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Mentors

Faculty involved with the training program are classified into one of two distinct categories: primary mentor and secondary mentor. After discussion, fellows will select a primary mentor whose research expertise overlaps with the research interests of the fellow and who can provide a tangible research experience that focuses on that area of interest. The fellow will also choose a secondary mentor who will provide training and research expertise from a discipline usually distinct from the primary mentors.

Primary Mentors

Matthew Allison M.D., M.P.H. is the Division Chief and a Professor in the Division of Preventive Medicine, Department of Family Medicine at UC San Diego. He conducts research that broadly investigates the prevention of cardiovascular diseases, with specific focal areas to include subclinical atherosclerosis, metabolism and body composition, kidney disease, women’s health and racial/ethnic disparities.

Cheryl Anderson, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.S. is Professor and Dean of the UC San Diego Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science. Dr. Anderson’s research is focused on nutrition and chronic disease prevention, as well as the promotion of health behavior and elimination of health disparities by personal and environmental factors.  She is the Chair of the American Heart Association's Council Operations Committee. Dr. Anderson was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Medicine in 2016 and elected to the Council on Foreign Relations in 2021.

Elva Arredondo, Ph.D. is a Professor of Public Health and a Senior Investigator at the Institute for Behavioral and Community Health Studies. Her research focuses on implementing randomized community trials preventing chronic diseases in Latino communities.  Dr. Arredondo has served as PI or Co-I for 22 studies examining social determinants associated with racial/ethnic disparities and evaluating the impact of intervention studies aimed to address these determinants.  She has published more than 160 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters.  Dr. Arredondo has served as thesis advisor for more than 90 pre-doctoral students, 2 post-doctoral trainees, and several early career investigators.

Harpreet S. Bhatia, M.D., MAS is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at UCSD. His clinic interests include all aspects of cardiovascular disease prevention. His research interests are primarily in preventive cardiology including epidemiology of risk factors and disease, risk stratification and prediction and treatment. His research focuses primarily on lipids, particularly lipoprotein(a), and its role in cardiovascular diseases, methods to risk stratify and improve risk prediction in individuals with elevated levels, and strategies for risk mitigation in this population and the use of coronary calcium scoring, particularly methods to improve existing scoring methodologies.

Kerri Boutelle, Ph.D. is a Professor in the UCSD Department of Pediatrics, Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Longevity Science, and Psychiatry.  Dr. Boutelle’s research focuses on 1) developing more disseminable treatments for children with obesity and 2) developing novel treatments for individuals with obesity based on basic behavioral sciences and neuroscience.  Dr. Boutelle has pioneered treatments based on extinction theory for overeating in children and adults, as well as cognitive interventions as ancillary targets to reduce overeating and obesity. Notably, Dr. Boutelle’s developed a novel clinical treatment program (i.e., Regulation of Cues) targeting improvement in satiety responsiveness and reduction in food responsiveness. She has also developed and tested a parent-only treatment for childhood obesity, a guided self-help treatment for childhood obesity, an adolescent treatment for obesity that includes emotion management skills, and interventions focusing on attention bias and memory. Dr. Boutelle has mentored 33 graduate students, postdoctoral students and junior faculty.

Christina Chambers, Ph.D., M.P.H. is a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine at UCSD. She is Chief of the Division of Environmental Science and Health, and Co-Director of the Center for Better Beginnings. She is the principal investigator of MotherToBaby Pregnancy Studies, and the UC San Diego Human Milk Research Biorepository, two nation-wide longitudinal cohort studies focused on the safety of medications, vaccines, substances, infectious agents, and other environmental exposures in pregnancy and lactation. Dr. Chambers co-directs the HEALthy Brain and Child Development Study (HBCD), a nationwide research initiative focused on developmental trajectories of children in various environments from prenatal life through 10 years of age. In addition, Dr. Chambers leads research and educational initiatives in the U.S. and internationally on the prevention and treatment of children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.  She co-directs the Center for Population Science and Community Engagement in the Clinical and Translational Research Institute at UCSD which supports clinical research development in diverse populations.

