CHPR Staff
CHPR is home to a robust and diverse staff with extensive administrative and/or research expertise. CHPR staff offer a wide range of knowledge and experience in various research methods, policy analysis and research administration. They have diverse academic and professional backgrounds in public health, sociology, psychology, statistics, economics, and communications. The majority of CHPR staff members have advanced degrees, including doctoral degrees. This transdisciplinary team provides unique in-house support for faculty with diverse research needs.
UC Davis students also work on CHPR research projects. Our undergraduate student research assistant program provides inspiration for students to enter careers in healthcare and health services research.
Administrative Staff
CHPR administrative staff members assist faculty researchers with a variety of research-related tasks that include:
- identifying appropriately skilled, available CHPR staff for research projects
- managing human resource issues
- maintaining compliance for grant and human subject reviews
- managing project budgets
- identifying funding opportunities for faculty members and assisting with grant proposal preparation
For more information about the services provided by our administrative staff, please click on the following links:
Research Staff
CHPR research staff members are highly flexible and versatile, capable of utilizing multiple research methods to conduct various types of studies (e.g., randomized-controlled trials, cohort studies, research employing simulated patients, qualitative analyses, survey research, etc.) to address a broad range of research questions. Staff members—statisticians, health policy analysts, qualitative researchers, project managers, etc.—work on research teams led by CHPR faculty.
CHPR project managers manage a variety of projects, including multi-site, randomized controlled trials, systematic reviews, and qualitative investigations, that involve complex data analyses. Project managers work with researchers at UC Davis and other institutions to optimize project resources, supervise research staff, develop study recruitment and enrollment protocols, manage IRB submissions and modifications, and prepare research manuscripts and reports.
CHPR’s health policy analysts conduct systematic and rapid evidence reviews. These analysts also staff the California Health Benefits Review Program (CHBRP) projects, providing rapid (within 60 days) medical effectiveness and public health impact analyses of proposed health insurance legislation for the California State Legislature. Health policy staff members also give annual guest lectures on health policy topics to first- and second-year medical students and for the MIND Institute, and also train UC colleagues in conducting systematic reviews
CHPR has staff expertise in ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM/PCS coding and has provided support for the AHRQ Quality Indicators conversion project and for development/implementation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) morbidity surveillance measures for ICD-10-CM/PCS. Staff have also reviewed indicator specifications to support proposed ICD-10 maps as participants on expert panels.
Led by Professor Daniel Tancredi, CHPR statisticians assist researchers in developing effective study designs and analytic plans for clinical research studies including cluster-randomized trials, longitudinal studies, and surveys that use complex, probability sampling techniques. They conduct complex analyses of large datasets including national, state, and insurance datasets. They have experience with a wide variety of biostatistical, psychometric, and econometric applications, including instrument development and validation and the specification and interpretation of regression models for multilevel, time-series, and panel data.
CHPR’s qualitative research team members, trained and led by Melissa Gosdin, Ph.D., work with principal investigators within the Schools of Medicine and Nursing, and on the main UC Davis campus, investigating a wide variety of topics. Specific studies focusing on doctor/patient interactions, opioid tapering, barriers and facilitators to improving healthcare delivery, social isolation and its relationship to chronic pain, life context in primary care, sexual assault and HIV prevention, smoking cessation, collaborative depression care, and impacts of COVID-19 on frontline physicians are examples of current and recent research conducted by our qualitative team.
CHPR’s research assistants develop and conduct in-person and telephone surveys, and collect, enter and analyze data. Some are experienced in:
- training and managing simulated patients
- recruiting and enrolling diverse patient populations
- engaging research subjects in a variety of interventions
Current CHPR Staff
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Michael Webster, B.S. Chief Administrative Officer |
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Kirstin Truitt, B.S. Administration Analyst |
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Beatrice Le, B.S. Research Administrator |
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Belinda Martineau, Ph.D. Writer/Editor |
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Olivia Call, B.A. Marketing Specialist |
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Meghan Weyrich, M.P.H. Health Policy Analyst; Supervisor |
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Melissa Gosdin, Ph.D. Qualitative Research Analyst; Supervisor |
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Dominique Ritley, M.P.H. Senior Health Policy Analyst |
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Marykate Miller, B.S., M.S. Health Policy Analyst |
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Ryan Ciuffetelli, M.A. Project Policy Analyst |
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Ruchi Rawal, B.S. Project Policy Analyst |
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Camille Cipri, B.S. Clinical Research Analyst |
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Margaret Fix Clinical Research Analyst |
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Bethney Bonilla, M.A. Clinical Research Analyst |
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Gary Weinberg Survey Researcher |
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Eryn Murphy, M.S. Data Systems Analyst |
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Aaron Oravetz, M.A. Counseling Psychologist |
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Erik Tseregounis, Ph.D. Post-Doctoral Fellow |
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Carrie Lewis, B.S., M.P.H. Principal Statistician |
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Guibo Xing, Ph.D. Statistician |
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Andrew Padovani, Ph.D. Candidate Statistician |
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Sabrina Loureiro, B.S. Student Research Assistant |
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Hiba Naz, B.S. Student Research Assistant |
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Cindy Valencia, M.P.H., Ph.D. Candidate Operations Director; CA Quits Program |
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Cynthia Vela, B.S. Project Manager; CA Quits Program |
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Shannon Haggitt, B.A., M.S.W. Project Policy Analyst; CA Quits Program |
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Moreen Sharma, B.S. Project Policy Analyst; CA Quits Program |
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Tasleem Chechi Project Policy Analyst; CA Quits Program |
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Rebecca Hsieh, B.S. Communication and Education Coordinator; CA Quits Program |
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Desiree Backman, Dr.P.H., M.S., R.D. Chief; Population Health Group |
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Neal Kohatsu, M.D., M.P.H., FACM Chief Health Strategist; Population Health Group |
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Camlyn McCracken, B.S. Community Liaison; Population Health Group |
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Crystie Tiet, M.S. Communications Specialist; Population Health Group |
