FELLOWS AND PROJECTS

2013-2014

Mark Dela Cruz, University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine
Dela Cruz is educating and empowering female inmates to become proactive agents of their own health through the Women’s Jail Health program in the San Francisco County Jail. The program will establish a “Medical Checkout” system that will establish access to longitudinal care to inmates upon release.
Community Site: San Francisco County Jail

Susan Fang and Amlu Natesan, University of California Berkeley School of Public Health and University of California San Francisco School of Medicine
Fang and Natesan are implementing a concussion education program targeting middle and high school youth throughout the diverse classrooms of the Berkeley Unified School District. Given the growing concern of head trauma and its short and long-term impact on cognitive functioning, which is particularly salient in the development of this young population, this project aims to empower youth with the tools they need to understand what concussions are, why preventing them is important, and how to recognize and respond to them.
Community Site: Berkeley Unified School District

Michael Fu, Stanford University School of Medicine
Fu is developing and leading a mindfulness-based stress reduction program for grade-school students in the Ravenswood City School District. The program will embrace proven methods of meditation, yoga, attention-building exercises, and reflection to help students learn how to respond to stress.
Community Site: Ravenswood City School District

Jolie Goodman, University of California, San Francisco School of Dentistry
Goodman is working with homeless youth in San Francisco to address their unmet dental needs. Her project is providing this population with prevention services, education, and a connection to dental care. The program is developing a means to provide each of the youth involved a dental screening, a referral to a dental home, and oral health education. Workers at the partner site will be trained to continue the project in order to ensure sustainability of the program.
Community Site: Larkin Street Youth Center

Karen Hong, Stanford University School of Medicine
Hong is working with Prevent Blindness Northern California to provide vision screening services to underserved preschool students in San Jose and other parts of Santa Clara County. She is also collaborating with a team of undergraduates to screen preschoolers, connect them with care, and follow up with their treatment.
Community Site: Prevent Blindness/Northern California

Jocelyn Ko, University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine
Ko is developing, distributing, and assessing low-literacy, linguistically-appropriate community resource guides tailored to the needs of low-income postpartum women in San Francisco. As part of her project, she is engaging low-income postpartum women and their providers in determining these mothers’ unmet needs and how to best provide them with resource support during this vulnerable and demanding time in their lives.
Community Site: Maternal, Child and Adoleslcent Health Section, San Francisco Department of Public Health

Timothy Mok, University of California, San Francisco School of Pharmacy
Mok is improving health literacy for the transgender community through group workshops and individual sessions. These sessions are equiping the community with communication skills so they can better navigate through San Francisco's healthcare system, while empowering them to be advocates of their own care.
Community Site: Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center

Melissa Myo, University of California Berkeley School of Public Health and University of California San Francisco School of Medicine
Myo is working with the Women and Transgender Section of the Berkeley Free Clinic to develop an intimate partner violence screening protocol. She is working with clients who disclose experiencing violence and providing them with referrals to shelters and legal resources.
Community Site: Berkeley Free Clinic

Alison Starling, Univeristy of California, San Francisco School of Nursing
Starling is collaborating with the African Advocacy network, a program of Dolores Street Services, to initiate the Bay Area African and Afro-Caribbean Health Access and Promotion Project. This project is identifying health issues that exist in this community and and finding the community resources and educational tools needed to combat the targeted health concerns.
Community Site: African Advocacy Network

Emily Wineland, University of California, San Francisco School of Dentistry
Wineland is partnering with the Native American Health Center and CARACEN to develop and implement oral health education to underserved adults with Type II diabetes.  She is emphasizing the relationship between blood glucose levels and the severity of periodontitis (gum disease), as well as the importance of maintaining periodontal health as a way to manage the progression of diabetes. The program includes health interventions such as brushing, flossing, nutrition, blood glucose monitoring, and smoking cessation.
Community Site: Native American Health Center and CARACEN

2012-2013

2011-2012

Leanne Almario, Stanford University School of Medicine
Anthem Blue Cross Foundation Schweitzer Fellow
Almario will create and implement a diabetes prevention program serving Native American youth. She plans to integrate the 5-2-1-0 Healthy Kids Countdown, a health promotion initiative based on evidence-based messaging emphasizing healthy nutritional choices and behaviors.
Community Site: Indian Health Center of Santa Clara Valley

