COVID-19 Experts | UC Davis Health

Dean Blumberg is chief of pediatric infectious diseases and associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics at UC Davis Children's Hospital. He can discuss preventing, treating and vaccinating against infections such as COVID-19. He is also co-host of the Kids Considered podcast, a conversation between two pediatricians on a variety of child health topics explained in plain language.

Stuart Cohen is chief of infectious diseases at UC Davis Health. A physician, Cohen specializes in treating challenging syndromes linked with infectious diseases, infection and outbreak control, and the epidemiology of resistant microorganisms. His research focuses on developing new antimicrobial agents. He is available to comment on COVID-19 its vaccines.

Natascha Tuznik is an infectious disease specialist in the Department of Internal Medicine. She is part of the UC Davis Health Travelers Clinic, which provides medical consultation for people planning international travel. Tuznik has been interviewed and quoted widely on how COVID-19 affects travel, recreation and eating at restaurants. She can discuss travel restrictions, the importance of being vaccinated, and do’s and don’ts to stay healthy while taking trips during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nam Tran is an associate clinical professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine who oversees COVID-19 testing efforts at UC Davis Health. Tran is a leading expert on the different types of testing done to determine if someone has COVID-19, and the equipment and materials needed to run those tests. He serves on Gov. Gavin Newsom's COVID-19 Testing Task Force, a public-private collaboration to more quickly increase coronavirus testing capacity.

Christian Sandrock is a professor of pulmonary and critical care medicine who treats intensive care, pulmonary and long-haul COVID-19 patients. He also works with Post-COVID-19 Clinic patients. He can talk about symptoms, treatments, the range of patients and other aspects of long-haul COVID-19 (now named post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection or PASC) as in this UC Davis LIVE. His areas of specialty also include Emerging Infectious Diseases, Outbreak Management, Internal Medicine, and critical care Critical Care Medicine.

Bradley Sanville is a pulmonary and critical care physician who treats intensive care, pulmonary and COVID-19 long haulers. He also works with Post-COVID-19 Clinic patients. He specializes in exercise physiology and the impact of disease on exercise tolerance. Sanville can talk about the effect of COVID-19 on athletes and fitness and about symptoms, treatments, the range of patients and other aspects of long-haul COVID-19.

Mark Avdalovic is an associate professor of clinical medicine, a specialist in pulmonary and critical care medicine and the medical director of the Post-COVID-19 Clinic. He can talk about the clinic's purpose, operations, patients and their treatments, pulmonary rehabilitation, the clinic's multi-disciplinary approach and other clinic objectives.

Peter Yellowlees is chief wellness officer at UC Davis Health. He is an expert in physician health and telepsychiatry who has published seven books and over 200 scientific articles and book chapters. He was interviewed on Facebook Live about wellness strategies to reduce anxiety brought on by coronavirus. He also authored a Medscape commentary about how physicians and health systems can reduce fear around COVID-19.

Angela I. Drake is a fellowship-trained clinical neuropsychologist in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. She has been interviewed and quoted broadly on mental health topics including stress, pandemic-related anxiety and the importance of the mind-body connection. She aims to help her patients develop new behaviors, thinking patterns and strategies to better manage stress and improve their quality of life and their relationships with others.

Erik Fernandez y Garcia is an associate professor of clinical pediatrics who is passionate about stopping the spread of COVID-19 in children and families. His research interests focus on racial and ethnic health care disparities, parental depression identification and reduction of parental depression in pediatrics, and residential cultural competency education. Fernandez y Garcia is fluent in English and Spanish.

Satyan Lakshminrusimha is the medical director of UC Davis Children's Hospital and chair of pediatrics at UC Davis Health. He is a neonatologist offering care to term and preterm newborn infants. His COVID-19 research includes breastfeeding during COVID-19, perinatal COVID-19 infection prevention and multi-system inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) in children.

Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola is a professor of internal medicine and director of the UC Davis Center for Reducing Health Disparities. He can discuss the reasons why COVID-19 affects Latinx and Black populations disproportionately and what it takes to achieve health equity. He also is an expert in Latino mental health. Aguilar-Gaxiola is fluent in English and Spanish.

Jann Murray-García is a physician and an associate clinical professor in the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing. In addition to the elimination of health disparities, Murray can speak about the impact of racial stratification and racial identity development on the health of youth and adults. Murray-García co-coined and developed the concept of Cultural Humility, and developed the immersive, interprofessional Central Valley Bus Tour. This tour takes nursing and medical students along Highway 99 to learn about the social determinants of health and health inequities.

Lorena Garcia is an associate professor of epidemiology in the UC Davis Department of Public Health Sciences. She is an expert on the importance of contact tracing. She's also a noted researcher in health disparities and social determinants of health. Her areas of expertise include cardiovascular-related health outcomes such as obesity and diabetes, and immigrant health in the Latino community. She is fluent in English and Spanish.

Hendry Ton is a clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral Sciences, and associate vice chancellor for Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. He is an expert on the disproportionate rate of COVID-19 infections across the U.S. and the effect of the virus on mental health.

Breanna Winder-Patel is a clinical psychologist and assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at the UC Davis MIND Institute. She specializes in the assessment and treatment of anxiety and neurodevelopmental disorders. She can talk about the pandemic's impact on the mental health of children and provide tips for people of all ages about coping with greater levels of anxiety. You can see her speaking in this UC Davis LIVE COVID-19. She is a co-investigator of STAAR, a study about treating anxiety in children with autism.

Megan E. Tudor is a clinical psychologist and assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at the UC Davis MIND Institute. She can talk about anxiety and mental health in children, particularly those with neurodevelopmental conditions. Tudor can also provide strategies for kids who are dealing with anxiety related to the pandemic and distance-learning, such as in this Minds Behind the MIND webinar. She supervises the cognitive behavior therapy arm of the STAAR study as part of the UC Davis Autism Center of Excellence.

Marjorie Solomon is a licensed psychologist, professor of clinical psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, the Oates Endowed Chair in Lifespan Development in Autism, and a faculty member of the UC Davis MIND Institute. She can talk about the impact of anxiety and depression on children during the pandemic, especially those with autism, as seen in this recent UC Davis LIVE COVID-19. She is an expert on social skills intervention programs for children, adolescents and young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and cognitive development in autism. She is also the Principal Investigator of STAAR, a study about treating anxiety in children with autism and a newly funded study of depression in autism.

Janice Bell is an internationally recognized expert in gerontological nursing and director of the Family Caregiving Institute at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis. She can discuss caring for older adults during the pandemic and balancing the needs of family and caregivers of older adults or COVID-19 patients. She can also speak about health care for older adults, including improving relationships between people with dementia and Alzheimer's disease and their family caregivers.

Debra Bakerjian is a nurse practitioner and clinical professor at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis. She can speak to patient safety and quality improvement practices in long-term care facilities like nursing homes. In addition, she can talk about interprofessional education and collaborative practice in primary care. She is the immediate past president of the California Association of Long Term Care Medicine. She is also the co-editor-in-chief of AHRQ PSNet, the federal government's web resource for patient safety and can speak to patient safety issues.