The quality and importance of the work we do hinges on the diverse skills, passion, and innovation of Health Research for Action's remarkable staff.
Holly Brown-Williams
Director of Policy
Diana Darab, PhD
Director of Operations
Donna Dahrouge, MPH
Research Analyst
Carrie Graham, PhD, MGS
Assistant Director of Research
Susan L. Ivey, MD, MHSA
Director of Research
Susana M. Morales Konishi, MA
Project Manager
Elaine Kurtovich, MPH, PT
Project Manager
Lauren Lau
Financial & Administrative Assistant |
Marilyn Mansfield, MS
Senior Editor
Shelley Martin, MPH
Special Advisor on International Affairs
Linda Neuhauser, DrPH
Co-Principal Investigator
Beccah Rothschild, MPA
Director of Health Literacy Projects
Katherine M. Simpson, MA
Director of Health Communications
Andrea Spurgeon, MA
Analyst / Webmaster
S. Leonard Syme, PhD
Co-Principal Investigator
Winston Tseng, PhD
Research Sociologist |
Principal Investigators
Linda Neuhauser, DrPH, is Clinical Professor of Community Health and Human Development at UC Berkeley and Co-Principal Investigator at Health Research for Action. Her research and teaching are focused on transdisciplinary, translational, and participatory approaches to improve health interventions. She has a special interest in collaborative design and evaluation of mass communication that meets people's literacy, language, cultural, disability, and other needs. In addition to her work at HRA, she serves on national task forces on translational research, communication, and Internet health. She has won numerous awards for her work in health promotion and communication. She formerly served as a health officer in the US State Department in West and Central Africa. She holds DrPH and MPH degrees from the UC Berkeley School of Public Health. (Publications)
S. Leonard Syme, PhD, is Professor of Epidemiology and Community Health (Emeritus) in the School of Public Health at UC Berkeley. During more than 20 years as Co-Principal Investigator at HRA, he has worked on developing community interventions to prevent disease and promote health. Pursuing his research interest on the relationship between health and such psychosocial factors as poverty, stress and social isolation, he has studied San Francisco bus drivers, civil servants in London, and Japanese living in Japan, Hawaii, and San Francisco. He has been elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Science and won the J. D. Bruce Award for Distinguished Contributions in Preventive Medicine from the American College of Physicians, as well as the Wade Hampton Frost Award from the American Public Health Association for developing the field of Social Epidemiology. Len holds a PhD in Medical Sociology from Yale University, following a BA and an MA in Anthropology and Sociology at UCLA. (Publications)
Holly Brown-Williams is the Director of Policy. She oversees policy formulation, implications, and recommendations from HRA projects, as well as the dissemination of this information to policymakers. She also directs HRA’s programs on environmental health and healthy aging and manages HRA’s periodical, “Perspectives.” Holly has led strategic planning efforts for foundations and government agencies on issues ranging from asthma prevalence and care transitions to fish contamination and population aging. She currently serves on the Advisory Group to the CDC-funded California Environmental Health Tracking Program, which is developing a statewide environmental health surveillance system as part of a nationwide network, and on the California Hospital Discharge Planning Collaborative. Prior to joining HRA in 2004 Holly was Associate Director of UCOP’s California Policy Research Center.
Donna Dahrouge, MPH, is a Research Analyst. She is the project manager for the Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Center (PERRC) funded by CDC. She also serves as HRA’s Research Administrator, coordinating the grant writing process, creating proposal budgets, and overseeing pre- and post-award project administration and compliance. Before joining HRA in May 2006, she held research and administrative positions at the UC Berkeley Center for Environment Public Health Tracking and UC Berkeley Traffic Safety Center. At UC San Francisco, she served as a Data Manager for clinical trials at San Francisco General Hospital. In addition, she is an alternative health care practitioner and has worked in the community at local cancer clinics, providing care for underserved patients. She holds an MPH degree from UC Berkeley.
Diana Darab, PhD, is the Director of Operations. Diana joined HRA in 2006, and since then she has been collaborating with the management team to promote public health. Diana has a PhD in comparative literature from the University of California, Riverside. She has taught courses on the modern English novel, and literary criticism. A collection of her poetry will be published in April 2012.