Atoosa Firouzian, University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine
Firouzian will lead a group class for underserved women in the third trimester of their pregnancy about labor and delivery, infant development, and baby care.
Community Site: Young Women's Program, UCSF/Mt. Zion Medical Center

Monica Grova and Brittany Grovey, University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine
Grova and Grovey will implement a health education program for women experiencing drug addiction and/or homelessness aimed at providing health information and resources for them and their children.
Community Site: Jelani House, San Francisco

Sherry Kwon, University of California, San Francisco School of Pharmacy
Kwon will partner with two community health clinics serving medically underinsured and uninsured patients to launch a tobacco cessation program and improve patient education on safe medication practices.
Community Site: North East Medical Services, San Francisco; Rotacare Free Clinic, Mountain View

Erin Lutes and Shawna Mitchell-Sisler, University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing
Lutes and Mitchell-Sisler will develop and implement a focused, interactive intervention program for psychiatric patients with diabetes-related health issues. They aim to empower their participants by addressing and reducing barriers to self-care, improving diabetes self-management, and creating ownership via peer-to-peer teaching.
Community Site: Glide Health Services, Glide Memorial Church, San Francisco

Shibani Rajadhyksha, University of California, San Francisco School of Dentistry
Anthem Blue Cross Foundation Schweitzer Fellow
Rajadhyksha will carry out a health and science education program for underserved 5th graders. She plans to integrate the 5-2-1-0 Healthy Kids Countdown, a health promotion initiative based on evidence-based messaging emphasizing healthy nutritional choices and behaviors.
Community Site: E.R. Taylor Elementary School, San Francisco

Kenneth Russell, Samuel Merritt University School of Nursing
Russell will carry out health education and screenings for Native American individuals. He plans to integrate the 5-2-1-0 Healthy Kids Countdown, a health promotion initiative based on evidence-based messaging emphasizing healthy nutritional choices and behaviors.
Community Site: Intertribal Friendship House, Oakland

Jennifer Tran, Touro University, California School of Osteopathic Medicine
Tran will carry out a campaign to increase minority representation in the national bone marrow registry. 
Community Site: Asian American Donor Program

Wendy Tseng, University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine
Tseng will administer multi-disciplinary workshops on intimate partner violence and mental health for women and families living in San Francisco's Chinatown.
Community Site: Chinatown Community Development Center and Donaldina Cameron House San Francisco

Kanizeh Fatema Visram, University of California, San Francisco School of Pharmacy
Visram will work to identify and provide education about potentially serious/fatal medication errors and interactions among seniors and other vulnerable members of the community.
Community Site: San Francisco Senior Center, Lifelong Medical Care Clinic, Mission Creek Mercy Housing, San Francisco

2010-2011

Dresden Beier, California School of Podiatric Medicine at Samuel Merritt University
Beier will provide underserved people in San Leandro with podiatric care, and educate patients on diabetic foot care to help prevent complications. Partnering with Family Nurse Practitioners (FNP’s) from Samuel Merritt University (who run a medical clinic during the week, and will refer patients in need of podiatric interventions), Beier's podiatry clinic will be open two Sundays a month serving patients who are unable to receive podiatric care otherwise. Community Site: Davis Street Clinic

Christopher Benavente, UCSF School of Medicine
Benavete aims to address the overall health of low-income families by creating a health and wellness project aimed at giving community members the opportunity to determine what is important to them and their families. The project will provide educational opportunities and leadership skills training for children. Among other subjects, the health consequences of improper nutrition and lack of physical activity will be stressed. Community Site: Making Waves Education Program

Corina Derman and Iris Lowenberg, Samuel Merritt University School of Nursing
Derman and Lowenberg aim to increase access to primary care and asthma education by implementing a weekly free pediatric asthma program in a low-income neighborhood with many serious environmental problems. The project aims to reduce absenteeism from school, as well as emergency room visits and hospitalizations secondary to asthma. Community Site: Bayview Hunters Point Environmental Resource Center

Kathryn Hall, UC Berkeley School of Public Health
Anthem Blue Cross Foundation Schweitzer Fellow
Hall aims to address the overall health of underserved children ages 6-18 by providing age-appropriate classes on topics such as nutrition, obesity, diabetes, vaccinations, OTC drug use, hygiene, recreational activities, environmental health and building a strong immune system. Community Site: Leonard J. Meltzer Boys & Girls Club in Oakland

