Team Feature Articles
At the HERE Center, we bring together people from different disciplines to work on addressing health disparities in the San Fernando Valley. To learn more about a team member, click on one of the articles below.
Saetermoe currently serves as the executive director of the HERE Center and a principal听investigator of BUILD PODER. Her primary expertiselies in psychology, as she received her听bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 in psychology and her doctorate degree in developmental psychology听and health psychology.
From the beginning of his academic career, Jose Hugo Vargas has always been interested in psychology听thanks to his mentors鈥� influence. Specializing in psychology and education, Vargas has always advocated听for social justice, particularly听for students.
Growing up a block and a half from the United States鈥� largest paper mill, Steven Graves听could smell the pollutants from the mill every day. He believes that if he and his family听lived upwind from the factory, his sister would not have contracted leukemia.听
As a STEM transfer student, Veronica Villasenor faced the ordeal of transferring alone from her community college in Central California to Los Angeles. After garnering experience and expanding her network, she managed to establish the START Office, a resource center for transfer students.听
Patchareeya听鈥淧atty鈥� Kwan grew up in the 80s-era San Fernando Valley like many immigrant听children did鈥攏avigating through unknown terrain and serving as an impromptu translator for听their parents. When it came to medical matters, she acted as their bridge to information听despite not being a medical professional.
The word 鈥渄iabetes鈥� was something Claudia Toledo-Corral always heard throughout her听childhood. Her family and her neighbors always talked about it, and from there, her curiosity听morphed into an academic interest.
As an advocate fighting against infant and maternal mortality, particularly among black populations, Kacie Blackman has dedicated most of her research to lactation resources, policies for maternal health and maternity support resources.