California Epidemiologic Investigation Service Fellowship (Cal-EIS) Fellows

2024–25

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Jacquelyn ​A​ramkul, MPH​​

Jackie earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from UCLA in 2019, focusing on Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. During this time, she volunteered in Tijuana, Mexico, promoting preventative health initiatives and community improvements. Jackie then interned with the Morehouse College Public Health Institute and the CDC Global Health Center, contributing to their Annual Report for 2022, which addresses global health inequities. 

Jackie returned to UCLA for her Master of Public Health degree in Epidemiology, concentrating on zoonotic diseases and One Health topics. While completing her graduate studies, she taught for the Life Sciences department, leading classes on Genetics, Evolution, and Ecology. In 2023, she received the Life Science Core Distinguished Teaching Award. In her MPH program, Jackie interned with the Los Angeles County Veterinary Public Health program. She collaborated with veterinarians and public health researchers to address animal and human health issues. In this role, she was the principal investigator for a project on the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of dog owners in LA County regarding SARS-CoV-2, rabies, leptospirosis, and influenza. 

​​As a Cal-EIS fellow with the San Diego Health and Human Services Agency, Jackie is instrumental in developing the new One Health Epidemiology Program. As a result of her efforts, she has presented and published reports on vector-borne diseases while promoting program outreach. Expanding her involvement within the county, Jackie has led gastrointestinal surveillance in San Diego following extreme flooding events and continues to monitor foodborne illness outbreaks. Following her second fellowship year, Jackie aims to apply her knowledge to new roles concerning communicable diseases. 

Julia Armanino, MPH, CHES

Julia received her B.S. in Public Health from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly, SLO). As an undergraduate student, Julia researched food system policy with Cal Poly, SLO’s Strategic Research Initiative and worked with the local Food System Coalition to create a policy workgroup. She also interned at the County of Fresno Public Health Department in the MCAH division and on the COVID-19 Provider Line during the first summer of the COVID-19 pandemic which solidified her interest in infectious diseases. Upon graduation, Julia worked at the County of San Luis Obispo’s Public Health Laboratory as an administrative assistant initially providing COVID-19 support and later providing general administrative and occasional laboratory technician support. Julia left the lab to attend the University of California, Davis, where she received her MPH with a concentration in Epidemiology. Her practicum project determined the coverage of vaccines required for kindergarten school entry among Yolo County residents and investigated the concordance between the two main sources of immunization information, Shots for Schools and the California Immunization Registry. She is excited to join the County of San Luis Obispo under the guidance of the Infectious Disease Epidemiologist where she hopes to gain more experience in applied epidemiology and infectious disease surveillance. After her fellowship, Julia hopes to either serve as an epidemiologist at the local or state level.​

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Tiffani Berra, DPT, MS, MPH​

Tiffani completed her MS in Epidemiology from UCLA in 2023. Prior to this, she received her BS in Business Administration, Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT), and her MPH. As a physical therapist, her clinical practice was focused in Women’s and Men’s pelvic health, orthopedics, and school-based pediatrics. Tiffani completed her MPH in Biostatistics and Epidemiology while practicing as a physical therapist, and for her capstone project, she completed a program evaluation of the Cancer Rehabilitation Program in which several of her physical therapy patients had previously participated during or after undergoing treatment for cancer. While continuing to practice PT throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Tiffani worked as a school-based physical therapist and further recognized the impact of infectious disease and health disparities and inequities within the local community of the school system in which she was working. Motivated by this, she committed to completing her career transition to public health, and specifically epidemiology, and returned to graduate school to complete her MS in Epidemiology. There she completed her thesis on efficiently identifying childhood vaccination acceptance and hesitancy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo by evaluating a shortened vaccination demand questionnaire. While completing her MS, Tiffani also worked with CDPH on the Valley fever enhanced surveillance project to gain hands-on experience in applied epidemiology.