Joyce Ho, Stanford University School of Medicine
Ho hopes to improve the mental health status of Asian American adolescents living in Santa Clara County by increasing awareness of teen suicides and depression in the community, and providing tools and other resources that will address such issues as stress management, communication skills, cross-cultural hardships and interpersonal skills. Community Site: Asian Americans for Community Involvement

Grace Lam, UCSF School of Dentistry
Lam aims to improve maternal and prenatal health by bringing oral hygiene education to pregnant women and mothers of young children. For the pregnant women, Lam’s project will stress nutrition, appropriate fluoride use, pre-pregnancy gingivitis, dental ex-rays, and the importance of good oral hygiene during pregnancy. For the young mothers, the program will also encourage good oral hygiene and regular dental check-ups to prevent early childhood caries. Community Site: Teen Pregnancy and Parenting Project of San Francisco

Anne Liu, Stanford University School of Medicine
Liu aims to address gaps in community hepatitis awareness and knowledge by developing hepatitis B resource guides and education models aimed at informing patients and encouraging them and their family members to get tested. Vaccinations will be administered and hepatitis complications will be handled by referral to continuous care. These services will require the development of a sub-clinic, staffed by student and physician volunteers. Community Site: Arbor Free Clinic

Sonia Menchavez, UC Berkeley School of Optometry
Menchavez aims to address disparities in access to eye care services by implementing a system of monthly vision screenings followed by referrals for those community members who need a full eye exam. Free or very low cost exams will be provided by participating eye care professionals, along with free or very low cost eye glasses. Safety glasses and sunglasses will be especially important for those whose jobs require them. Community Site: Day Worker Center of Mountain View

Alfredo Mireles, UCSF School of Nursing
Mireles aims to provide access to services for patients being released from mental health facilities at San Francisco General Hospital. In particular, he will provide information on housing, transportation, the importance of follow up care, food pantries, social services, and work placement. Individual, personalized discharge plans will be developed. Community Site: San Francisco General Hospital

Amy Shen, UCSF School of Medicine
Shen aims to address disaster preparedness in San Francisco Chinatown single-room occupancy communities by offering monthly hands-on workshops focusing on infectious disease prevention and first-aid skills. Community Site: Chinatown Community Development Center

Christina Shin, UCSF School of Dentistry
Shin aims to improve the oral health of disabled children by developing a targeted educational program. Children with developmental disabilities have special oral health care needs that are often not easily met. The children will be taught proper brushing techniques and given flossing aides, which will help with dexterity problems. Dentists in the community who are willing and able to work with disabled children will be recruited for future referral. Community Site: Janet Pomeroy Center

2009-2010

Lauren Chan, Stanford University School of Medicine
Lauren is working with the domestic violence division of Asian Americans for Community Involvement (AACI) to start a peer counseling support group as well as promote women's health awareness at their women's shelter.

Pamela Eiselman, Holy Names University, School of Nursing
Pamela is developing a community skin cancer screening project for uninsured Latino day laborers in Alameda County. Two screenings will occur as a result of a new collaborative effort between a local hospital health ministry program, a cancer education and prevention services center and a recently opened medical clinic serving the uninsured in Oakland.

Dana Greenfield and Hilary Ong, University of California, San Francisco, Department of Medical Anthropology and School of Medicine
Dana Hilary are working with the Boys and Girls Clubs of San Francisco on a youth-led project to assess and improve the health and nutritional environment of the clubs.  The project will also empower teens through knowledge, advocacy and resources, and encourage them to think critically about how they can improve their health and lifestyle choices. 

Michael Herndon, Touro University, College of Osteopathic Medicine
Michael has partnered with the Bay Area Rescue Mission in Richmond, CA to develop a program that will bring aid to the Bay Area homeless.  His program will utilize a Mobile Outreach Unit to provide food, water, clothing, basic hygiene kits and minor medical care to the people it serves.  The goal is to encourage the displaced community members to get their lives back on track through the resources available at the rescue mission.

Alice Hsieh, University of California, San Francisco, School of Dentistry
Alice is developing a series of bilingual dental educational workshops for underserved pregnant Chinese women. The workshops will consist of various activities that promote prenatal oral health. By eliminating the language barrier, this project will increase oral health awareness among pregnant women in the underserved Chinese community and help to prevent vertical transmission of caries-causing bacteria from mother to child.