Carrie Graham, PhD, MGS, is Assistant Director of Research. She is a medical sociologist with a background in gerontology, health communication, and health services research. Since joining HRA she has designed and directed several large-scale research projects focused on increasing access to care for seniors, people with disabilities, and other vulnerable populations. Dr. Graham has a dual appointment in the School of Social Welfare, where she is a Senior Research Associate at the Center for the Advanced Study of Aging Services, collaborating on studies that examine new models to promote aging in place for older adults. Before joining HRA in 2004, she worked as an assistant adjunct professor in the UCSF Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, implementing and evaluating a model of community-based transitional care for seniors and their caregivers. Prior to that she worked at the Polisher Research Institute in Philadelphia, contributing to a study of quality of life for seriously ill older adults. Carrie completed her doctoral work in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at UCSF. She also completed a two-year fellowship at the UCSF Institute for Health Policy Studies. She holds an Master's in Gerontological Studies from Miami University in Ohio and a BA in Sociology and African Studies from UC San Diego.
(Publications) Susan L. Ivey, MD, MHSA, is Director of Research and Evaluation at HRA and Associate Professor, adjunct, in the Division of Community Health and Human Development at UC Berkeley School of Public Health. She also teaches in the UCB/UCSF Joint Medical Program. She is conducting health disparities research with a focus on chronic disease risks in immigrant groups to the US. She has key interests in heart disease, diabetes prevention, and other chronic conditions, particularly in low-income and Asian immigrant populations. She is a researcher with CDC's Healthy Aging Research Network and is interested in aging in immigrant populations. Dr. Ivey is trained and board-certified in family medicine and practices medicine part-time with the City of Berkeley Public Health division. She has a Master's in Health Policy and Acute Health Services Management from George Washington University.
(Publications) Susana M. Morales Konishi, MA, is a Project Manager at HRA. She has managed several large-scale local, statewide, and national projects focused around health literacy and clear communication. Currently, she manages, directs, and supervises all study logistics and protocols for Partnerships for Community Health/Unidos por la salud de la comunidad (PACT/UNIDOS), a CBPR community health project in Las Vegas, Nevada. This project encourages community residents to lead community engagement projects that focus on the social determinants that affect their health. with the ultimate goal of improving social capital of the community. Susana has over ten years experience in researching, evaluating, and implementing culturally sensitive programs for culturally and linguistically disadvantaged communities. She is an expert in conducting usability testing, facilitating focus groups, and analyzing qualitative data in Spanish and English. Before joining HRA in 2007, Susana worked as an Activity and Volunteer Coordinator at Sunrise Senior Living and as a Wellness Program Manager at On Lok Senior Services. Susana has a Master's degree in Gerontology from San Francisco State University and undergraduate degrees in Anthropology and Psychology from UC Berkeley.
Elaine Kurtovich, MPH, PT, is a staff research associate. She has a clinical background in physical therapy. Before joining HRA in 2005, she was a field coordinator with Brenda Eskenazi's research group at UC Berkeley, worked as a health manager at a Head Start program in San Francisco's Chinatown neighborhood, and was a physical therapist in an orphanage in Tianjin, China. She holds an MPH with an emphasis in Maternal and Child Health from UC Berkeley. At HRA, she has provided project management and data analysis on several HRA projects, including studies examining the association between the built environment and physical activity, an evaluation of a diabetes care model implemented among Chinese Americans at a community clinic, and research on Medi–Cal beneficiaries who are seniors and people with disabilities and their experiences with Medi-Cal Managed Care.
(Publications) Lauren Lau is a finance and administrative assistant. She provides support to the Director of Operations. Before joining HRA in 2006, Lauren worked at the UC Berkeley Center for Infectious Disease Preparedness. Lauren is a practicing classical daoist healer. She holds a license to practice Asian Medicine (acupuncture, herbology, nutrition, and bodywork) from the State of California, a national certification in Oriental Medicine from NCCAOM, and a professional degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine from AIMC-B. Lauren also holds a BA in Astrophysics and Cognitive & Brain Sciences from UC Berkeley. She is currently pursuing fluency in American Sign Language.
Marilyn Mansfield, MS, is a Writer/Editor. She has been developing and writing health education materials for more than 20 years. Before joining HRA in 2003, she was a writer for Krames Communications. She has also worked as a writer and communications director at the California Academy of Family Physicians and the Society for Nutrition Education, and has done extensive freelance writing in the health field. Marilyn brings experience writing for low-literacy audiences and integrating text and graphics to HRA's publications. She holds an MS in Communications and a BA in English from Stanford University.