Lori B. Daniels, M.D., MAS is a Professor of Medicine and Cardiologist at UCSD, where she is the Medical Director of the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit and a member of the Board of Governors.  She is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Medical School.  She completed her post-graduate training at UCSD and served as Chief Resident and Chief Fellow there. She received a Masters of Advanced Studies in Clinical Research, and is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and of the American Heart Association (AHA). She serves on the ACC Women’s Leadership Council, the AHA Acute Cardiovascular Care Committee, and the European Society of Cardiology Study Group on Biomarkers. Dr. Daniels is the recipient of multiple national grants studying cardiovascular epidemiology, women’s cardiovascular health, and cardiovascular biomarkers.  She runs the Cardiovascular Biomarker Research Lab at UCSD.  Her research interests focus on cardiovascular epidemiology and prevention, cardiovascular biomarkers, women’s cardiovascular health, and critical care cardiology.  She has been a principal or co-investigator for many clinical studies, has given talks all over the world, and has authored or co-authored over 200 scientific papers, reviews, book chapters, and abstracts. 

Linda Gallo, Ph.D. is a Clinical Psychologist with specialty training in Behavioral Medicine. She is a Professor of Psychology and a Director of the South Bay Latino Research Center, in the College of Sciences at San Diego State University. She also serves as the Co-Principal Investigator of the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos San Diego Field Center. Dr. Gallo’s research focuses on social, behavioral, and psychological determinants of cardiometabolic health, and developing and testing culturally appropriate interventions to improve cardiometabolic health outcomes among Hispanic/Latino populations.

Sheri Hartman, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor and the Assistant Dean of Research Affairs in the UCSD SPH. She is a clinical psychologist with extensive training developing and delivering health behavior interventions.  Her research focuses on examining the benefits of physical activity and sedentary behavior interventions, with a focus on cognitive functioning and quality of life among cancer survivors.

Eric Hekler, Ph.D. is the Director of the Center for Wireless & Population Health SysteM.S. within the Qualcomm Institute, an Associate Professor in the SPH and faculty of the Design Lab at UCSD.  His research includes 1) methods for optimizing adaptive behavioral interventions; 2) processes to help people help theM.S.elves, particularly N-of-1 methods; and 3) research pipelines to equitably improve people’s health efficiently. He is internationally recognized in the area of digital health.

Jan Hughes-Austin, PT, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and Director of Patient-Centered Research within the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. Her research focuses on cardiovascular disease and bone disease; and how these two interact. One area of research investigates the role that autoimmunity, e.g., rheumatoid arthritis (RA)-related autoantibodies play in cardiovascular disease and bone disease, specifically in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. Within this cohort, she further aiM.S. to determine whether an individual’s major histocompatibility complex (MHC) modifies the autoimmunity and CVD link. Dr. Hughes-Austin has recently expanded her interest in bone disease to include bone health and fracture pathology, especially in the area of chronic kidney disease mineral bone disorder (CKD-MBD). Her research aiM.S. to establish a biomarker panel that will indicate bone turnover consistent with what is determined on bone biopsy from the hip in patients with hip fracture and CKD.

Joachim H. Ix, M.D., MAS is a Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Nephrology-Hypertension at UCSD. He is also Staff Physician at the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System.  He is actively supported as PI of multiple R01 and U01 awards from the NIDDK and thus committed to and experienced in KUH research. He is deeply committed to training the next generation of KUH scientists, and served as PI of a highly successful T32 award in nephrology that recently ended March 2022 as the KUH T32 program ended. In addition, he is primary mentorship of 6 new K23 or VA CDA award recipients over the past 5 years, with several additional K23 awards where he serves as secondary mentor.

