Alumni Achievements

Rachel Berkowitzv, DrPH, is an assistant professor of public health at San Jose State University, where she leads their MPH program evaluation efforts. Berkowitz was recently selected as an American Evaluation Association Minority Serving Institution Fellow, highlighting her achievements and commitment to expanding community-based participatory research methods and health equity.

Michael Bird, MPH, a former president of the American Public Health Association and member of the Kewa Pueblo tribe has been working with Native Americans and public health throughout his career, has continued this during the pandemic and was cited in the New York Times as an expert addressing the racial inequities that the pandemic further highlighted.

Ayanna Bennett, MD, a pediatrician, Berkeley Public Health alum, MS, 1999, and health equity officer in San Francisco, was named acting director of the Washington D.C. health department, known informally as “D.C.'s doctor”.

Trula Breuninger, MPH, has spent over 20 years in the healthcare and social services industry, and recently became CEO of Native American Connections, a Native American–operated nonprofit organization. She recently sat down for a conversation with Berkeley Public Health to discuss Native American healthcare and the issues and inequities within.

Kelsey Kamanani Conklin, MPH, has been named a 2023–2024 Public Health Fellow, as part of the Kaiser Permanente and the American Public Health Association award, which supports 13 annual paid fellowships.Conklin has been placed at the Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Policy where she hopes to continue her work in food systems to help Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and other Indigenous populations.

Hiba Elkhatib, BA, MPH, has been named a 2023–2024 Public Health Fellow, as part of the Kaiser Permanente and the American Public Health Association award, which supports 13 annual paid fellowships. Elkhatib has been placed at the Kaiser Permanente’s National Office of Community Health, where she aims to continue advancing health equity, social justice, and the representation of locally and globally marginalized groups. Truly continuing her legacy as a Berkeley Public Health Changemaker.

Lisa Fitzpatrick, MPH, is a board-certified infectious diseases physician and a medical epidemiologist who has recently founded Grapevine Health, where she serves as CEO. Grapevine Health, digital health media company, works to establish trust and improve patient engagement, utilizing health literacy as a social driver of health throughout the community.

Elena Fuentes-Afflick, MD, MPH ’91 has been named the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Chief Scientific Officer. While Dr. Fuentes-Afflick currently serves as professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and vice dean for the UCSF School of Medicine at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, she will join the AAMC in this role on July 16.

Harpreet Ghotra, BDS, MPH ‘23, DPH recently received an honorable mention for the prestigious Leverett Award from the American Association of Public Health Dentistry for her research project. This project focused on community engagement, aimed at improving oral health care access across California.

Noah Hawthorne, MPH, has been named as the chief medical officer of the Mee Memorial Healthcare System in King City, CA. Hawthorne has long held an interest in underserved medicine and community health and is honored to continue serving a community he cares deeply about and to increase the patient quality of care.

Lisa Hernandez, MPH, 2006, has been appointed as a Public Health Officer for Santa Cruz County. Hernandez has worked in the field of medicine and public health for 25 years. She most recently served as Public Health Officer for the City of Berkeley.

Paul Hoffman, DrPH, 1994, has received the 2023 Lifetime Service Award from ACHE for his work in advancing ethical standards for the profession. He has also been honored with the Albert Schweitzer Leadership Award, the American Hospital Association’s Award of Honor, and the Distinguished Leadership Award from our own Graduate Program in Health Management Alumni Association.

Hubbard, MPH, has been named the new executive vice president and chief commercial officer of BioMarin Pharmaceutical. Hubbard completed the Graduate Program of Health Management at the University of California, Berkeley, earning an MBA from the Haas School of Business and an MPH from the School of Public Health.

Mariah Jiles, MPH, has been named a 2023–2024 Public Health Fellow, as part of the Kaiser Permanente and the American Public Health Association award, which supports 13 annual paid fellowships. Jiles has been placed at the Tubman Center for Health and Freedom, where she will continue her work on improving the health and well-being of underserved populations, with a focus on Black and African American communities.

Margae J. Knox, PhD, MPH has recently been chosen as one of Kaiser Permanente's early career research fellows for their Northern California Division of Research (DOR). Knox, a triple Bear, is excited to apply her interests in investigating health policy and the social determinants of health to work alongside Kaiser's goals in holistically improving member and local health outcomes.

Shruti Kothari MPH, who currently serves as Director of Industry Initiatives for Blue Shield of California, was recently selected as one of the Top 50 in Digital Health Honorees. Specifically, Kothari was named as a Luminary who is “leading lights advancing novel ideas and new approaches that improve health for humanity.”

Nancy Krieger, PhD, 1989, Professor of Epidemiology at Harvard University and one of the School’s most world renowned alums, just learned that she’ll be receiving APHA’s highest honor, the Sedgwick Medal, at APHA’s Atlanta meeting this November.

Ai Kubo, MPH, PhD, a research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, recently published the first study to analyze pubertal onset by Asian ethnicity. With the goal of helping explain these early life variations could potentially help explain disparities in chronic health conditions that are seen in Asian adults.

Berkeley Public Health alumna and UC Berkeley Foundation Emeritus Trustee, Kathy Kwan ’87, MB. ’93, MPH ’93 is this year’s recipient of the Berkeley Founders Award, which celebrates an alum or friend who has given long-term distinguished leadership and service to a broad range of academic, athletic, philanthropic, and other programs across the university

Through her philanthropy and longtime service to Berkeley, Kwan is guided by a singular mission: ensuring that students have the opportunities and resources necessary to thrive. Since 2006, the Eustace-Kwan Family Foundation, of which Kwan is president, has granted more than $60 million to UC Berkeley, funding summer internships and programs in Student Affairs and other Bay Area causes. Underlying her altruism is a belief that all students should have the access, opportunities, and resources that they need to thrive.

