People
- Leadership
- Mentors
- Current Trainees
- Alumni
Aubrey Doede, PhD RN earned her undergraduate degree in Human Biology from Claremont McKenna College. After several years’ experience in clinical research, she obtained both her Master’s degree in nursing and continued on to earn her PhD, both from the University of Virginia. Her dissertation work focused on wind trajectory analysis and the impact of airborne pollutants on childhood asthma. During her graduate studies, she also gained research and teaching experience in clinical trials and global health, focusing mainly on non-communicable diseases including cancer and cardiovascular disease. In addition to her postdoctoral focus on environmental determinates of health, she is currently pursuing a Master’s in Advanced Studies in Clinical Research with a concentration in Translational Science.
Erin Richard, PhD, MPH received her master’s degree in Public Health from San Diego State University and her PhD in Public Health Epidemiology from the UCSD/SDSU joint doctoral program (2020). Her primary research interest is in applying integrated epidemiological, clinical, and genetic data to investigate the underlying factors and processes that contribute to aging and age-related disease. Her dissertation focused on the relationship between biomarkers of kidney function and cognitive performance in older adults. As part of her postdoctoral work, she is conducting several large-scale genome-wide association studies to explore the genetic architecture of diabetic complications and smoking by gene interactions on cardiometabolic traits.
Tara Shrout Allen, MD, MSc earned her undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University, where she double majored in Molecular & Cellular Biology and Political Science. She began her academic career while a student at Vanderbilt, publishing papers related to cardiac sarcomere physiology and protein regulation, and was selected for a paid internship at Duke University focused on improving methods for cardiac transplant procurement. Tara also studied abroad at University College London and worked as a swim instructor and MCAT course teacher for the Princeton Review during her time at Vanderbilt. After undergraduate studies, Tara returned home to Kentucky for medical school at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine where she was selected as the Saha Cardiovascular Medical Student of the Year and for an NIH CTSA TL1 Training Grant that afforded her the ability to earn a Master of Science Degree in Clinical & Translational Science with a prospective thesis project on improving risk-stratification for adverse outcomes in patients undergoing LVAD implantation. She then completed her Internal Medicine residency training at Boston Medical Center where she was selected for the Framingham Heart Study Pathway and developed a strong interest in epidemiology and improving ways we use already available clinical data for patient care. Amid the COVID pandemic, Tara connected with leaders in our program and applied to our two-year T32 in Integrated Cardiovascular Epidemiology. She is leading projects and statistical analyses related to subclinical atherosclerosis, nutritional epidemiology, and improving risk discrimination scores for cardiovascular disease. Tara plans to apply for clinical cardiology fellowship and pursue a career as an academic cardiologist. Outside of medicine, Tara enjoys scuba diving with her husband and trail running.
Eric T. Hyde, MPH earned his Bachelor of Science in Movement Science from the University of Michigan (2014) and Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from Emory University (2017) before working for three years as an epidemiologist in the Physical Activity and Health Branch at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While there, he worked on national surveillance of physical activity and sedentary behavior while contributing to federal policy documents such as the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd edition and the National Youth Sports Strategy. Eric began the T32 Integrated Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology Predoctoral Fellowship in 2020, which was the same year he began the SDSU/UCSD joint doctoral program in Public Health – Epidemiology. Eric’s primary research interests are in the measurement of physical activity and sedentary behavior. In addition, he’s interested the associations between physical activity/sedentary behavior and chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer, as well as interventions that promote a physically active lifestyle.