Beccah Rothschild, MPA, is Director of Health Literacy Projects. She has worked for more than 15 years in the fields of adult literacy and health literacy in numerous capacities, including direct service, project management, research, and interventions. At HRA, she leads several projects in partnership with health plans, non-profits groups, and private corporations, all involving various aspects of health literacy. She has led over 50 health literacy trainings, focusing on written and verbal health communication. She is currently on the boards of the Pharmacy Foundation of California and the Center for Disability and Health Policy. Prior to joining HRA, Beccah managed the California Health Literacy Initiative, a project of California Literacy, Inc., where she worked throughout California with health care providers and patients on verbal communication and policy issues surrounding health literacy. She also worked for four years at the Second Start Adult Literacy Program in Oakland, California. While there, she wrote four elementary level oral history books based on the lives of adult students in the program. The books focus on gender and health issues as they relate to literacy. Beccah has a master’s degree in public administration and non-profit management from San Francisco State University and a BA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, with majors in Spanish and Global Cultures.
(Publications) Katherine M. Simpson, MA, is Director of Health Communications. She has 30 years of experience developing health promotion programs and resources. Before joining HRA in 2000, she was Director of Education at Planned Parenthood: Shasta Diablo. She has also practiced as a Marriage and Family Therapist and consulted on sexuality and disability issues. She holds an MA in Psychology from John F. Kennedy University and a BA in English from Reed College.
Andrea Spurgeon, MA, is a principal analyst and webmaster. Andrea serves as project manager on research and intervention projects relating to environmental health, aging, and health education outreach. Andrea conducts usability tests, develops databases for HRA projects, generates literature searches/bibliographies for researchers, writes grant proposals, and identifies and solicits funding sources for HRA services and products. She is also HRA’s webmaster, regularly updating content and generating pages for the Center’s website, and recently she led the development of a key-word searchable research database for HRA and the School of Public Health. Before joining HRA in 2005, Andrea was an analyst at UCOP's California Policy Research Center, where she managed the policy research grants program, provided technical assistance to state government, developed a database of UC policy expertise, and helped organize conferences for policymakers detailing UC-based research. Andrea holds a masters degree in Sociology from St. Patrick's University in Ireland and a BA in Political Science from UC Berkeley.
Winston Tseng, PhD, is Research Sociologist of Community Health and Human Development at UC Berkeley School of Public Health. He has a background in medical sociology and extensive community-based participatory research (CBPR) experience with diverse and vulnerable populations. He conducts research on community-initiated health interventions, health care delivery, and health disparities, using mixed methods, participatory, and organizational approaches. He has over 15 years of experience collaborating with community-based organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. His recent projects include assessments of Asian-American, Native-Hawaiian, and Pacific-Islander (AA and NHPI) health in California; development of a national strategy for research capacity building of community service organizations in AA and NHPI communities; chronic care redesign for diabetes patients in a primary care setting; healthy brain and aging among diverse elderly populations; evaluation of community health center services and quality improvement through secondary data analyses of large patient datasets; and mapping of medically underserved communities to identify primary care delivery gaps using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Dr. Tseng provides regular training to graduate and undergraduate students on research methods and analysis, including how to conduct interviews, focus groups, and participant observation. He also specializes in organizational-level analysis with a research focus on community services organizations and inter-organizational networks. Dr. Tseng currently serves as Chair-Elect of the Community Health Planning and Policy Development Section of the American Public Health Association, Co-Chair of the Health Working Group of the University of California Asian-American and Pacific-Islander Policy Multicampus Research Program, Research Consultant for the Asian and Pacific-Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF) and the Association of Asian-Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO), and as grant reviewer for the National Institutes of Health. (Publications)
*Special Advisors
Shelley Martin, MPH, is a special advisor on international affairs to Health Research for Action (HRA) at the University of California, Berkeley. Ms. Martin served as Executive Director of HRA from 2003-2010. She provides leadership for resource and program development for national and international programs and is a contributing author to many of HRA’s accessible and user-friendly, multi-lingual materials, including: The Wellness Guide, Parents Guide, California’s HMO Guide, California’s HMO Guide for Medicare Recipients, Healthy Steps: A Fall-Prevention Guide for Pennsylvania. In 2002, Ms. Martin received the B. Holzer Health Literacy Award for published materials from the Institute for Healthcare Advancement. In 2004, she received the Pratt Fellowship in Melbourne, Australia, to enhance empowerment models for Australia’s community-based organizations. She is a graduate of the 2007 Global Health Leadership Forum, a joint offering between the UC Berkeley School of Public Health and Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, bringing together international senior health care leaders to improve health care systems worldwide. She has helped design and disseminate international health literacy and wellness initiatives in Australia, Canada, China, and Switzerland. Before joining UC Berkeley, Ms. Martin had an extensive career in health promotion and consultation that included national training on HIV/AIDS prevention, improving access to health care for rural Americans, and developing the Medical Home Training model for Head Start.