Category: Bios

Fernanda Vega, BA

Fernanda Vega, BA

Project Coordinator – Community Organizer, Imperial Valley Equity & Justice Coalition
County: Imperial

Fernanda Vega (she/her/ella) is from Westmorland in Imperial County and is a Community Organizer with the Imperial Valley Equity & Justice Coalition. Fernanda, with a Sociology background, is deeply committed to advocating for public health and environmental & social justice movements. Imperial Valley Equity & Justice Coalition was founded in 2020 during the global COVID-19 pandemic to advocate for community empowerment, social and environmental justice, and public health. Imperial Valley Equity & Justice Coalition aims to uplift the voices of the historically marginalized communities in Imperial Valley. Throughout her time as an organizer, she has engaged and advocated for the frontline communities that are getting ready to house lithium developments. She continues to learn about her communities and new ways to organize all while building trust and relationships. Outside of work, Fernanda likes to rewatch her favorite shows and attempt to catch up to the WWE universe.

 

Wendy Huang, PhD

Wendy Huang, PhD

Center Research Manager

Dr. Huang holds a PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the University of California San Diego and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in immunology at the New York University Langone Medical Center in 2016. Between 2016 and 2023, Dr. Huang was an assistant professor at the University of California San Diego. Her research team uncovered key roles RNA binding proteins and transcription factors in autoimmune disease, tissue inflammation, and cancer using cutting-edge molecular and genomics techniques.
Dr. Huang is passionate about mentoring research trainees from postdoctoral fellows, graduate, to undergraduate students, especially those from the underrepresented minority (URM) background. In 2023, Dr. Huang joined the SDSU HealthLINK Center. As the Center Research Manager, Dr. Huang leverages her scientific expertise and leads the Center’s Recharge Capacity Core, overseeing cost recovery service development and delivery in support of research projects addressing minority health and health disparities challenges.
Dr. Huang is the senior and communicating author of eight of the 28 peer-reviewed journal articles and served as an Academic Editor for multiple journals, including Scientific Report and PLOS ONE, and as scientific reviewer for numerous other journals.
Visit NCBI Bibliography to view a complete List of Dr. Huang’s publications: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1pWgwasgexg1eh/bibliography/public/

Yessenia Hernandez

Yessenia Hernandez, MPH

Intervention Methods Group Coordinator

Yessenia Hernandez has been with the Center since 2019, initially serving as Project Manager for GOALS, one of the Center’s first funded Research Projects. She subsequently transitioned to the role of Intervention Methods Group Core Coordinator, where she facilitated connections between SDSU and SDSU-IV faculty and the services provided by the Research Capacity Core. Currently, she serves as the Investigator Development Core Coordinator, providing support and guidance to SDSU and SDSU-IV Early Stage Career Investigators participating in the Pilot Project Program. An alumna of San Diego State University, Mrs. Hernandez earned a Master of Public Health and a Master of Social Work in 2018. Her academic background and professional experiences have cultivated a strong commitment to reducing health disparities among minority populations through research and policy reform.

Michelle Santos Garcia

Michelle Santos Garcia

Administrate Support Assistant

Michelle started as an intern at the SDSU HealthLINK Center in the Spring of 2023 and transitioned to Administrative Support Assistant in 2024. She has a Bachelor of Liberal Arts and Sciences in Psychology, with an emphasis on industrial and organizational psychology. Michelle’s role consists of supporting the overall center, with the primary focus on being the Front Desk Administrative Assistant/Receptionist at the Clinical Research Center. She also supports the Community Engagement Team and the Investigator Development Team.

 

 

 

Irene Zalich

Irene Zalich

Administrate Coordinator

Ms. Irene Zalich, an SDSU Alumna, has been the Administrative Support Coordinator for the SDSU HealthLINK Center since 2021. She has 20 years of experience with SDSURF, working first with the Center for Alcohol and Drug Studies and Services, then with the SDSU DUIP, a fee-for-service program. In her role, Ms. Zalich provides administrative support to the overall Center with the primary focus on fiscal administration

Rodrigo Valdez

Rodrigo Valdez

Web Platform Administrator

Rodrigo Valdez is the Web Platform Administrator at the SDSU HealthLINK Center. He is responsible for building, managing, reviewing, and maintaining the Center’s digital platforms. Rodrigo holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from the National University of Asunción, Paraguay.

