Dr. Pamina M. Gorbach focuses on the biobehavioral epidemiology of infectious disease, especially how HIV transmission, acquisition and progression is affected by substance abuse. She is a Professor in the Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health and in the Division of Infectious Diseases, David Geffen School of Medicine. Dr. Gorbach's work in HIV prevention, treatment and care involves research in Los Angeles with long time partners the Los Angeles LGBT Center and the UCLA Vine Street Clinic she helped establish. Dr.
Education
- DrPH, University of North Carolina, North Chapel Hill, NC
- MHS, Bloomberg School of Public Health, The Johns Hopkins University
- BA, Brown University, Providence, RI
Dr. Gelberg is a family physician, health services researcher, and professor in UCLA’s Department of Family Medicine and Fielding School of Public Health and the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and associate director of the UCLA Primary Care Research Fellowship. Her current research focuses on clinical trials to reduce risky drug use and promote healthy lifestyle change in low income populations using leading behavior change methodologies. Over the past 2 decades, Dr.
Center Affiliations
Education
- MD, Preventive and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
- MSPH, Health Services, University of California, Los Angeles, Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA
- BA, Psychobiology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA
- Family Medicine Residency, Montefiore Hospital, Bronx, NY
I am a health services researcher with an abiding interest in the health and well-being of vulnerable populations. I am especially concerned with improving preventive medicine practice and the quality of health care for older adults.
Education
- PhD, University of California, Los Angeles, CA
- MA, Columbia University, New York City, NY
Current Academic Appointments. Dr. Matthew J. Mimiaga is tenured Full Professor and Vice Chair of Epidemiology at UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences at UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA. He is Inaugural Director of the UCLA Center for LGBTQ+ Advocacy, Research & Health (C- LARAH) and affiliated Senior Research Scientist at The Fenway Institute, Fenway Health, Boston, MA.
Center Affiliations
Education & Training
- Post Doctoral Fellowship, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
- ScD, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
- MPH, Boston University, Boston, MA
- MA, Brown University, Providence, RI
Dr. Jennifer Wagman earned her PhD in Reproductive, Perinatal and Women’s Health and her Master’s degree of Health Science in International Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; and a Bioethics and Health Policy Certificate from the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics. Her postdoctoral training, completed at the UC San Diego School of Medicine, was in alcohol and substance use, HIV and related infections. Since 2000, Dr.
Education
- PhD, Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
- MHS, International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
- BA, Animal Behavior, Bucknell University, Lewisberg, PA
Dr. William McCarthy has devoted most of his 30+ year career to intervention studies designed to encourage members of special populations to adhere to federal nutrition and physical activity guidelines (African American adult women, low-income middle school students, low-income patients of community health centers) and to be smoke-free (WIC participants, aerospace workers, Korean and South Asian immigrants, residents of homeless shelters).
Center Affiliations
Education
- PhD, Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT
- MA, Psychology, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL
Dr. 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.
Education
- Postdoctoral, Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
- PhD, Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
- MSPH, Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
- BA, Comparative Literature and Society, Columbia University, Columbia College, New York, NY
Michael Ong, MD PhD, is a Professor in Residence of Medicine & Health Policy and Management at UCLA. He is currently the Associate Chief of Staff for Research and Development, and was the Hospitalist Chief from 2018-2022, at the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System. Dr. Ong is the inaugural co-recipient of the VA Office of Research & Development's Field Research Leadership Excellence award in 2025, for his work as Associate Chief of Staff for Research and Development.
Center Affiliations
Education
- PhD, Health Services & Policy Analysis, University of California, Berkeley, CA
- MD, University of California, San Diego, CA
Dr. Keller is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management. Her primary appointment is in the Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Dr. Keller's research focuses on the use, prescribing, and deprescribing of high-risk medications such as opioids, benzodiazepines, and antipsychotics in older adults. Dr.
Education
- PhD, Health Policy and Management, University of California, Los Angeles, CA
- MPH, Health Policy and Management, University of California, Los Angeles, CA
- BA, Human Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
Dr. Burt Cowgill is an associate professor-in-residence who resides in the UCLA Kaiser Permanent Center for Health Equity and Center for Cancer Prevention and Control Research in the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. He is also a Pod Leader for the Research Well Pod at the UCLA Semel Healthy Campus Initiative Center. Dr.
Center Affiliations
Education
- PhD, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA
- MPH, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA
- BA, Political Science, University of California, Los Angeles, CA