Andrea LaCroix, Ph.D. is Division Chief, Distinguished Professor of Epidemiology in the UCSD SPH.  She is a senior women’s health, aging and chronic disease epidemiologist and clinical trialist with nearly 40 years of experience conducting prospective studies and randomized trials to improve mid-life and older women’s health.  She is a senior Women’s Health Initiative investigator and served as Co-Principal Investigator of the WHI Clinical Coordinating Center (CCC) at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. In addition, she has been responsible for the development of the WHI cohort as a major data resource in conducting studies of cardiovascular disease, healthy aging and exceptional longevity in postmenopausal women. In her role as Distinguished Professor of Epidemiology at UCSD and Director of the Women’s Health and Reproductive Justice Research Program, she is leading the development of a wide array of new studies to optimize the health of women across the life course, with an emphasis on large pragmatic and clinically translatable randomized trials with high potential for improving public health among older people, especially women.

Britta Larsen, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the UCSD SPH. Her research primarily focuses on promotion of physical activity in underserved populations using remote, scalable technology channels. She has developed and tested physical activity interventions both in community populations and as part of clinical care for patients with chronic disease, and also studies the cost effectiveness of health behavior interventions. Her research also investigates body composition, particularly muscle health, as a risk factor for morbidity and mortality, and the role this plays in health disparities. She has served as the Associate Director of the UCSD Center of Excellence for Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology & Prevention, the Physical Activity Topic Chair for the Society of Behavioral Medicine’s scientific sessions, and is the current Associate Director of the UCSD Bachelor of Science in Public Health program.

Becky Marquez, Ph.D., M.P.H., is an Associate Professor in the School of Public Health. She conducts randomized controlled trials targeting behavioral change. Dr. Marquez’s research focuses on the role of social relationships in influencing eating and physical activity behaviors. Dr. Marquez has a special interest in culturally responsive mental and behavioral health interventions for Latinos. She is currently testing an adapted obesity intervention with family counseling for Mexican-Americans.

Dena Rifkin, M.D., M.S. is a Professor in the UCSD Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, and Associate Chief of Medicine at the San Diego VA. She has been a mentor for one K23 awardee, one VA Career Development awardee, four T32 post-doctoral trainees, and over 10 medical students and residents who have been funded by O’Brien, M.S.TAR and TL1 programs.  Dr. Rifkin has expertise in kidney function, hypertension, aging, and frailty, with more than 100 publications. In her 15 years at UCSD, Dr. Rifkin has been involved in teaching and mentoring activities across the continuum of medical education and post-doctoral training. She directs the Renal Physiology and Pathophysiology courses and is the Vice-Chair of the Department of Medicine for Education.

Rany Salem, Ph.D., M.P.H. is an Associate Professor in the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Longevity Science.  He is a human geneticist, genetic epidemiologist and statistical genetics researcher focusing on genetic epidemiology to better understand complex human traits and diseases. Dr. Salem’s research program leverages mega-scale datasets and broadly focuses on understanding the genetic basis of complex traits and disease, with a particular emphasis on obesity, cardiometabolic disease, including metabolic syndrome, and diabetic complications, including how diabetes influences CVD risk. A major theme of his research program is phenotypic modeling and incorporation of more informative phenotypes in phenotype-genotype analyses.  He serves as a mentor for the JDP in Epidemiology and the T32 program focused on Advanced Data Analytics for Behavioral and Social Sciences.

David Strong, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health & Human Logevity Science and the Director of the Health Behavior Science Track for the UCSD/SDSU JDP in Public Health whose recent research in tobacco focuses on the population health impact of tobacco product use, promoting awareness of the risks of tobacco use with graphic warning labels on cigarettes, and promoting cessation within large healthcare settings. He is a co-investigator on the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study, which was designed to inform FDA through regulatory science that supports the evaluation of the risks and benefits of tobacco regulatory decisions and impacts on population health. With funding from NCI and the California Tobacco Related Disease Research Program, Dr. Strong initiated parallel efforts to extend work on lowering barriers to cessation treatment and thereby increase engagement by smokers at high-risk for poor health outcomes including CVD. He engaged trainees in each of these efforts within multidisciplinary teaM.S. of investigators to understand the links between tobacco use patterns and cardiovascular health.