This is Tiffani’s second fellowship year. During her first year, Tiffani completed her major project on antimicrobial resistant infections in Napa County Residents, where she utilized the CA Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) dataset to complete a descriptive analysis to identify the number of antimicrobial resistant infections in Napa County residents from 2017 through 2021 and describe the demographics and clinical factors associated with antimicrobial resistant infections in Napa County residents. Throughout the first year, Tiffani also gained skills and experience in developing data collection tools by writing surveys, as well as skills in Tableau, ArcGIS, Tyler, SAS, and R through her work on additional projects. For her second year, Tiffani is thrilled to continue working with Napa County where she is looking forward to continuing to work in a multidisciplinary team of professionals to address public health challenges, further develop her epidemiology skills, and explore more areas of epidemiology over the next year. After the fellowship, she aspires to continue to serve the public as an epidemiologist at the county or state level.

 

Julia Ellman, MPH

Julia graduated from Wellesley College in 2021 with a B.A. in Biology and a minor in Health & Society. She received her MPH in 2024 from the Yale School of Public Health with a focus on Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases. Julia spent the fall of her senior year taking classes virtually while working as a Communicable Disease Outreach Worker for the Tuberculosis Program on Saipan, part of the Northern Mariana Islands, prioritizing healthcare access and building trust within the community. After graduating, Julia spent a year working with the Passive Tick Surveillance and Testing Program at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. During her master’s, Julia worked in the Parikh Lab as a research assistant on a clinical trial evaluating the impact of a novel endectocide on malaria transmission in Burkina Faso. She also volunteered with the Yale Patient Navigator Program, working to overcome barriers to care by connecting local patients with health and social resources. Julia’s earlier interest in ecology shaped her more recent experiences with vector borne disease and One Health, which she hopes to continue along with a general focus on the intersection of communicable disease and socioeconomic factors such as substance use and gender/sexuality. Julia spent the first 15 years of her life in Oakland, California, and she is thrilled to be back in the state with a placement at San Diego County Health and Human Services. 

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Erin Cleary Ervin, MPH

Erin received her BSEd in Health, Kinesiology, and Leisure Studies and her MPH in Epidemiology, both from Baylor University. Erin’s interests lie in both communicable and non-communicable diseases. She served as a principal investigator and research assistant on projects while working towards her undergraduate degree. These projects worked to examine health disparities, better mental health, prevent domestic violence, and assess chronic conditions in religious populations. With these studies, she learned to collect and analyze data as well as communicate findings to stakeholders. During graduate school, Erin worked with the Waco-McLennan County Public Health District to investigate COVID-19 and other disease outbreaks, assist with a CASPER and Community Health Needs Assessment, join the Medical Reserve Corps for the county, and manage data for various tasks. These experiences sparked an interest in learning data analysis across different software and mitigating exposure to infectious diseases. Erin is currently completing her Cal-EIS Fellowship with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health in the Veterinary Public Health department. She is excited to learn more about zoonotic diseases, One Health concepts, improve her data collection and analysis skills, and further develop as an epidemiologist. 

Megan Gaa, MPH

Megan received her BS in Environmental Toxicology with an emphasis in Public Health from UC Davis in 2020. She worked as a lab assistant for a public health microbiology lab, testing retail meats and seafoods for enteric bacteria in a national FDA project called the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS). Her work in this role has been published in multiple microbiology and food protection journals. Megan continued working as a lab assistant as she completed her MPH on the Epidemiology track at UC Davis in 2024. During her MPH program, she worked with Sacramento County Public Health’s Health & Racial Equity unit to help advance health and racial equity in the county. She created a life course theory timeline, using multiple social determinants of health, for the most disadvantaged census tract in Sacramento County to target efforts in providing resources where they were needed most. Megan will be completing her Cal-EIS fellowship with Solano County where she hopes to learn applied epidemiology skills and continue serving the community.

Brandon Ja, MPH

Brandon Ja received his BA in Molecular and Cell Biology from UC Berkeley and his BS in Nursing from CSU Sacramento. He returned to Berkeley to complete his MPH in Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology. Prior to graduate school, he worked as a public health nurse for Yolo County In-Home Supportive Services. During his MPH program, Brandon had the opportunity to intern at Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa with their infection prevention department. 

