CSAB MEMBERS

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Beatriz Nuñez Salcido has been a Promotora for nine years at the non-profit organization Casa Familiar in San Ysidro. She is a volunteer exercise instructor and participates in various community activities. She has an AA in child development.

Maricela Téllez is a Promotora at Casa Familiar, where she teaches health workshops for the County of San Diego. She is also a personal trainer.

I have been actively working with parent committees within school districts to help close the achievement gap. To better help, I have been a member of the California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE), Southbay Forum (in Chula Vista CA), CABE South Chapter 65, Latinos and Latinas En Accion (LLEA). In the State CABE, local CABE chapter 65, and LLEA, I have also served as a board member during my membership. I traveled to Washington DC for a Title 1 conference and I am presently active in the San Diego County Department of Education in their Latino Advisory Committee to our Superintendent. Many community members and parents share with me their struggles and challenges. This trust helps me to be a voice for them and to advocate for their welfare both educational and in the community.

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Margarita Holguin has worked in community health programs for over 20 years. She is a strong advocate for diversity and equity and is an expert in the field of Community Health Workers, as the bridge to connect communities to services. Ms. Holguin was named “Latina of the Year 2017” by the Adelante Mujer Conference (SUHSD).

Monica Rocha Leal Naci is from Guadalajara. She immigrated to the United States at the age of 20 after studying and working in Tijuana. She has 25 years of volunteer experience, 17 of which were spent with Latinos y Latinas en Accion in various positions including community coordinator, president of the executive board of directors, and executive director. In 2008, she mobilized 87% of her community to vote, and in 2013 started a project focusing on helping people gain citizenship and education the community on immigration. Her work has been recognized with numerous awards, including a special distinction from President Obama.

Wendy Barrientos is a Promotora, or Community Health Worker, in San Ysidro. At Casa Familiar, a non-profit organization,she helps with outreach, advocacy, and collection of community input through surveys. She also volunteers at a community food bank with food distribution.

Hi my name is Lorena Godinez I’m a Promotora at Casa Familiar since 2006. I started because I suffered from postpartum depression. I was a pioneer of a program called Familia Sabas y Activas in which they helped me to work with the community in which I give classes of nutrition, Zumba, and aerobics and I’m currently taking culinary classes so I can start teaching the community and my family that it’s never to late to became a better person.

Dr. Laramie Smith is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine. Dr. Smith has 15 years’ collaborative research experience with public health and community partners. As a social psychologist, she applies social and behavioral theory, from a public health perspective, to examine individual and socio-structural contexts (e.g., stigma, substance use, social network characteristics) implicated in improving health equity among communities disproportionately affected by HIV and substance use in the United States, Mexico, and Kyrgyzstan. Her work aims to advance theoretical contributions to HIV science and reduce HIV disparities.

Dr. Garfein is an infectious disease epidemiologist, educator and healthcare innovator who seeks to understand the causes of disease and translate that understanding into impactful solutions. Dr. Garfein earned his PhD at Johns Hopkins University and MPH at San Diego State University. He served as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer and Epidemiologist for 7 years at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before joining the UCSD School of Medicine faculty in 2005. His research focuses on airborne and bloodborne infections often associated with health disparities and substance use, including tuberculosis, HIV and viral hepatitis. His research on digital adherence informed CDC and WHO guidelines on the use of telehealth for remotely monitoring patients with tuberculosis.

Victoria D. Ojeda, PhD, MPH, is a Professor in the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health at the University of California, San Diego and in the Department of Medicine at the UCSD School of Medicine. Her research focuses on the health of justice-involved persons, Latino migrants, and persons living with mental illness or at risk of or living with HIV. Dr. Ojeda is PI of the National Institute of Health grant: “Impact of Peer Support on Health Service and Social Disparities Among Minority Youth with SMI,” (NIH Grants: R01MD011528 and # R01MD011528-S1) and the UCSD RE-LINK program (DHHS-Office of Minority

Health grant #CPIMP161137), and she founded the UCSD Clean Slate Free Tattoo Removal Program serves adults on Probation in San Diego County and also Co-Directs the Health Frontiers in Tijuana Free Clinic.

