​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Faculty​​​

Assiamira Ferrara, MD, PhD

Assiamira Ferrara, MD, PhD is a Senior Research Scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research. Dr. Ferrara is internationally recognized for her expertise in gestational diabetes (GDM) and obesity during pregnancy, and her research interests focus on preventing the adverse effects of these conditions on women’s and children’s health.

Yeyi Zhu, PhD, MS

Yeyi Zhu, PhD, is a Research Scientist II (equivalent to associate professor) at Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research and Associate Adjunct Professor at Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Zhu’s research interests are at the interface of disease etiology and prevention strategies in the arena of women’s and children’s health across the lifespan.

Monique Hedderson, PhD

Monique Hedderson, PhD, is a research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research and associate director for the women’s and children’s health section. Dr. Hedderson’s research interests lie principally, but not exclusively, in the field of maternal and child health. Her research portfolio investigates the influence of preconception, prenatal and early childhood exposures on maternal and child health.

Lyndsay Avalos, PhD, MPH

Lyndsay Ammon Avalos, PhD, MPH, is a Research Scientist III at the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research. Her research is primarily focused on informing and developing innovative interventions to improve the mental health and well-being of pregnant women, new moms and their children.

Sylvia Badon, PhD, MPH

Sylvia Badon, PhD, is a perinatal and women’s health epidemiologist whose research focuses on the role of physical activity and other health-impacting behaviors in prevention of adverse health outcomes across the life course in women and children.

Erica Gunderson, PhD, MS, MPH

Erica P. Gunderson, PhD, MS, M­­PH, RD, is a senior research scientist at Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research and a professor of Health Systems Science at Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine. She is a reproductive life-course epidemiologist studying the lasting effects of pregnancy outcomes and lactation on future cardiometabolic health outcomes in women and children.

Ai Kubo, PhD, MPH

Ai Kubo, MPH, PhD, is a research scientist and epidemiologist at the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research. Her current research focuses on the developmental origin of health and diseases, particularly adolescent mental health and pubertal development, and mindfulness-based interventions to reduce depression and distress in various populations.

De-Kun Li, MD

De-Kun Li, MD, PhD, MPH, is a Senior Research Scientist at the Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California. Dr. Li is a reproductive and perinatal epidemiologist with extensive experience conducting epidemiologic studies examining in-utero exposures in relation to pregnancy outcomes and early childhood diseases, including childhood obesity and asthma, preterm delivery, low birthweight, birth defects, miscarriage and SIDS.

Joan Lo, MD

Joan C. Lo, MD, is a senior research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research and physician with The Permanente Medical Group. Dr. Lo’s research is focused on osteoporosis and fracture outcomes, obesity and cardiometabolic risk, polycystic ovary syndrome, endocrinologic complications of chronic disease, and Asian health.

Susanna Mitro, PhD, MPH

Susanna Mitro, PhD, is a research scientist at the Division of Research. She is also a scholar with the Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health (BIRCWH) program. Her research focus is on uterine fibroids, environmental exposures, and women’s long-term cardiometabolic health.

Charles Quesenberry, PhD

Charles P. Quesenberry, PhD, is a biostatistician and research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research. Dr. Quesenberry has been primarily involved with epidemiologic, statistical methods, and health services research projects relating to HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, obesity, health effects of air pollution, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer of the lung, breast, colon/rectum, and prostate.

Julie Schmittdiel, PhD

Julie A. Schmittdiel, PhD, MA, is the Associate Director of Health Care Delivery and Policy and a Research Scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research. Dr. Schmittdiel’s career focuses on stakeholder engagement and translational research in diabetes and diabetes prevention, with a particular focus on improving medication adherence and cardiovascular disease risk factor control in diabetes patients.

Susan Brown, PhD

Samantha Ehrlich, PhD, MPH

Mara Greenberg, MD

Maren Galarce, MPH

Julia McDonald, MS, MPH

Emily Wang, MPH