Brandon completed his first year Cal-EIS fellowship at El Dorado County under their public health division. For his second year Cal-EIS fellowship, Brandon will be working with the CDPH Environmental Health Investigations Branch as part of the Climate Change and Health Unit. He hopes to gain further experience in epidemiology and data analysis in preparation for working as an epidemiologist at the state or county level.

Jordan Jensen, MSPH

​Jordan received his B.S. in Health Sciences from California State University, Fresno and his M.S.P.H from the University of California, Merced. During his time at UC Merced, he assisted with projects centered on analyzing the effect the COVID-19 pandemic had on Maternal Mortality and Morbidity. Inspired by work on investigating the clustering of communicable disease, his master’s thesis was focused on investigating the clustering of self-harming behavior through utilizing statewide emergency department data. 

In his professional career, Jordan has served as the Epidemiologist for Kings County and led efforts in conducting surveillance of respiratory diseases while also authoring an annual report on the status of various health outcomes within the County. Through this fellowship, Jordan aims to deepen his practical experience in public health and epidemiology while continuing to serve the Central Valley.​​

Ha Young “Kristen” Jeong, MPH

Kristen received her B.A. in Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley, and her Master’ in Public Health (MPH) from UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health. During her MPH, she interned at the UCSF Center for Excellence in Primary Care, interviewing adult patients as part of a vaccine initiative project aiming to improve vaccine uptake for common respiratory diseases such as influenza, pneumonia, and COVID-19. Simultaneously, she cleaned and transformed historical statewide tuberculosis datasets at the Microbial Diseases Laboratory Branch at CDPH in preparation for developing a dashboard. Kristen will be completing her fellowship with the Alameda County Public Health Department, where she aims to learn more about hepatitis morbidity within the county. After completing the fellowship, Kristen hopes to work as a full-time epidemiologist at the state or local level, investigating healthcare-associated infections or viral respiratory diseases.

Jordan Jump, MPH

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Janak Kaur, MPH

Janak received her B.S. in Public Health Sciences from the University of California, Irvine, and her M.P.H. from the University of Southern California. During graduate school, she served as a COVID-19 Liaison and K-12 Regional Specialist, overseeing contact tracing and onsite testing for students at a local school district. She also assisted in developing health and wellness guidelines and educational materials for the school community. For her practicum, Janak contributed to a longitudinal study at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, assessing the transition of care from adolescence to adult health care.

Currently in her second fellowship year, Janak’s first-year accomplishments include a major project on the epidemiology of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias in Riverside County. She also worked on a youth suicide surveillance pilot program, which she continues to develop in her second year. Janak’s career interests focus on bridging gaps in care for underserved populations and exploring systemic changes at local and state levels to address chronic disease and healthcare inequity.​​

Mansagar Kaur, MPH

Mansagar Kaur holds a B.S. in Chemistry with a concentration in Biochemistry from San Jose State University and a Master's in Public Health in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from the University of Southern California. Though early in her career,

Mansagar has already made significant contributions across diverse and complex areas of public health. Her unwavering commitment to reducing health disparities has driven her to assist initiatives among tribal populations, addressing critical issues such as substance use and diabetes through culturally sensitive and effective interventions during her practicum at USC. In the field of genomics, Mansagar supported the advancements of single-cell molecule testing in the hope of setting new standards in health testing outcomes. Her research also extended to developing a potential inhibitor to control mosquito populations, a critical step in the global fight against infectious diseases. Additionally, during her time at SJSU, her investigative/collaborative work in wastewater research has identified emerging public health threats, underscoring her dedication to protecting vulnerable communities.

