Team Directory

Dr. Monique Hedderson, PhD

Principal InvestigatorMonique Hedderson, PhD, is 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

Principal InvestigatorLyndsay Ammon Avalos, PhD, MPH, is a Research Scientist whose research is primarily focused on informing and developing innovative interventions to improve the mental health and well-being of pregnant women, new moms and their children.

Dr. Yeyi Zhu, PhD, MS

Principal InvestigatorYeyi Zhu, PhD, MS 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 life span.

Dr. Assiamira Ferrara, MD, PhD

Co-InvestigatorAssiamira Ferrara, MD, PhD 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. Lisa Croen, PhD

Co-InvestigatorLisa Croen, PhD, is a Senior Research Scientist and the director of the Kaiser Permanente Autism Research Program. Her research interests include the epidemiology of autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders, environmental exposures and gene/environment interaction, and the delivery of health services to individuals with autism spectrum disorder across the life span.

Dr. Jenn Ames, PhD, MS

Co-InvestigatorJennifer Ames, PhD, MS, is a Research Scientist who specializes in the epidemiology of autism, health services research in autistic children and adults, and children’s environmental health.

Dr. Luis Rodriguez

Co-InvestigatorLuis Rodriguez, PhD, MPH, RD, is a Research Scientist whose research focuses on type 2 diabetes prevention and type 2 diabetes management across the life course.

Dr. Sylvia Badon

Co-InvestigatorSylvia Badon, PhD, is a perinatal and women’s health epidemiologist whose research focuses on the role of physical activity and other health-impacting behaviors in prevention of adverse health outcomes across the life course in women and children.

Dr. Ben Marafino

Co-InvestigatorBen J. Marafino, PhD, is a Research Scientist whose current research interests include: 1) the implementation science of machine learning, predictive analytics, and related methods as applied to care delivery; 2) applied causal inference for program evaluation and other observational studies; and 3) methods for heterogeneous treatment effects in general.

Dr. Ousseny Zerbo

Co-InvestigatorOusseny Zerbo, PhD, is a Research Scientist whose research interest is in maternal vaccination during pregnancy and early childhood health outcomes, vaccine uptake, safety and effectiveness.

Dr. Stacey Alexeeff

Co-InvestigatorStacey Alexeeff, PhD, is a research scientist/biostatistician whose research interest include spatial models, mixed effects modeling, longitudinal analysis techniques, measurement error, and gene-environment interaction tests.

Dr. Susanna Mitro

Co-InvestigatorSusanna Mitro, PhD, is a research scientist whose research focus is on uterine fibroids, environmental exposures, and women’s long-term cardiometabolic health.

Dr. Rana Chehab

Co-InvestigatorRana Chehab, PhD, MPH, RD, 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

Co-InvestigatorAlicia Peterson, PhD, 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.

Tessa Burnett, MPH

Project ManagerTessa Burnett, MPH, is the Protocol Implementation Manager, who oversees the protocol execution, staff management, IRB, quality control and tracking system.

Maya Ramsey, MPH

Project ManagerMaya Ramsey, MPH, is the Program Manager of the ECHO Family Study. She oversees study implementation, regulatory, administrative requirements, staff management, and IRB.

Erin Weltzien

Project CoordinatorErin oversees biospecimens and clinic coordination, working to ensure that the clinic runs smoothly while managing data collection staff.

Jeneva Adams

Data Analyst & ProgrammerJeneva is a Data Manager and Programmer focusing on quality control and tracking database development.

Wei Yang

Data Analyst & ProgrammerWei is a Data Programmer focusing on data processing, mapping, and transfer.

Munira Asghari

Data Analyst & ProgrammerMunira is the Data Team Coordinator. She oversees the tracking database and data quality assurance.

Angie Voong

Data Analyst & ProgrammerAngie is the Data Team Administrator supporting the data team with quality assurance, administrative support, and development of our participant database.

Kalliope (Opie) Bellesis

RecruiterOpie is a recruiter for the ECHO Family Study.

Hillary Serrato Bandera

RecruiterHillary is a recruiter for the ECHO Family Study. She also works closely with our ECHO study Community Advisory board.

Helen Escalante

Data CollectorHelen is a Clinic Coordinator and Data Collector who focuses on daily clinic operations, participant retention and conducting clinic visits for the ECHO Family Study.

Leanne Bardoles

Data CollectorLeanne is a Data Collector who focuses on participant retention and conducting clinic visits for the ECHO Family Study.

Teadora Fritzler

Data CollectorTeadora is a Data Collector who focuses on participant retention and conducting clinic visits for the ECHO Family Study.

Cyan Barron

Data CollectorCyan is a Data Collector who focuses on participant retention and conducting clinic visits for the ECHO Family Study.

Emma Jedrzejewski

Data CollectorEmma is a Data Collector who focuses on participant retention and conducting clinic visits for the ECHO Family Study.

Sia Davis

Data CollectorSia is a Data Collector who focuses on participant retention and conducting clinic visits for the ECHO Family Study.

Noelia Barajas-Mendoza

Data CollectorNoelia is a Data Collector who focuses on participant retention and conducting clinic visits for the ECHO Family Study.

Alejandra Cueva Becerra

Data CollectorAlejandra is a Data Collector who focuses on participant retention and conducting clinic visits for the ECHO Family Study.

Ayesha Malick

Data CollectorAyesha is a Data Collector who focuses on participant retention and conducting clinic visits for the ECHO Family Study.

Margot Smethurst

Data CollectorMargot is a Data Collector who focuses on participant retention and conducting clinic visits for the ECHO Family Study.

Malena Ignacio

Data CollectorMalena is a Data Collector who focuses on participant retention and conducting clinic visits for the ECHO Family Study.

Pricila Lucas Pablo

Data CollectorPricila is a Data Collector who focuses on participant retention and conducting clinic visits for the ECHO Family Study.