Delphine Huang, University of California, San Francisco/University of California, Berkeley Joint Medical Program
Delphine worked with the Asian Health Services in Oakland to create a teen health leadership program program for at risk adolescents.

Andrew Lee, Stanford University School of Medicine
Andrew is working with the Stanford Pacific Free Clinic in San Jose to implement a social work program that will enroll uninsured patients in county and state insurance assistance programs and provide them with basic social services.

Kene Ofili, Samuel Merritt University, California School of Podiatric Medicine
Kene is working with the organization Healthy Oakland to increase awareness about diabetes in an underserved area of Oakland. His project focuses on providing knowledge about diabetes, managing associated symptoms, and how to prevent the disease. He will also be providing general information about the importance of overall foot health.

 
Charlene Rocha, University of California, San Francisco, School of Dentistry
Charlene is developing The Junior Science Investigators Program (JSIP) and launching it at the City Crossroads Church after-school community center. JSIP is a concept project that aims to raise scientific competency among low income and other underprivileged students who have traditionally underperformed in the natural sciences.

Tirah Samura, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine
Tirah is starting a women's mental health support group at a San Francisco homeless shelter. This group will aim to provide a community of support and resources for the female residents of the shelter. 

Heidi Schmidt, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine
Heidi is expanding the mission of the women’s homeless clinic at the MSC south homeless shelter located in San Francisco.  She is implementing screening protocols for blood pressure, glucose, and vaccinations, and is developing an exercise and relaxation class to improve the stress management skills of the shelter’s residents.

Shannon Wirth, Samuel Merritt University, School of Nursing
Shannon will be developing a health and wellness program for monolingual Spanish speaking immigrants in recovery from drugs and alcohol at Mission Council on Alcohol Abuse for the Spanish Speaking in San Francisco.

Shane Shucheng Wong, Stanford University, School of Medicine
Shane will be providing health outreach to a homeless population in partnership with the Opportunity Center in Palo Alto. This project aims to address the high burden of health problems among this vulnerable population, and will incorporate physical and mental health screening, patient education and advocacy.

2008-2009

Ifey Asiodu, University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing
Ifey plans to provide workshops for the African American Community of San Mateo County to establish confidence in prospective mothers, promote early prenatal care, minimize fears around childbirth, promote skin to skin contact after delivery, encourage breastfeeding, and provide information about contraception.

Thomas Azwell, University of California, Berkeley, Environmental Sciences
Thomas is developing a plant ecology program at Mt. Diablo High School, which includes a health foods initiative in collaboration with John Muir Medical Center.

Sona Bekmezian, University of California, San Francisco School of Dentistry
Sona is developing a bilingual oral health education program for the San Francisco Homeless Prenatal Program and the San Mateo Medical Center Dental Clinic.

Mary Ann Dakkak and Alexis Jannicelli, University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine
Mary Ann and Alexis are creating a women’s clinic and support group for homeless women in San Francisco. This will be the first such clinic in San Francisco specifically geared toward women’s health.

Patricia Foo, Stanford University School of Medicine
Patricia is working with the Opportunity Center in Palo Alto to coordinate the case management of mental health and social needs of homeless individuals in Palo Alto.

Jamila Harris, University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine
Jamila is in the process of reconstituting a Community Advisory Board to help residents of the Western Addition in San Francisco and to improve services at the Maxine Hall Health Center.

Serena Huntington, University of California, San Francisco School of Pharmacy
Serena is working to develop a Passport to Wellness program, which will create a role for pharmacists as preventative healthcare providers. The goal of the program is to empower patients to take control of their own health through education and counseling sessions on health maintenance activities.

Analiza Mitchell and Bright Chen, Samuel Merritt University, California School of Podiatric Medicine
Liza and Bright are assessing needs for podiatric care in the homeless community around the Bay Area, providing podiatric screenings and educating homeless individuals on the importance of preventative foot care. They run collection drives to help provide clean shoes, socks, and foot hygiene items in order to promote healthy foot care practices among the homeless.

