Amara Danturthi, MPH
CSTE Applied Epidemiology Fellow, California Department of Public Health

Amara Danturthi is a CSTE Applied Epidemiology Fellow at the California Department of Health in the Occupational Health Branch and the Environmental Health Investigations Branch. She received her MPH in Epidemiology as a NIOSH Trainee at the University of Kentucky and has previously studied worker’s compensation for hearing loss, resource accessibility for the Deaf/hard of hearing communities, and respiratory and noise risks for workers.

Blythe Dumerer, BS
PhD Candidate
University of California, Berkeley

Blythe (she/her/hers) holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from The Ohio State University. She became interested biomechanics through her goal to positively impact the lives of others and her undergraduate experience with the Movement Lab where she investigated human stability. Her research focuses on soft tissue mechanics using machine learning through the Berkeley Biomechanics Laboratory and the Berkeley Ergonomics Lab.

Chelsea Woolsey is a Research Data Analyst with the California Department of Public Health’s Occupational Health Branch, where she conducts multi-source surveillance of silicosis, with a focus on engineered stone–related occupational exposures.

I am an undergraduate student studying Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, passionate about utilizing innovative technology for the public good. From a young age, I have always had a passion for public service, including organizing food drives, clothing drives, and community clean-ups. It was through this service that I saw the effects of legislation on the lives of community members. I am determined to drive meaningful societal change through public health as I aim to integrate optimization techniques with public health to develop innovative solutions that address systemic challenges.Having observed the effects of long-term repetitive physical labor on my family members, I believe that prevention is the best approach to mitigating future injuries and illnesses. By creating safer work environments, clean neighborhoods, and ensuring access to food and water, we can foster healthier communities. This is the world I aspire to co-create and live in.

Kellie Redmond, MSBH, BSN, RN
PhD Student, Nursing
UC San Francisco

I am currently a third-year PhD in Nursing student at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). My primary research interest focuses on burnout in nursing. Prior to beginning my doctoral training, I worked as a registered nurse on the pediatric hematology/oncology and bone marrow transplant unit at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in Mission Bay. While working during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, I observed burnout becoming an increasingly prevalent issue among nurses and felt it was not being adequately addressed, which motivated me to pursue a PhD in Nursing. At UCSF, I have had the privilege of working with my advisor, Dr. Soo-Jeong Lee, and other experts advancing research on nursing burnout and occupational well-being. I have also worked as a graduate student researcher with Dr. Lee on studies focused on the health of cleaning workers, with particular attention to occupational exposures related to disinfectant use. These experiences have strengthened my research skills and broadened my understanding of occupational health among healthcare and service workers.

Marya G. Zlatnik, MD, MMS, FACOG
Clinical Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, & Reproductive Sciences
UC San Francisco
Marya G. Zlatnik, MD, MMS (she/her) is a board-certified OBGYN and Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist whose clinical and research interests include complications of pregnancy, prenatal diagnosis, and reproductive environmental health. She is the Associate Director, Maternal Fetal Health and the Environment Program of the UCSF Western States PEHSU.

Merideth Lewis, MS, RN, PHN, CNOR is a PhD candidate at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), who defends her dissertation next month. Her work has been around the conceptualization of the experience of surgical smoke in the operating room. Merideth’s mixed methods dissertation offers a rigorous and detailed look at a very complex, dynamic, and important occupational health exposure. The body of literature for this long-standing issue is mostly quantitative with burgeoning conceptual development. The inquiry around the experience of surgical smoke led to the development of a conceptual framework. Participants described multi-faceted perspectives on surgical smoke, which were termed their “stance”. The conceptual framework of stance is foundational and provides novel depth, breadth, and insight into the way that exposures to hazardous materials, visible or invisible, indoor or outdoor, are perceived and experienced. Her methodology and findings may be transferrable to other hazardous occupational and environmental exposures. Her background as a Public Health Nurse and Perioperative nurse in the operating room have balanced her practice scope and refined her skills. Merideth had a NIOSH T42 appointment, was a TRT Fellow, Jonas Scholar, and Gortner Scholar. During her master’s in Health Policy program at UCSF, she enjoyed a two-month fellowship at the World Health Organization. She recognizes her positionality and is deeply grateful to her mentors. Her overall interest in the environment, sustainability, and ethics complements her recent and future research program. She is passionate about everyone having clean air to breathe, in the operating room, and beyond.

Nancy Gutierrez is a medical student at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, currently in her research year. Originally from Richmond,California, she earned her bachelor's degree in public health at UC Berkeley, where personal experiences sparked her interest in the occupational and environmental contributors to disease. She continued at Berkeley to complete a Master of Public Health in Environmental Health Science, conducting research on exoskeleton use in construction work. Nancy’s commitment to understanding the intersection of work and health led her to pursue medicine. At UCLA, she has focused on occupational lung disease, currently researching artificial stone-associated silicosis. To complement her clinical and research experience, she is also pursuing an MBA as part of her participation in the PRIME-LA program, which emphasizes medical education, leadership, and advocacy. Her career goal is to combine clinical practice, research, and policy to improve occupational health, with a long-term aspiration to specialize in internal medicine and eventually occupational pulmonology.