José Ricardo Suárez, M.D., Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the UCSD SPH with a research focus on understanding the role of environmental contaminants on adult cardiovascular/metabolic health and on child development including neurocognitive, mental health, endocrine, respiratory and inflammation outcomes. He is PI and founder of the ESPINA study and the Nuts and Olestra for Persistent Organic Pollutant Reduction (NO-POPs) trial. He also conducts ancillary work in the CARDIA study. Dr. Suarez is PI on several NIH and foundation grants and conducts research in the US and Latin America.

Ming Tai-Seale, Ph.D. is a Professor and Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Family Medicine and Professor of Medicine (Biomedical Informatics) at UCSD. She is a leading researcher in the practice of medicine, with expertise in using artificial intelligence and electronic health records to inform research and interventions. She also serves as the Director for Outcomes Analysis and Scholarship and Director of Research and Learning in the Population Health Services Organization at UC San Diego Health. Her publications on patient-physician communication earned the Article-of-the-Year award from AcademyHealth. She is the Principal Investigator of the UC San Diego Center on Learning Health System Science funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (1P30HS029770-01).

Greg Talavera, M.D., M.P.H. is a Professor Emeritus at San Diego State University in the Department of Psychology and Co-Director of the South Bay Latino Research Center. He has dedicated his clinical practice, research, and advocacy to reducing disparities in the Latino Community; both locally and nationally. Over the last 30 years, he has designed and managed research programs involving CVD prevention, breast and cervical cancer screening promotion, behavioral interventions for diabetes care, recruitment of minorities into long-term clinical trials, and smoking cessation. In total, he has led 21 grants, contracts, and supplements totaling over $32 million in direct costs. His intervention research focuses on the integration of physical health and behavioral health for patients with chronic diseases. This work is done in the setting of a federally qualified community health center. Since 2006, he has been the PI-Co-PI for the Hispanic Community Health Study - Study of Latinos, a longitudinal study of Latino health in 4 US cities and the largest study of Latino health in the US.

Sortorios (Sam) Tsimikas, M.D. is a Professor of Medicine and the Director of UCSD Vascular Medicine. He obtained his Medical Degree from the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Internal Medicine training at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, and separate fellowships in Cardiovascular Medicine, Atherosclerosis and Molecular Medicine and Interventional Cardiology at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) Medical Center. Dr. Tsimikas is the Founding Director of the Vascular Medicine Program within the Cardiovascular Medicine Division. He founded the UCSD “Lp(a) Clinic” as a novel paradigm to diagnose, manage and follow patients with elevated Lp(a). He directs a basic and translational research laboratory focused on Lp(a) and oxidized phospholipids as mediators of cardiovascular disease with NIH-R01 funded research. He has published in all of the major medical journals, including NEJM, Lancet, Nature, Cell, JACC, Circulation, EHJ, and has over 362 original manuscripts.

Secondary Mentors

  • Tara Allen, M.D.: Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine, UCSD Hospital and Vascular Medicine, San Diego VA Hospital
  • Ryan Bradley, ND, M.P.H.: Assistant Professor in the UCSD SPH
  • Kimberly Brouwer, Ph.D.: Professor, UCSD SPH
  • Harvey Checkoway, Ph.D.: Professor, UCSD SPH and Neurosciences
  • Michael H. Criqui, M.D., M.P.H.: Distinguished Professor, UCSD Department of Family Medicine
  • Igor Grant, M.D.: Professor, UCSD Department of Psychiatry
  • Tristen Inagaki, Ph.D.: Assistant Professor, SDSU Department of Psychology
  • Robin Knight, Ph.D.: Director of the Center for Microbiome Innovation at UCSD; UCSD Professor of Pediatrics, Bioengineering, and Computer Science & Engineering
  • Borsika Rabin, Ph.D., M.P.H., Pharm.D.: Assistant Professor, UCSD SPH
  • Murray Stein, M.D.: Distinguished Professor, UCSD Department of Psychiatry
  • Zvinka Zlatar, Ph.D.: Assistant Adjunct Professor, UCSD Department of Psychiatry