Shirin Mullen, University of California, San Francisco, School of Dentistry
Shirin is building on a project from 2007-2008 to provide oral health and nutrition education to children from the Boys & Girls Club of San Francisco during their summer period at Camp Mendocino. She will also follow-up during the school year at the Boys & Girls Club in the Tenderloin of San Francisco.

Karen Phung, University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health
Karen is working with Easy Does it Services to provide outreach to the general elderly and physically disabled population in Berkeley, to advise them of services that are available to them, and to find out what other services they may need. She is also helping to create a Berkeley Disaster Registry to determine the location of individuals who are at special risk during a disaster.

Arielle Simmons, University of California, Berkeley, Environmental Planning and Geography
Arielle is helping to alert community leaders in West Oakland about the potential health risks in their community. Specifically, she is working with local high school children to produce a publishable map documenting the air and metal toxins surrounding West Oakland schools.

Hugo Torres, University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine
Hugo is expanding on the work of a 2007-2008 Fellow at the Clinica Martin Baro to provide information about the health care system in San Francisco to immigrants from Spanish speaking countries.

Tanner Zane, University of California, San Francisco School of Dentistry
Tanner is designing and implementing an oral health education program geared towards disadvantaged high school students in the Bay Area.

2007-2008

Jennifer Cameron, University of California, Berkeley Joint Medical Program
Jennifer worked as a psychosocial liaison for Berkeley Primary Care, a safety-net community health clinic providing primary care to uninsured and underinsured Alameda County residents. The goal of the project was to develop and strengthen community mental health networks in order to reduce the number of patients who fall through the cracks.  One of her programs involved a writing project for the clients to help them give voice to their concerns. 

Elizabeth Chao and Steven Lin, Stanford University Department of Biochemistry and School of Medicine
Liz and Steve designed and implemented the first comprehensive Hepatitis B Initiative and located it at the Pacific Free Clinic in East San Jose.  They worked with the Asian Liver Center at Stanford to provide free hepatitis B testing, vaccination, treatment and education for all Asian and Pacific Islanders in East San Jose who had low-income, no insurance, and low English proficiency. Open only on Saturdays, this clinic saw approximately 500 patients from the time it was opened in July, 2007 to the end of the Fellowship year in April 2008.  It will continue operation under the direction of other Stanford students and a number of dedicated volunteers.

Vincent Chong and Monica Hahn, University of California, Berkeley Joint Medical Program
Vince and Monica worked with the Asian Health Services Youth Program in Oakland to develop, pilot and evaluate a Young Male Involvement Program focusing on at-risk Southeast Asian Youth in the area.

Mai Dinh, University of California, San Francisco School of Dentistry
Mai created a community-campus partnership to provide oral health education at a Boys and Girls Club of San Francisco summer camp.  The objective was to help children understand the importance of their teeth by giving them basic information about dental hygiene and the supplies with which to carry it out.  During the school year she was involved in quarterly follow-up screenings.

Esther Hong, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine
Esther collaborated with the Boys and Girls Clubs of San Francisco to implement a health career mentoring program for young female teens.  Esther was able to provide academic guidance, health professional shadowing programs, internship possibilities and community service projects to several teen-aged girls.

Jennifer Okonsky, University of California, San Francisco, School of Nursing
Jennifer collaborated with Southeast Health Center in Bayview Hunters Point, San Francisco with a focus on HIV prevention and treatment. She created health education materials and provided HIV education sessions to the community as well as designed and implemented a HIV medication adherence support program for patients receiving care and treatment at the health center.

Janelle Palacios, University of California, San Francisco, School of Nursing
Janelle taught Native American women (school age and older) how to dance in different Native American styles at the Intertribal Friendship House in Oakland, California.  She also collaborated with women from that facility to carry out workshops addressing women's health issues that were of concern to them (which included: nutrition, physical activity, reproductive issues, mental health, violence and substance use).

Francisco Valles, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine
Francisco worked with the Clinica Martin Baro in the Mission District of San Francisco to develop patient education modules on cancer that are culturally sensitive and specific to the needs of the community.  His target population was mainly comprised of Latino day laborers. 

Lauren Vose, University of California, San Francisco, School of Nursing
Lauren volunteered at the ACCESS English and Spanish hotlines that provide rural, poor, minority women with information referrals, health education, peer counseling and advocacy.  Once she became familiar with the hotlines, she also helped the organization update and streamline their hotline data bank to ultimately provide a more user-friendly data bank.