CHER Team

Laura D'Anna DrPH

Director

Dr. Laura Hoyt D’Anna is Director of the Center for Health Equity Research and an Associate Professor in the CSULB Department of Health Science. Her primary research interests are racial and ethnic health disparities and specifically, the relationships between social discrimination and health. Dr. D’Anna currently serves as the principal investigator of an NIH-funded research training grant and a study funded by the Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program. She has over twenty years’ experience in the development, administration, and evaluation of public and community health agencies and programs. She gained extensive experience designing, implementing, and evaluating clinic-based behavioral STI/HIV risk-reduction interventions in her role as project manager for Project RESPECT. Project RESPECT was a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funded multi-site randomized trial comparing the effect of a theory-driven HIV counseling and testing intervention with the CDC standard intervention and a minimalist intervention. Dr. D’Anna holds a doctorate in Public Health with an emphasis in Community Health Sciences from the UCLA School of Public Health, and a Master of Public Administration degree from California State University, Long Beach.

Alex Washington PhD

CHER Institute Co-Director

Dr. Washington is a Professor in the School of Social Work at CSULB and the Co-Investigator of the Center for Health Equity Research Institute. He received his MA in Sociology from the University of Memphis and MS in Social Work from the University of Tennessee, Health Science Center before earning his doctorate from University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He is published in peer-reviewed interdisciplinary journals, serves on editorial and advisory boards, with extensive experience teaching research methods, statistics, and health policy. Additionally, Dr. Washington has served as the Principal Investigator for the TIM Project, an NIH/NIDA funded randomized control trial administered using social media, and was a visiting professor in the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies and the University of California, San Francisco. His multiple awards include the 2017 Distinguished Faculty Scholarly and Creative Achievement Award from CSULB, the Gerald A. Ludd Lifetime Achievement Award for HIV leadership in the Black community, the CSULB Early Academic Career Excellence Award, and the Underrepresented Minority Research Award from the NIMH Research on AIDS Office. He has presented his research globally in South Africa, Thailand, Canada, Egypt, and Australia. Dr. Washington’s interests involve the effectiveness of HIV prevention intervention programs developed for special populations, and the development and evaluation of HIV prevention interventions, health disparities, and human sexuality.

Parichart Sabado PhD

Director of Community Engagement and Evaluation

Dr. Parichart Sabado is Director of Community Engagement & Evaluation at the Center for Health Equity Research (CHER) and a member of the Learning & Evaluation team of Building Healthy Communities Long Beach (BHCLB), a 10-year place-based initiative funded by The California Endowment to reduce health disparities in Central/West Long Beach. She has more that 10 years of experience in research and evaluation, most of which has been dedicated to working with community partners throughout Los Angeles and Orange County. Prior to joining CHER, Dr. Sabado was the Project Director of the Asian American Network for Cancer Awareness, Research, and Training (AANCART), the first research initiative funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to reduce cancer health disparities among Asian Americans. Dr. Sabado holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention from the University of Southern California, a Master of Public Health degree from California State University, Long Beach, and a Ph.D. in Public Health from UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.

Carol Canjura BA

Center Coordinator

Ms. Canjura is the Center Coordinator for CHER and has over 15 years' experience in health equity research related activities, program management, and administration. This includes qualitative and quantitative data collection among underserved, high risk populations in diverse settings, and the preparation of NIH proposal documents and IRB submissions. She also serves as the Project Coordinator for our TRDRP-funded research studies and is bicultural and bilingual.

Kyle Chang PhD

Statistician

Dr. Kyle Edward Chang received a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin and a B.A. in Literary Criticism from the University of Houston. He received his PhD from the University of California, Irvine with an emphasis in social psychology and a minor in quantitative methods. Dr. Chang has over 15 years of experience with statistics and research. Before joining CHER, Dr. Chang worked as a Research Specialist with Riverside County Department of Public Social Services and a Research Analyst with Orange County Health Care Agency. Dr. Chang has also volunteered and worked for various non-profit and government organizations, including Baylor College of Medicine, the Texas Young Autism Project, Children’s Protective Services, and the Senhoa Foundation.