Melissa Tarasenko

Melissa Tarasenko, Phd

Evaluation Lead

Dr. Melissa Tarasenko is the Evaluation Lead for the SDSU HealthLINK Center. She is primarily involved in establishing and refining processes for measuring the impact and innovation of Center products, along with implementation, engagement, and satisfaction across Center Cores and projects. She participates in the Evaluation Consortium for the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) Network, focusing on projects such as standardizing evaluation practices for 21 RCMI sites across the country – including the HealthLINK Center – and characterizing the overall impact of the RCMI Network on minority health and health disparities research. She received a doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and has over fifteen years of experience with mental health research and program evaluation.

Shayna Davenport, MPH

Shayna Davenport, MPH

Project Specialist, Teacher Effectiveness and Preparation, San Diego County Office of Education

County: San Diego

Shayna Davenport is a Project Specialist for the San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE) Teacher Effectiveness and Preparation (TEP) team. SDCOE provides programs that address pre-service preparation, advanced teacher credentials and authorizations, and professional learning for educators. Shayna’s goals as an experienced educator of 17 years, are to continue to provide a safe space for all students and upcoming educators to learn, to ensure that there is equitable access to earn a degree that matters, and to continue her work within the community to better understand the diverse backgrounds and demographics that encompass our surrounding areas. Shayna holds a Master’s degree in Public Health and continuously advocates to create equitable opportunities for learning that foster growth and promise for the next generation.

Richard Montenegro Brown

Richard Montenegro Brown

Editor, Calexico Chronicle/Imperial Valley Weekly and Holtville Tribune

County: Imperial

Richard Montenegro Brown is the editor of the Calexico Chronicle/Imperial Valley Weekly and Holtville Tribune, a pair of 110-plus-year-old weekly print publications that were often viewed as being on the periphery of local journalism. Not so today. Brown was hired before the pandemic broke out, and when he took over the papers, they were operating on an antiquated model of print first, which is death for a weekly. In the darkest days of the pandemic, when the public wanted local statistics and news from its authorities and others, Brown overhauled the websites, went digital-first and began to operate like a daily newspaper with a weekly print product. In many people’s estimation, the Chronicle and Tribune ARE the local news sources in the Valley. The ability to do that came from a solid foundation practically growing up in the newsroom of the Imperial Valley Press, where Brown started as a news clerk at age 19 and worked for 24 years before leaving for a short stint at the Press-Enterprise in Riverside, where he quickly ascended to Breaking News Editor. In that role, he was part of the team that responded to the San Bernardino mass shootings/terror attacks, coverage that won the paper a national Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi award, one of the highest honors for excellence in the field. At the Chronicle/Tribune, the publications won 12 California Journalism Awards in 2021. On a personal level, Brown is married to Priscilla, who is an ad sales rep and digital web uploader at the papers. Together they have two children: Tyler, 12, and Riley, 18, a freshman at SDSU.

Herminia Ramirez, MPH

Herminia Ramirez, MPH

Chief Regional Community Coordinator, County of San Diego Health & Human Services Agency

County: San Diego

Herminia Ramirez is a Chief Regional Community Coordinator supporting the North Coastal Region in the Department of Homeless Solutions and Equitable Communities (HSEC) within the County of San Diego’s Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA). Ms. Ramirez joined HHSA in 2022, bringing over a decade of experience working with Federally Qualified Health Centers and on advancing community-based efforts. She has proudly served the North San Diego County community her entire career and holds a Master’s in Public Health. In her work, Ms. Ramirez has successfully led community engagement efforts, which land on the continuum of direct service delivery, research, health promotion, advocacy, and policy programs. During the height of the pandemic, she led COVID-19 response efforts that included organizing outreach, education, and vaccination efforts for our most vulnerable communities in the North Coastal region of San Diego.

Over the years, Ms. Ramirez developed a career focus to work to serve migrant, farmworker and underserved communities as well as to l lead efforts to train and mobilize Community Health Workers. In her current role as Chief Regional Community Coordinator, she is still supporting these communities and working to support HSEC’s focus to achieve better coordination of existing and new County homeless and equitable community efforts, serving as a central point of collaboration for outside partners to ensure equity among all San Diegans and reduce homelessness in the region.

Ms. Ramirez has served in the following leadership positions: Community Advisory Board Member for Communities Fighting COVID!, Board Member for Community Health Improvement Partners, Co-Chair of the San Diego County Promotores Coalition, and Vice-Chair of the Farmworker CARE Coalition, and Stewardship Committee Member of the San Diego Food Vision 2030’s steering committee.

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