Elizabeth Vasile, Ph.D., M.S.

Program Director, Health Equity Resources and Outreach (HERO)
Program Manager, Integrating Special Populations Into Research (INSPIRE)
evasile@ucdavis.edu

As Director of the UC Davis Clinical and Translational Science Center Health Equity Resources and Outreach program, I work with researchers and my administrative counterparts across the institution to nurture relationships with community stakeholders, organize public dialogues and learning activities, convene and expand access to community advisory groups, and develop strategies and capacities to bring patient voices into research design and content, with special attention to the unique health needs of populations at different points in the human lifespan, and of historically underserved, disadvantaged, and culturally diverse communities.

Before coming to work at UC Davis Health, I managed an NIA/NIH-supported P30 center at the University of California, Berkeley, where I facilitated the development and dissemination of studies in the demography of aging. My research background is in the social sciences, with a broad base in community development and regional change and in field studies employing qualitative, ethnographic methods to examine mechanisms of shifting social identity and material practices. I earned a Ph.D. in Geography from the University of California, Berkeley. I have lived, worked, and conducted field research in North Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean and with Latinx, Asian, and African-American communities in California, and trained and supervised field teams in ethnographic techniques and cultural analysis, working in Spanish and French. My early career, post-Ph.D., was in management and research consulting, centered on informing the design of service innovations in underserved markets, supporting long-long range strategic planning, and conducting third-party evaluations of complex community development initiatives.

Beyond my professional work with UC Davis, I study, practice, and teach Iyengar yoga.