Jasmine Doxey MPH

Health Educator/Outreach/Evaluation Specialist

Jasmine is a Masters of Public Health graduate of CSULB, and the first in her family to pursue a master’s degree. Her areas of interest are health inequities and social determinants of health among communities of color. In the future she hopes to work in community health education and prevention, and conduct research for minority and underserved populations. She is excited to be a part of CHER as a stepping stone for gaining practical skills and experience in health equity research.

Annrae Drews

Research Assistant

Annrae Drews is a second-year graduate student in the Master of Public Health (MPH) program with a Community Health Concentration. She has chosen the thesis track and is studying the relationship between cannabis use and mental health related symptoms among young Black men. She aspires to receive a DrPH and be involved with health research and policy to help influence the creation of a more equitable system that promotes a high quality of life for everyone. Her hobbies include snowboarding, hula hooping, and hiking.

Ashley Guerrero BA

Research Assistant

Ashley D. Guerrero is a geography Master of Arts candidate, Sally Casanova Pre-Doctoral Scholar, and a first-generation college student. She also works at the University Writing Center, where she is dedicated to serving the diverse CSULB student body to grasp academic writing. As an economic geographer, her research interests include spatial inequalities and their link to health disparities; macroeconomic patterns of housing and labor markets and their connection to place-based policies; and macro patterns of spatial demographics. Her master’s thesis examines the social and economic change and the uneven development in the northern Parisian suburbs in Seine Saint Dennis. Upon completing her master’s, she hopes to pursue a Ph.D. and ultimately become a professor concentrating on urban economics and inequities. In her free time, she enjoys film photography, spending time with her family, and hanging out with her dog, Pancake.

Wendy Nomura EdD

CHER Institute Evaluation and Data Coordinator

Dr. Wendy Nomura is a licensed Physical Therapist and faculty instructor in the CSULB Department of Health Science. Her research interests include transportation barriers and exercise benefits for seniors, condom usage, and multicultural health education. She has also served on committees for curriculum and lecturer development, program improvement and assessment, and technology accessibility. Dr. Nomura is a member of the CHER Institute and Webinar Series team, supporting research endeavors for proposal and manuscript development. Dr. Nomura holds a BS in Physical Therapy and a Masters of Public Health from CSULB, and an Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership from the University of La Verne.

Jaelen Owens BA

Health Educator/Outreach Specialist Coordinator

Jaelen currently works as a Health Educator & Outreach Specialist for the PPOWER Project. He is passionate about working and helping individuals within the LGBTQ Community. Jaelen earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Family Life Education from CSULB.

Kevin Pinkerton MFA

Media Production Specialist

Kevin Pinkerton designs graphics for print and web media, produces and edits video for CHER, PPOWER and IPERT. Mr. Pinkerton holds a BA in Film Production from the University of Alabama, an MFA in Screenwriting from the University of Texas. Mr. Pinkerton produced several short films for the NIH-funded TIM Project, had projects selected for the Sidewalk, Austin and LA Film Festivals; and worked at Miramax Films, Wild West, Ghost House and other studios on screenplay development. Currently a Carl Hiaasen West Florida Barleycorn Fellow.

Gabriel Velazquez

Research Assistant

Gabriel Velazquez is a first-year graduate student and LINK Scholar in the Master in Public Health (MPH) program at CSULB. Gabriel aspires to become a health promotion program manager, assisting marginalized communities through involvement in the creation of culturally tailored health programs for the Latinx and LGBTQ+ communities. In his free time, Gabriel enjoys playing video games, strength training and traveling.

Jeff Wood BA

IT and Data Manager

Jeff Wood provides technical and data management support to CHER and the RIMI Project staff and faculty. Mr. Wood holds a BA degree in Sociology from Chapman University and is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Applied Sociology at CSULB. He has managed data collection, storage, and security, technical resources, and service delivery for HIV and STD prevention research programs for underserved populations since 1991.