Beyond her research and public health work in the United States, Mansagar has also volunteered in a medical clinic in India, where she focused on promoting medication adherence and supporting girls to stay in school during menstruation. Mansagar's deep commitment to inclusivity and her ability to connect with diverse populations have been central to her journey in public health. Currently, she is further developing her epidemiological expertise through the Cal-EIS fellowship with Monterey County. Upon completion, Mansagar aspires to continue her impactful work at the state or local level, where she aims to make enduring contributions to public health and the well-being of communities.

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Bria Larson, MPH​

Bria joined the Marin County Epidemiology team as a Cal-EIS Fellow after graduating from UC Berkeley with her MPH with a concentration in Epidemiology. She brings 20 years of clinical and programmatic experience in women’s and children’s health to her new role in applied epidemiology and aims to inform data-driven public health practice and policy with sounds epidemiological research. In Bria’s year-long fellowship, she hopes to serve as a bridge between data and practice while responding to the needs of the community she calls home. When she is not analyzing data or meeting with public health stakeholders, you can find Bria playing outside with her family or dancing Brazilian samba. ​

Tina Le, MPH​

Tina received both her BSPH and MPH from the University of California, San Diego. Her research interests include infectious diseases, substance use, and community-based participatory research. Her first research experience was on examining cannabis dispensary marketing strategies, where she was able to travel across the state to collect observational data on policy compliance and product promotion. During graduate school, Tina worked as a researcher for the Safer at School Early Alert project, a wastewater surveillance and PCR testing intervention aimed at mitigating COVID-19 outbreaks in K-8 schools in San Diego County. She also worked as a project assistant for the Office of Binational Border Health where she notified health officials in Baja California about relevant disease case reports. These experiences inspired her interest in data sharing and multidisciplinary collaboration for improving public health. Tina is currently completing her Cal-EIS fellowship with the Population Unit at the Santa Cruz County Health Service Agency. She is excited to learn more about how to utilize data to improve public health infrastructure. 

Jocelyn Limas, MPH​

Jocelyn received her B.S. in Psychobiology with a minor in Evolutionary Medicine from UCLA in 2020. Jocelyn become interested in epidemiology and infectious disease outbreaks through her undergraduate curriculum and previous internship with Riverside County Department of Public Health’s Disease Control Branch. She went on to work with the COVID Tracking Project at The Atlantic where she extracted and managed COVID-19 data for the United States and also worked as a Vaccine Site Specialist with Curative at community COVID-19 test and vaccination sites. Jocelyn then returned to UCLA where she received her MPH in Epidemiology in 2023. For her practicum project, Jocelyn conducted research with UCLA and the Adolescent Medicine Trials Network for HIV/AIDS on HIV PrEP initiation barriers impacting at-risk adolescents. After graduating, Jocelyn pursued a Research Coordinator position with HCA Healthcare.

​​​Jocelyn will be completing her Cal-EIS Fellowship with the California Department of Public Health’s Immunization Branch. She is excited to learn more about vaccine preventable diseases and their impacts on California’s population as she furthers her epidemiology and research skillset.

Lily MacCachran, MPH

Lily received her B.S. in Biology from St. Lawrence University and her MPH in Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology from the University of California, Berkeley. During her MPH program, Lily worked as a graduate student instructor for the undergraduate courses of Public Health Microbiology and General Biology 1B. Lily completed her practicum with the City of Berkeley Public Health Officer Unit where she conducted a COVID-19 death data investigation and produced code for a variety of a birth data indicators. Her MPH capstone reviewed methods of reducing disparities in sepsis outcomes, emphasizing the role of public awareness as a determinant of timely hospital presentation. Lily is interested in the environmental determinants of infectious diseases and hospital epidemiology including infection prevention for healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). For her Cal-EIS placement, Lily is excited to be working with the Office of Epidemiology and Evaluation at San Mateo County Health. There, she will focus on climate change and health equity and communicable disease surveillance reporting while aiming to enrich her data analysis and visualization skillset.

Ashleen Manix, MPH

Ashleen is a UC Davis alumni and graduated from University of Southern California (USC) with a Master of Public Health degree. During her undergraduate studies, she worked as a medical scribe at the Emergency Department of Lodi Memorial Hospital. After observing many patients suffering with preventable chronic illnesses, her interests shifted from helping individuals to aiding communities and populations.