Ateev Mehrotra, MD, MPH, has been appointed as the new chair of the Department of Health Services, Policy and Practice for Brown University’s School of Public Health starting July 1, 2024. In addition to this leadership role, Mehrotra will also serve as a professor of health services, policy and practice within the school. Read more about his upcoming position and his work as an accomplished physician and public health change-maker here.

James Meyers, DrPH, 2001, was appointed as Public Health Commissioner for District 3 in Alameda County. His voluntary work has included past appointments as an Alameda County Public Health Commissioner and as an elected Alameda Health Care District Director.

Triple Bear Marion Nestle, BA ‘59, MPH ‘86, PhD ‘68 recently published a piece, Harmful Microplastics And Chemicals Are In Our Food And Water Supply on Food Politics. Nestle is the Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, Emerita, at New York University, which she chaired from 1988–2003 and from which she officially retired in September 2017. She is also Visiting Professor of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell. She earned a PhD in molecular biology and an MPH in public health nutrition from the University of California, Berkeley.

Professor Madhukar Pai, MD, PhD, 2004, has been appointed as the inaugural Chair of the Department of Global and Public Health (DGPH), School of Population and Global Health, McGill University.

Tyra Parrish, MPH, has been named a 2023–2024 Public Health Fellow, as part of the Kaiser Permanente and the American Public Health Association award, which supports 13 annual paid fellowships. Parrish, whose student activism at UC Berkeley led to her receiving the Leadership in Graduate Diversity Award and the Henrik L. Blum Award for Distinguished Social Action, has been placed at Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States, where she hopes to continue this working towards eliminating health disparities within communities of color.

Mary Pittman, MPH, 1980, has been named, by the Public Health Institute, in NonProfit Times as Top 50 Executive. Pittman was recognized for her innovation, impact, influence and leadership in responding to change and challenges facing the nonprofit sector over the past year.

Martha Ryan, MPH ‘89 has been named the 2024 Peter E. Haas Public Service Award recipient. This award recognizes distinguished Berkeley alums and honors those who exemplifies the university’s mission to serve the public good. Ryan, a former nurse practitioner, is the founder and former executive director of the Homeless Prenatal Program, a nationally recognized family resource center in San Francisco. Her other awards include alumna of the year at Berkeley’s School of Public Health, a CNN Hero Award, and the James Irvine Leadership Award.

Baljeet Sangha, MPH, 2010, has received the 2023 Robert S. Hudgens Memorial Award for Young Heathcare Executives from the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) at their recent national meeting in Chicago. He was cited for, among other things, his leadership as chief operating officer of the San Francisco Health Network in meeting the needs of disadvantaged and marginalized people particularly during the pandemic and natural disasters.

Marc Sapir, MD, MPH, is a physician, writer, and activist who has recently published a new fiction novel, <em?Deja Vu with Quixotic Delusions of Grandeur. Available through Barnes & Noble.

Laura Stachel, DrPH, 2020, of We Care Solar in Berkeley, has been named the 2024 AARP Purpose Prize winner! We Care Solar produces portable solar suitcases to bring electricity to obstetric facilities in low-income countries.

Melissa Stafford Jones, MPH, has been named the new CEO and president of the Public Health Institute. Stafford Jones’s lifelong commitment to advancing healthcare for all and her over 30 years of experience has positioned her to lead PHI into its next phase of transformative public health.

Aaron A. Tierney, PhD has recently been chosen as one of Kaiser Permanente's early career research fellows for their Northern California Division of Research (DOR). Tierney completed his PhD in Health Policy at UCB School of Public Health, whose research focuses on equitable design and healthcare that serves disadvantaged populations.

Anthony (Tony) Tran MPH, DrPH ’13, was recently highlighted by the American Society for Microbiology for his commitment to improving public health. Tran joined Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) program at University of California, Berkeley in 2010, as part of the Lab Aspire program, which aimed to train the next generation of public health laboratory directors. He now serves as the director of the State Public Health Laboratory for the California Department of Public Health (CDPH).

Rob Tufel, MPH/MSW, recently participated in the MPH student practicum program, where he partnered with a current MPH student on a community report, "Addressing Health Equity in Supportive Cancer Care for Black Cancer Patients and their Families." This report is the result of a collaborative effort between UC Berkeley Public Health graduate student Ayaka Nakaji, LCSW and Rob Tufel & Cancer Support Community.

Ijeoma Uche, MPH, has been awarded the Westly Prize for his work on the app, Birth By Us. This maternal health app is tailored for black mothers and has been recognized for its transformative work in supporting the experiences of women of color in pregnancy and postpartum care.

Diane Uzarski, DNP, MPH ’93, RN has been named the inaugural dean of Saint Anselm College’s Nursing School. Uzarski’s career in nursing and public health spans more than three decades and includes practical, academic, research and administrative experience. Before coming to St. Anselm’s, she spent 20 years at Duke in teaching, research and administration, including five years as chief of staff to the dean of the School of Nursing. Uzarski earned her master’s of public health at the University of California, Berkeley and doctor of nursing practice at Duke University.

Katharina “KC” Whitsett MPH ’22 recently joined the Nutrition Policy Institute at the University of California, Agriculture and Natural Resources, as a project policy analyst. KC also holds a Master of Public Health from UC Berkeley, with an interdisciplinary concentration on research and evaluation methods for food access and nutrition programs.