Olivia Stoddard is an occupational epidemiologist in the Emerging Workplace Hazards Unit at the California Department of Public Health. She holds a Master's degree in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from UC Berkeley.

Rose Dizon DO, is from Great Mills, Maryland. She completed her Family Medicine Internship at Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton before completing Naval Aeromedical Officer Training in Pensacola, Florida. She served as a Flight Surgeon at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in North Carolina and at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Washington. She completed her Family Medicine Residency at Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton in California. Since finishing her Navy career, she started OEM residency at UCSF in July 2025. Her areas of interests include female reproductive consequences of occupational hazards as well as noise pollution and it's effects on developing children.

Samvel Gaboyan was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, California. He earned his BS in 2024 and MS in 2025 from the University of California, San Diego. He has conducted research at UCSD for over five years within the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine & Physiology. His work focuses on molecular pathways and cellular responses underlying silicosis pathogenesis. Samvel currently leads the UCSD Lung Explant Program, through which he has coordinated the banking of more than 140 human lung tissue specimens to support translational research, including studies focused on silicosis. In parallel with his research, he serves as a volunteer at the Lestonnac Free Clinic with the free silicosis screening program, expanding access to care for uninsured populations. He is deeply committed to integrating translational science, epidemiology, and community care to advance health equity for vulnerable workers disproportionately affected by occupational lung disease. He will be attending medical school in Fall 2026.

Sophie Jin, MD is from Baltimore, Maryland and earned their undergraduate degree in Environmental Science from University of Maryland, College Park and attended medical school at University of Maryland in Baltimore. Prior to medical school, they studied socio-environmental impacts of mosquito-borne diseases and worked in HIV outreach. Dr. Jin completed a residency in Emergency Medicine at York Hospital during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and returned to work in Baltimore City. Dr. Jin is interested in understanding and mitigating environmental impacts on health among vulnerable populations, especially in the context of climate change.

Vibhu Krishna, M.D. (M.D., Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons, B.A. double major in Studio Art and Medicine, Health &Society, Vanderbilt University). Dr. Krishna completed PGY1-2 at New York Presbyterian Hospital Columbia-Cornell before transitioning to the West Coast to study Occupational, Environmental, and Climate Medicine at UCSF. Dr. Vibhuti Krishna has a background in Public Health consulting during the pandemic, and clinical experience in preventive, primary, urgent, and emergent care as well as low-resource settings. She is an avid reader, writer, runner, artist, and yoga instructor with a strong penchant for baked goods.

Vaidehi Persad is a second-year MPH Environmental Health Sciences student at UC Berkeley. Vaidehi’s current graduate research is quantitatively evaluating pesticide exposure and access to prenatal care among pregnant farmworkers in California using urinary metabolite biomonitoring and survey data. Vaidehi has worked as a research intern at UCSF Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment (PRHE), supporting systematic reviews assessing the reproductive toxicity of quaternary ammonium compounds, and the association between paraquat dichloride exposure and Parkinson's Disease. Vaidehi is interested in applying exposomics and life course perspectives to future research, clinical work, and policy advocacy. Vaidehi holds aBA Chemistry and a BS Quantitative Economics & Econometrics from the University of South Florida, with minors in Public Health and Women’s & Gender Studies.

Yonah Amster, MD, MPH is an occupational and environmental medicine physician and epidemiology researcher with expertise in workplace exposures, respiratory health, and environmental risk assessment. He is a graduate of UC Berkeley, UC Davis School of Medicine, and Harvard School of Public Health. He is head of the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health at the University of Haifa, and has extensive experience integrating clinical medicine, field exposure assessment, and population-based epidemiologic methods. Dr. Amster’s research focuses on health effects of airborne hazards, including ultrafine and engineered nanoparticles, and complex occupational mixtures. His work emphasizes innovative exposure assessment approaches, biomonitoring, and translation of research findings into preventive strategies and occupational health policy. He has led and collaborated on multidisciplinary studies involving industrial hygiene, toxicology, and clinical outcomes among exposed worker populations. In addition to his academic work, Dr. Amster is actively involved in occupational health practice, advising on exposure mitigation, regulatory standards, and evidence-based interventions to protect worker health.

Yipeng Wei is an MPH student in Environmental Health Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley, with a focus on human factors and ergonomics. He conducts research with the UCSF–UCB Human Factors and Ergonomics Laboratory, examining how mechanical keyboard key-switch properties—including key travel distance and activation force—influence forearm muscle activity, task performance, and perceived usability during typing and gaming tasks.