So, I came back home and took on the painful task of studying for the vestibular. I was incredibly proud to get into med school on my first try. The transition wasn’t easy. I’d studied mostly in English my whole life, and we spoke a lot of English at home as an American-Brazilian family. Adjusting to a Brazilian medical school was quite challenging—I even bought textbooks in English from the States so that I could read them more quickly. But by my fourth year, despite the exhaustion and difficulty, I was one hundred percent certain that I was in the right place.

After graduating, I worked for a few years as an adult ER physician in São Paulo—until I realized that adults complain too much! That’s when I decided to specialize in pediatrics. Children are so resilient. They play through pain and smile in the most difficult times. I’ve always felt lucky working with children because every patient I’ve helped has made me a better person.
 

What’s life like in Vermont compared to São Paulo?

I have been in Vermont for seven years now. I met my husband just after returning from Syria, while I was spending the summer here. I never imagined I’d end up living in Vermont for the rest of my life. 

Before that, I lived in São Paulo, where I did most of my clinical practice. The insane traffic and the stress of working multiple jobs can drain you. Now, I look outside my window and all I see is trees. My town has about 500 people. That makes a big difference for my mental health—being outside a fast-paced environment, having time to just contemplate, and enjoying life with my two dogs and a fenced yard without the stress of a big city.