During her tenure at USC, Ashleen became involved in the Native American Diabetes Project and projects related to tobacco use among American Indian/Alaska Native youth. She enjoyed her time understanding the importance of culture-based interventions in successfully improving the health of priority populations. She joined the CAL-EIS program to further her skills in epidemiology, understand the ways social determinants shape the health of individuals, and strengthen her understanding of epidemiologic concepts to provide valuable aid to priority populations. She is delighted to join the esteemed team at CDPH California Tobacco Prevention Program and looks forward to jumpstarting her public health career as a CAL-EIS fellow. 

Anna Nguyen, MPH

Anna received her B.S. in Human Development with a double minor in Public Health and Psychology from the University of California, Davis in 2022. After completing her undergraduate degree, she served as a Community Health Worker at a local non-profit in Sacramento where she upheld the whole-person care model supporting clients with their health and housing needs. She then obtained her MPH with a concentration in Epidemiology and General Public Health from the University of California, Davis in 2024. For her MPH practicum, Anna evaluated Sacramento County’s Wellness Without Wall’s Mobile Clinic. She utilized a Patient Visit Tracker to collect real-time observations and conducted Key Informant Interviews, to then developed a final Action Plan document. Anna is interested in maternal, child, and adolescent health, health equity, and community health. She is excited to join Amador County Public Health as a Cal-EIS fellow to work towards expanding her knowledge and skills in applied epidemiology and contributing towards health equity for all.

Jimena Perez, MPH

Jimena Perez earned her Bachelor of Science in Environmental Toxicology from the University of California, Davis, and recently graduated her Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She is currently a Cal-EIS Fellow with the Tulare County Department of Public Health, where she is passionate about addressing challenges at the intersection of climate change and human health resilience. Prior to this role, Jimena was a research trainee with the Cancer Prevention and Control (CAPAC) Research Training Program during the summer of 2023, where she worked on study assessing the impact of extreme climate weather events on cancer patients in Puerto Rico under expert mentorship. Her research was presented at the 16th AACR Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved, earning her the 2023 Minority Scholar in Cancer Research Award. She also served as a teaching assistant for the UCLA Institute for Society and Genetics where she engaged students in discussions about problems of identity at the biological/societal interface. During the same period, Jimena also worked part time as an assistant data analyst for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health in the Office of Health Assessment and Epidemiology. Jimena is thrilled and excited about her new opportunity in Tulare County, where she aims to address public health challenges through innovative and inclusive approaches. Her commitment to integrating climate science with health strategies underscores her dedication to creating a more equitable and sustainable future.

Diana Poindexter, MPH

Diana (she/her) received a Master of Public Health, specializing in Epidemiology and Biostatistics, at the University of California, Berkeley. While at UC Berkeley, Diana worked on a CDPH COVID-19 case-control study that helped establish vaccine and mask effectiveness in California, designed a sample mHealth trial for a mental health intervention for older adults, and created a web-based prototype for vaccine education. She received a Master’s in Irish Writing from Trinity College, Dublin, a teaching credential from San Francisco State University, and a Bachelor of Arts in English Language Literatures from University of California, Santa Cruz. Diana has five years of experience with program management within the tourism industry and over ten years of experience in education and writing. Most recently, Diana worked in HIV Testing Services at USAID where she developed and delivered presentations for interagency working groups and created visualizations and data analyses in R and ArcGIS. She is interested in environmental justice, one health, infectious and communicable disease, human centered design, and data science. Diana is thrilled to learn from and work with Cal-EIS colleagues and public health leaders at the Office of Environmental Justice and Climate Health in Los Angeles County Department of Public Health; she hopes to use her skillset to create public health tools and contribute to research that improves health and well-being in Los Angeles. 