Dr. Kimberly Brouwer is a professor and infectious disease epidemiologist at the University of California San Diego Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health. A recurrent theme of her research has been to explore the effect of mobility and marginalization on transmission and diffusion of infectious diseases. She further explores the effect of environmental, structural, spatial, and social factors on access to preventive and medical services.

Zephon Lister, PhD, LMFT is an associate professor in the Department of Counseling and Family Science at Loma Linda University and is the Director of the PhD Program in Systems, Families and Couples. His research interests include integrating mental health into low resource settings, the influence of religion on family health and functioning as well as the integration of behavioral health into health care settings, in particular the behavioral management of chronic illness and provision of brief interventions for anxiety, depression and trauma.

Elva M. Arredondo, Ph.D. is professor of public health at San Diego State University and Core Investigator in the Institute for Behavioral and Community Health (IBACH). Dr. Arredondo earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Washington, Seattle, and her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Duke University. Dr. Arredondo is a bilingual/bicultural native of Mexico with over 18 years of research experience in examining social determinants of Latino heath, with a focus on physical activity and cancer screening. Dr. Arredondo’s research interests also include developing, implementing, and evaluating multi-level community-based programs that improve the health of ethnic minority and socially/economically disadvantaged communities.

My name is Sandra Vazquez-Sandoval and I am a Centering Pregnancy Coordinator at San Ysidro Health. I am an UCSD graduate from Thurgood Marshall College, Class of 2003 and graduated with a Bachelor’s of Arts in Human Development/Psychology. During my college years, I work on the Cognitive Science Lab for the research department until I graduate. Since then, I had been working with low income families through different programs and in 2007, I joined San Ysidro Health. At San Ysidro Health, I had work as a Prenatal Case Manager for over 11 years, 7 months as a Cancer Detention Program Case Manager and my current roll is Centering Pregnancy Coordinator. I love my community but what I love more about my profession is the opportunity to help my community back.

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Since finishing the UCSD Combined Internal Medicine and Pediatrics Residency Program in 2012, I have worked providing full time primary care to adults and children near the border of Mexico in southern San Diego. First, with the Imperial Beach Community Clinic and currently with San Ysidro Health, I've worked for federally qualified health centers, while continuing to perform inpatient hospital care at Scripps Mercy Chula Vista, where we largely take care of the patients admitted to the hospital from the south bay FQHCs. My teaching efforts include the hospital work at Scripps where I attend for the Scripps Family Medicine Residency Program inpatient medicine team and as a UCSD Voluntary Clinical Instructor for the Med-Peds Residency Program

Myrna Torresdey is the Associate Director of Clinics for San Ysidro Health’s West Region. She has over 15 years of proven leadership experience managing high level transformation initiatives in federally qualified health center operations. She has led cross-functional teams to successfully implement Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) models in various community health centers. In her current role, she is responsible for overseeing 8 clinic sites and promoting San Ysidro Health’s strategic direction and leading operational and financial management related activities. Myrna earned her Master of Public Health degree in Health Services Administration from San Diego State University and a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Cell Biology from the University of California, San Diego.

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As a board-certified OB/GYN and the Department Chair at San Ysidro Health Center, I have focused my career on developing programs to improve resources for women and children to improve clinical, quality of life and health outcomes during pregnancy. At SYHC, we have offices at multiple locations in San Diego. I am involved in the teaching and mentorship of residents, medical students while also participating in clinical conferences and educational activities for our staff. As the Medical Director for Scripps Mercy Chula Vista OB/GYN Department, I have been fortunate to deliver many babies while offering dedicated and continued commitment to reduction of perinatal complications such as perinatal infections, premature birth, and preeclampsia.

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