ANGIE KIRKLAND
Angie is a community health worker and depression care manager at the Ruth Fertel/ Tulane Community Health Center. She works with individuals experiencing behavioral health challenges and leads Hope and Healing groups. Angie is a New Orleans native who has been living her passion of working in mental health for over 20 years.
ARMEN AREVIAN
Armen is Chief Resident of Translational Research in the UCLA Department of Psychiatry as well as junior investigator at the UCLA Center for Health Services and Society.
ASHLEY WENNERSTROM
Ashley is an assistant professor at Tulane School of Medicine where she directs the Louisiana Community Health Worker Institute and a community health clerkship for 4th year medical students. She is a co-founder of the Louisiana Community Health Outreach Network. Ashley loves to travel, cook, and spend time with friends, family, and her two rescue dogs.
BENJAMIN SPRINGGATE
Ben is a primary care doctor in New Orleans who works in partnerships to improve behavioral health outcomes in underserved communities. Ben is an associate professor at LSU School of Public Health. Ben and his wife sell flavored shaved-ice treats at Hansen’s Snobliz- their one-of-a-kind shop on Tchoupitoulas Street, during the hot spring and summer months.
BOWEN CHUNG
Bowen is a psychiatrist and researcher at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. Like other team members, he works with patients, families, and community members to study how to help depressed patients in under-resourced, minority communities get the help they need to achieve wellness. He maintains his own wellness by cycling, lifting weights, cooking , and ghost-writing scripts for film and television.
CATHERINE HAYWOOD
Catherine has 25 years of experience working in the HIV arena. She’s one of the founding members of Women with a Vision. Currently, Catherine also holds the position of Community Engagement Program Manager with the Prevention Research Center (PRC) at Tulane, and as the Community Liaison at the National Children’s Study. She provides structured mentoring processes for community members about the PRC’s activities.
CHYNA JOHNSON
Chyna is a student at Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. She is receiving her Master in Public Health with a focus on international health and development. In addition to behavioral health, her public health interests include sexual and reproductive health with a focus on family planning. Chyna is originally from Columbus, Ohio. She wishes to attend the Peace Corps after graduating from Tulane. In addition to working as a research assistant with the CPPRN Chyna is a nanny and enjoys spending time outside, taking photographs, and doing ceramics.
DIANA MEYERS
Diana has been working in healthcare for over 30 years, the first 20 in hospitals and the last ten in community health. A native of New Orleans, she is an active member of her church working with under-served communities to provide health and wellness resources and youth academic enrichment programs. Diana and her husband have two adult children.
FELICA JONES
Felica has worked within the non-profit sector for over 15 years, serving families and children in South Los Angeles, CA. Her current role of Director of Programs for Healthy African American Families II, where she provides administrative oversight on all projects within the agency addresses health disparities such as: Preterm Delivery, Men’s project, Breathe Free Asthma & Lead Program, Community Child Health Network Study (CCHN), Restoration Center, and Community Partners In Care (CPIC).
KENNETH WELLS
Ken is a psychiatrist in Los Angeles who is a researcher specializing in depression and other mental health conditions. Ken works to improve both health care systems and to develop capacity of communities to talk about depression, build quality services, and develop policy solutions to protect vulnerable populations at risk for depression. He works closely with many community and patient partners as equal leaders of programs and research and teaches this approach to research for clinicians and social scientist. He is an active musician, directs a choral group, and has written two operas on resiliency and recovery from mental illness.
KRYSTAL GRIFFITH
Krystal is project manager of the CPPRN study. Her research interests include how risk factors such as depression among minority women are associated to HIV/ AIDS infection. On her spare time Krystal enjoys volunteering, working out, and listening to live jazz music.
LINGQI TANG
Lingqi is a principal statistician who has been at the UCLA/NPI Health Services Research Center since 1998 and has worked on major center projects.
LORETTA JONES
Loretta is founder and CEO of Healthy African American Families, Phase II. Jones has dedicated her life towards the hope and healing of community and society-at-large. Her career as a civil rights activist, health policy advocate, and social architect has spanned more than 40 years.
OLIVIA KACSITS
Olivia is the CPPRN Project Manager at LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. Prior to joining the CPPRN team, Olivia worked with members of the HIV/AIDS, LGBT, justice-involved, cancer, and collegiate student-athlete communities on health and social justice issues. In her free time, Olivia enjoys climbing, gardening, and flying kites.
PLUSCEDIA WILLIAMS
Pluscedia is a community and patient partner who has served as an expert in community engagement in CPIC, assisted in implementing the CPIC Village Clinic by engaging project participants in clinic activities, and attending resiliency classes and/ or receiving other depression services at participating agencies. Through all the projects that she has been involved involved in, Pluscedia brings the voice of the community and client engagement.
RYAN PASTERNAK
Ryan is an Adolescent Medicine physician in New Orleans who works in collaborative partnerships to enhance and expand comprehensive adolescent health care and improve adolescent health outcomes in the city, region, and state. Ryan is Associate Professor at LSU School of Medicine and Division Head for Ambulatory Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. Ryan, his wife, and son enjoy volunteering, the Cub Scouts, spending time at City Park, and enjoying live music in New Orleans.
SARAH STARKS
Sarah is a mental health services researcher with a focus in healthcare outcomes research and health policy for individuals with severe mental illness (SMI). She has a longstanding interest in evaluating and improving access to and quality of mental health and medical services for the SMI population, and has experience working with administrative (clinical, claims) data and survey measures related to psychiatric symptoms and functioning, physical health, quality of life, and health-related quality of life. She received her Ph.D. from the UCLA Department of Health Services in 2012.
SHERYL KATAOKA
Sheryl is a professor at the UCLA Semel Institute’s Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the Training Director for the UCLA Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Program. Sheryl has been investigating methods of delivering evidence-based mental health care in schools to students in both general and special education over the last 15 years.