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Clarisa Prieto, MPH

Clarisa earned a BS in Environmental Health Science from California State University, San Bernardino, and an MPH in Applied Biostatistics and Epidemiology from Claremont Graduate University. During her graduate studies, she interned at the Healthy Communities Institute with San Antonio Regional Hospital to evaluate and analyze wellness education among the adolescent population in the Inland Empire. As a Cal-EIS fellow with Long Beach Health & Human Services, she is excited to further develop her skills and engage in resources that meet the needs of Long Beach communities. Clarisa hopes to continue serving the public as an epidemiologist at the local or state level after the fellowship. Her interests include communicable diseases, health geography, and health disparities in underserved communities.​​​

Madison Sisk, MPH, CPH

Madison received her B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Cell Biology from Linfield University in McMinnville, OR. While working in the Emergency Department during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, she witnessed many health inequities that motivated her to obtain a graduate degree, specifically in public health and epidemiology. She pursued her MPH through Touro University California with a concentration in Global Health and further completed the Health Equity & Criminal Justice concentration as well. In 2023, Madison obtained a global health internship and lived abroad in Kathmandu, Nepal, where she created a pilot study on HPV vaccination comfortability and cervical cancer testing among rural women. During her time at Touro, she was awarded a two-year fellowship through the Youth in Action for Health Equity Program, which is a project providing public health education and advocacy to underserved high school students in Vallejo, CA, utilizing a youth participatory action research approach. She also spent time with residents at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center (formerly San Quentin State Prison) to discuss improving equity in the criminal justice system and community-based violence interventions. Madi is now a Cal-EIS fellow at the Napa County Health and Human Services Agency, where she is looking forward to addressing various community health challenges in the county to expand her epidemiology and data analysis skills.

Christina Sun, MPH

Christina is a Cal-EIS Fellow at K’ima:w Medical Center, the healthcare entity of the Hoopa Valley Tribe. Located along the Klamath and Trinity Rivers, Hoopa Valley is the largest federal American Indian reservation in California. Her fellowship will center on controlled substance overdose surveillance, environmental exposure to wildfire smoke, and immunization coverage for HBV and HPV. 

Born and raised in Southern California, Christina received her AB in Anthropology from Brown University and returned to the West Coast to pursue an MPH in Epidemiology (Global Health track) at the University of Washington. She previously worked in clinical research at UCLA Health/Luskin Orthopaedic Institute for Children and as a program manager at the Urban Indian Health Institute during the COVID-19 pandemic. Christina has a strong interest in developing culturally appropriate epidemiologic methods and robust data sovereignty protocols in partnership with Indigenous communities. In her free time, she enjoys staying active and reading with her keiki.

Kaitlyn Sutton, MPH

Kaitlyn Sutton, a Sacramento native, received her Bachelor of Science in Public Health with a focus on community health education from California State University, Sacramento in 2022. She later completed her Master of Public Health with an emphasis on epidemiology from the University of California, Davis in 2024 in just 10 months. Her professional interests in infectious disease and health disparities led her to apply to the Cal-EIS Fellowship where she was later placed at the California Department of Public Health’s Maternal Child and Adolescent Health Unit. 

Throughout her academic and professional journey, Kaitlyn gained valuable public health and epidemiology experience. While working in the emergency department at Sutter Roseville Medical Center, she engaged with a diverse patient population and witnessed the profound impact of disease on the community. Additionally, Kaitlyn completed her capstone practicum project during her MPH with HPV Cancer-Free where she was able to disseminate HPV information for college students and conducted research on vaccine disparities.

Kaitlyn is eager to engage in research focusing on the inequities faced by birthing people in the state of California and to gain further practical experience in epidemiology during her tenure at MCAH. Kaitlyn aspires to lead efforts in enhancing health equity and access for all in her home state.

Jason Tin, MPH

​Jason received his B.S. in Global Disease Biology and his Master’s in Public Health (epidemiology emphasis) from the University of California, Davis. Jason’s professional interests include global health and communicable disease control. This has led him to do a second year of the Cal-EIS fellowship with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Disease Control Informatics Branch, after completing his first year with the One Health team at the California Department of Public Health, Center for Environmental Health.

