Children and Families

Marissa Seamans, PhD, MSPH, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology. Dr. Seamans’ research focuses on the intersection of social epidemiology and pharmacoepidemiology to address substance use and mental health. Her work explores the use of large healthcare databases to examine prescription drug use in families and the effectiveness of treatments for mental health and substance use disorders. Methodologically, Dr.

Dr. Will Nicholas is a Senior Associate at the UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities (CHCFC). He plays a leadership role on several of the Center’s signature initiatives, including Moving Health Care Upstream, and the Child Health System Transformation Initiative. He previously served as Co-Director of the UCLA Study Center for the National Children’s Study.  Prior to joining the CHCFC, Dr. Nicholas served for three years as Director of Research at the California Endowment.

Dr. Ellen Alkon is Adjunct Professor Emeritus of Health Policy and Management, and also a retiree from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.  She designed and taught HS 438 Issues and Problems in Local Health Administration annually from 1981-2002, followed by several years of co-teaching this course for the UCLA School of Public Health, Department of Health Services.  Dr. Alkon received her B.A. from Stanford University, M.D. from the University of Chicago (now the Pritzker School of Medicine) and M.P.H.

Jody Heymann, MD, PhD, is founding director of the WORLD Policy Analysis Center and served as dean of the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health from 2013-2018.