Dr. Neeta Thakur is a pulmonary and critical care physician at UCSF who examines the role of social and environmental stressors on asthma and COPD in historically marginalized communities. Better definitions of the mechanism of how social and environmental stressors impact asthma and COPD will allow for the development of targeted interventions and therapies to improve related outcomes in historically marginalized communities. Dr.
Dr. Aaron Baugh is a pulmonary and critical care physician at UCSF who focuses on improving the care of asthma and COPD for low-income and racial/ethnic minority individuals. His research program emphasizes understanding how social disparities inform differences in lung function and worse outcomes in lung disease. In his free time, he enjoys kayaking and reading history.
Cindy Carvajal is a Staff Research Associate for ClearLab who assembles biospecimen kits and stores and processes biospecimens for plasma, serum, and DNA. She also runs assays to measure stress biomarkers.
Dr. Ernesto Casillas is a pulmonary and critical care fellow at UCSF. He obtained his medical degree from the Keck School of Medicine of USC. He completed internal medicine residency at LAC+USC Medical Center. He is interested in COVID-19 health disparities and interventional pulmonology. He enjoys visiting national parks and watching basketball.
Daniel Correa Bucio is a Clinical Research Coordinator working on varies studies including RISE, CARE, and PEARLS. Additionally he supports our community partners at the Lifelong William Jenkins Health Center by co-leading the weekly Veggie Giveaway and other community projects. Understanding the importance of youth advocacy, he enjoys being heavily involved in both the CLEAR Lab’s Youth-led Participatory Action Research (YPAR) program and ongoing Youth Advisory Council.
Cindy Curiel is a Clinical Research Coordinator working on several studies including REACH, COVID-19 RESOURCE, CARE, COMET, and RISE. She is actively involved with the CLEAR Lab’s Youth-led Participatory Action Research (YPAR) program and supports our community partners at the Lifelong William Jenkins Health Center by leading the weekly Veggie Giveaway and other community projects. Cindy joined the CLEAR lab team in 2020, with over 6 years of career experience in the mental health field as a classroom counselor, crisis assessment center counselor, and crisis residential counselor.
Dr. de la Rosa is an Environmental Health Scientist with expertise in environmental toxicology and molecular epidemiology, who is passionate about social determinants of health and environmental justice. Her long-term research goal is to understand how the social environment and context during early and middle childhood "gets under the skin” and influences susceptibility to the toxic effects of chemical exposures in low-income communities of color over the life course.
Dr. Alison DeDent specializes in pulmonary and critical care medicine and sub-specializes in interstitial lung disease. She attends in the UCSF Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) Clinic, the UCSF and Zuckerberg San Francisco General (ZSFG) Medical Intensive Care Unit (ICU), the UCSF Neuro ICU, and the ZSFG Fellow's Chest Clinic.
Dr. Adali Martinez is a clinical fellow in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at UCSF. In addition to her medical degree from UCSF, she earned a Masters in Public Health from UC Berkeley with a focus on Health Policy and Management. Her research focuses on pulmonary health disparities. Her long-term career interest is in the intersection between pulmonary, environmental health justice and health policy. She enjoys exploring all the San Francisco parks with her toddler son.
Andrew Nguyen is a Research Data Analyst for the CLEAR Lab, with a strong interest in the relationship between the built environment and urban community health outcomes. Andrew completed a Master’s in Public Health from UC Berkeley with a focus on Epidemiology and Biostatistics. In his free time, Andrew enjoys exploring both the beautiful nature and vibrant urbanism that the Bay Area offers.
RJ Refuerzo is a Staff Research Associate responsible for the biologics of the CLEAR Lab. After graduating with a BS in Chemistry and minor in Computer Science at the University of California, San Diego, he developed his scientific reasoning working in virology biotech and protein chemistry before joining CARE with the hope to address prolonged stress responses in children throughout diverse Bay Area communities. In his free time, RJ enjoys exploring the city with friends and chucking dice in board games.
Valeria Rojas is a Clinical Research Coordinator on our RISE Study and a parent coach for our CARE Study. They received a Bachelor's of Science in Neuroscience and Public Health Sciences from Santa Clara University, and previously worked as a research assistant for Santa Clara's Child Studies Department.