In his undergraduate and graduate career, Jason has been exposed to ample experiences related to global health and communicable diseases. These experiences include leading fellow undergraduate peers in multiple volunteer trips and empowering under-resourced communities abroad through a holistic approach, investigating the moral foundations of uncivil online discourse regarding COVID-19 vaccines, and understanding diarrheal disease and avenues of prevention for Nepali children under 5 years old. Additionally, in his first fellowship year, Jason conducted a statewide survey to investigate antimicrobial stewardship factors among companion animal veterinarians through a One Health lens.

He looks forward to gaining more practical epidemiology experience through Cal-EIS and expanding his informatics-related skillset in his current placement. After the fellowship, Jason hopes to pursue higher education and to lead a global effort in controlling communicable diseases worldwide.​

Franklin Tran, MPH

Franklin received his Bachelor of Science degree in Public Health with a concentration in Epidemiology. He completed his Master’s in Public Health at the University of California, Davis concentrating in Epidemiology. Franklin’s master’s practicum involved decreasing HPV and cervical cancer disparities in Vietnamese-American communities. Through this project, Franklin learned more about the importance of community-based interventions and culturally competent education. Franklin also worked as a graduate student assistant at CDPH, supporting the Substance Abuse and Prevention Branch with overdose case abstractions for the State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System. Through his time as a GSA, he developed a strong interest in overdose and substance abuse prevention.

Franklin is currently placed at Humboldt County, supporting overdose and suicide prevention projects. He is excited to learn more about overdose prevention and improve his data analysis and collection skills. After the fellowship, he hopes to work as an epidemiologist in California at the state or county level.​

Margaret Trimble, RDH, MPH

A native of Sonoma County, I taught Spanish at the high school level for three years before going back to school for dental hygiene. After graduating from UCSF, I spent 20 years working as a clinical dental hygienist, both in private practice and in nursing homes. I earned my MPH from UC Berkeley, where I worked with Dr. Karen Sokal-Gutierrez on three research projects related to maternal child oral health and nutrition. This past spring, I was hired as a data consultant for CavityFree SF, a non-profit that partners with SFDPH, UCSF, and SFUSD to help San Francisco meet the objectives outlined in the city’s Children’s Oral Health Strategic Plan, which include reductions in caries experience and untreated decay as well as elimination of oral health disparities. As an oral health epidemiologist, topics that are of particular interest to me include: inequities in access to dental care; oral health outcomes and economic impacts related to Medi-Cal dental services; associations between oral health and chronic disease, the impact of e-cigarettes or oral health, and oral health outcomes in cities that have instituted a soda tax. When I am not learning how to analyze data, I love to cook, hike, and visit national parks with my husband Tom.

Gabriella Villegas, MPH

Gabriella earned her B.S. in Conservation and Resource Studies with a minor in Global Public Health from UC Berkeley and an MPH in Epidemiology with a Global Health certificate from UCLA. Her introduction to public health began at age 12 through the SKILLZ summer school, an early intervention program for at-risk youth. Although unaware at the time, SKILLZ integrated the socioecological model and promoted health equity. Gabriella started their public health journey with Day One Pasadena and eventually became a SKILLZ facilitator, educating youth on substances and harm reduction. This role allowed her to collaborate with organizations like Planned Parenthood and College Access Plan.

During her undergraduate studies, Gabriella continued working in the non-profit sector, focusing on youth initiatives with Berkeley Youth Alternatives, Central Valley Scholars, and Fred Finch Youth Center.

While pursuing her MPH, Gabriella served as a teaching assistant for UCLA’s Institute of Society and Genetics and was appointed a teaching fellow for the UCLA Cluster Program, where she designed and led a seminar on sex, gender, and reproductive health. For her MPH practicum, Gabriella spent a summer in Puerto Rico exploring resilience among gynecological cancer patients before and after hurricanes Irma and Maria.

