Team Directory

Dr. Assiamira Ferrara, MD, PhD

Principal InvestigatorDr. Assiamira Ferrara is a Senior Research Scientist who is internationally recognized for her expertise in gestational diabetes (GDM) and obesity during pregnancy, and her research interests focus on preventing the adverse effects of these conditions on women's and children's health

Dr. Yeyi Zhu, PhD, MS

Principal InvestigatorDr. Yeyi Zhu is a Research Scientist whose research interests are at the interface of disease etiology and prevention strategies in the arena of women's and children's health across the lifespan.

Dr. Monique Hedderson, PhD

Principal InvestigatorDr. Monique Hedderson is the Director of the Women’s and Children’s Health Section at Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, and a Research Scientist whose research interests lie principally in the field of maternal and child health, including the influence of preconception, prenatal and early childhood exposures on maternal and child health.

Dr. Lyndsay Avalos, PhD, MPH

Co-InvestigatorsResearch Scientist focused on developing innovative interventions to improve the mental health and well-being of pregnant women, new mothers, and their children.

Dr. Lisa Croen, PhD

Co-InvestigatorsSenior Research Scientist and Director of the Kaiser Permanente Autism Research Program. Research interests include autism epidemiology, environmental exposures, gene-environment interactions, and healthcare delivery for individuals with autism spectrum disorder.

Dr. Jenn Ames, PhD, MS

Co-InvestigatorsResearch Scientist specializing in autism epidemiology, health services research in autistic children and adults, and children's environmental health.

Dr. Luis Rodriguez, PhD, MPH, RD

Co-InvestigatorResearch Scientist focused on type 2 diabetes prevention and management across the life course.

Dr. Sylvia Badon, PhD

Co-InvestigatorPerinatal and women's health epidemiologist whose research focuses on physical activity and other health-impacting behaviors.

Dr. Ben Marafino, PhD

Co-InvestigatorResearch Scientist specializing in machine learning implementation, predictive analytics, and causal inference.

Dr. Ousseny Zerbo, PhD

Co-InvestigatorResearch Scientist focused on maternal vaccination during pregnancy and early childhood health outcomes.

Dr. Stacey Alexeeff, PhD

Co-InvestigatorDr. Stacey Alexeeff is a Research Scientist/Biostatistician whose research interest includes spatial models, mixed effects modeling, longitudinal analysis techniques, measurement error, and gene-environment interaction tests.

Dr. Susanna Mitro, PhD

Co-InvestigatorDr. Susanna Mitro is a Research Scientist whose research focus is on uterine fibroids, environmental exposures, and women’s long-term cardiometabolic health.

Dr. Rana Chehab, PhD, MPH, RD

Co-Investigator Dr. Rana Chehab is a Staff Scientist whose research interests revolve around maternal and child health and health across the life course with a special interest in the first 1,000 days of life and developmental origins of health and disease.

Dr. Alicia Peterson, PhD

Co-Investigator Dr. Alicia Peterson is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow whose research has predominantly focused on prenatal exposure to environmental contaminants and their influence on in utero fetal growth and birth outcomes.

Emily Wang

Project Manager Emily is a Project Manager for the ECHO Child Study. Emily oversees the daily operations and activities of the Recruitment staff and directs the internal and external logistics and designs of website in coordination with our IT department.

LaToyia McGough

Project Manager LaToyia is a Data Manager whose focus is on the oversight and management of the study Tracking Systems for the ECHO Child Study. She leads the overall design of the data systems and its protocols and maintains quality assurance.

Jeneva Adams

Project Manager Jeneva is a Data Manager whose focus is on the oversight and management of the study Tracking Systems for the ECHO Child Study. She leads the overall design of the data systems and its protocols and maintains quality assurance.

Elaine Ramos

Project Coordinator Elaine is a Project Manager for the ECHO Child Study. Her responsibilities include staff and administrative management, training compliance, protocol implementation, project oversight, coordination of the data collectors’ daily operations and quality control.

Winnie Voong

Project Coordinator Winnie is a Project Manager for the ECHO Child Study. Her responsibilities include staff and administrative management, project oversight, quality control, protocol management, data system designs, inventory management and IRB support.

Dianna Cheung

Data Analyst & Programmer Dianna is a Tracking System Developer supporting the design and creation of the ECHO Child Study Tracking System. She focuses on building components of the tracking system, creating reports and implementing solutions for system integration and data transfer.

Juanran Feng

Data Analyst & Programmer Juanran is a Programmer for the ECHO Child Study. Her responsibilities include ECHO survey data processing, mapping and transfer, extant biospecimen shipment planning, sample tracking and manifest preparation, specimen data and bioassay results transfer, preparing data and conducting statistical analysis for abstract submission & collaborative studies, and communicating with DAC representatives to troubleshoot data issues.

Cathleen Yoshida

Data Analyst & Programmer Cathleen is a Programmer for the ECHO Child Study. Her responsibilities include ECHO survey data processing, mapping and transfer, extant biospecimen shipment planning, sample tracking and manifest preparation, specimen data and bioassay results transfer, preparing data and conducting statistical analysis for abstract submission & collaborative studies, and communicating with DAC representatives to troubleshoot data issues.

Jessica Heredia

RecruiterJessica is a Recruiter for the ECHO Child Study.

Keeli McClearnen

RecruiterKeeli is a Recruiter for the ECHO Child Study.

Latoiche (Tasha) Adams

RecruiterTasha is a Recruiter for the ECHO Child Study.

Gurleen Girn

Data CollectorsGurleen is a Data Collector for the ECHO Child Study at our Oakland site. Her responsibilities include conducting research visits, recruitment support, administrative management, and participant retention.

Eliana Gregory

Data CollectorsEliana is a Data Collector for the ECHO Child Study at our Oakland site. Her responsibilities include conducting research visits, recruitment support, administrative management, and participant retention.

Lauren Mungo

Data CollectorsLauren is a Data Collector for the ECHO Child Study at our Oakland site. Her responsibilities include conducting research visits, recruitment support, administrative management, and participant retention.

Anika Singh

Data CollectorsAnika is a Data Collector for the ECHO Child Study at our San Jose site. Her responsibilities include conducting research visits, recruitment support, administrative management, and participant retention.

Emi Terada

Data CollectorsEmi is a Data Collector for the ECHO Child Study at our Oakland site. Her responsibilities include conducting research visits, recruitment support, administrative management, and participant retention.

Michaela Faulk

Data CollectorsMichaela is a Data Collector for the ECHO Child Study at our Sacramento site. Her responsibilities include conducting research visits, recruitment support, administrative management, and participant retention.

Helen Ma

Data CollectorsHelen is a Data Collector for the ECHO Child Study at our San Jose site. Her responsibilities include conducting research visits, recruitment support, administrative management, and participant retention.

Angie Voong

Quality Assurance TeamAngie is the Tracking System and Quality Assurance Coordinator. She oversees the tracking system and data quality assurance.

You can reach us at:

Study Hotline: (866) 865-6715
E-mail: echochildstudy@kp.org