In her first year of the Cal-EIS Fellowship, Gabriella worked with the California Department of Public Health in the Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health division. She presented her work about an equity index (California Adolescent Sexual Health Needs Index) for youth sexual health education at the Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs Conference and then conducted a comparative analysis of alternative indices for equitable resource allocation in adolescent sexual health.

Gabriella is currently completing their second year at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health’s Substance Abuse Prevention and Control Bureau. She looks forward to expanding her knowledge and contributing to sustainable, equitable future initiatives. 

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Yongyan Yue, MPH

Yongyan Yue received her B.S. in Chemistry and B.A. in Psychology from the University of Washington, Seattle. She then continued pursuing MPH at U.C. Berkeley, with a focus on Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology and earned two Graduate Certificates: Applied Data Science and Geographic Information Science and Technology. During her 2023 summer practicum at CDPH, she led a data analysis on Over-the-Counter COVID-19 testing in California schools, analyzing demographics, positivity rates, and testing trends across different regions and time periods. She also contributed significantly to the COVID Dog Project, assessing community acceptance of medical detection dogs for COVID-19 detection in Bay Area nursing facilities. She developed, administered, and analyzed a survey that provided valuable insights into the feasibility and effectiveness of this innovative rapid COVID-19 screening method for both routine surveillance and outbreak purposes.

Yongyan will be completing her Cal-EIS fellowship with Napa County Public Health. She hopes to apply her knowledge of epidemiology and infectious diseases, as well as further strengthen her data analysis skills in practical, real-world settings. She’s excited to learn more about how a local health jurisdiction in California operates, including its organizational structure, policies, programs, community partnerships, and outreach efforts.

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Jamie-Lynn Yumul, MPH

Jamie-Lynn earned her B.A. in Public Health Policy from the University of California, Irvine, where she interned at the Social Epidemiology and Research in Community Health (SEARCH) Lab that allowed her to identify identifying barriers to vaccination scheduling and addressing vaccine hesitancy among older populations in Orange County during the COVID-19 pandemic.

She pursued her MPH in Epidemiology and Biostatistics at San Diego State University, assisting Dr. Tianying Wu with the Healthy Aging Study, which concentrated on nutritional epidemiology, chronic disease, and healthy aging.

Jamie-Lynn also worked with the LGBTQ+ community through an 18-month position at Sean’s Legacy, a youth LGBTQ+ suicide prevention non-profit, where she helped develop the organization’s first mentorship program. In San Diego, she interned at San Ysidro Health’s HIV Research Department and the San Diego County Health and Human Services’ Border Health Office.

Currently, Jamie-Lynn is a Cal-EIS fellow at Santa Clara County’s Science, Epidemiology, Informatics, and Improvement Branch. She collaborates closely with the Infectious Disease Response Team and General Epidemiology, excited to explore Santa Clara County’s various programs.

Her interests include social epidemiology, population health, One Health, infectious disease response, and minority populations. She believes the Cal-EIS fellowship will provide a strong foundation for a successful career as an epidemiologist.

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Mayra Zamora, MPH

Mayra received her Bachelor of Science in Public Health from Cal State LA, and her Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. Prior to graduate school, Mayra worked as a research assistant for The FILLED Project, a Greater Los Angeles-based cross-sectional study of Filipino Americans’ experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. While at UCLA, she expanded on her work in The FILLED Project by becoming an integral member of the SEA US, HEAR US project, community-engaged, mixed-methods study that aims to understand the clinical and social implications of COVID-19 among Southeast Asian Americans. For her field studies, she interned for the Population and Community Health Sciences Branch of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, where she developed and executed an analysis plan for the study of the relationship between online gaming during the COVID-19 pandemic and mental health outcomes among U.S. adults. Mayra’s research experience has shaped her interest in epidemiology as a means of addressing health disparities and advocating for health equity. As a Cal-EIS Fellow at the Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services, she is excited to advance her training in epidemiologic surveillance and other essential public health services that will directly benefit the Long Beach community.​

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