HealthLink Community Advisory Council

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  Kristen Emory Ph.D.

  Kristen Emory is the Director and Advisor of the Undergraduate Program in the Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH) at San Diego State University (SDSU). Kristen teaches in the College of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the GSPH at SDSU. She is trained sociologist and health behaviorist and utilizes this foundation to better understand and reduce health disparities among young, vulnerable, and diverse populations.  Her primary research interest is in the field of tobacco and marijuana control and prevention; with an emphasis on health disparities among diverse lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) populations. Kristen’s research is focused on the role new technology and social media (e.g. Facebook and Twitter) play in shaping health communications, health beliefs, and health behaviors.

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  Amanda Fallin-Bennett PhD, RN

  Amanda Fallin-Bennett is an active early-career tobacco control scientist with a focus on tobacco use and disparate populations. As a faculty associate in the Tobacco Policy Research Program, she is currently a Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health (BIRCWH) scholar, and is developing a program of research focused on tobacco use and tobacco-related policies in mental health and substance abuse treatment facilities. In June 2014, she completed a three-year postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Stanton Glantz at the University of California San Francisco’s Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education. She has led projects related to tobacco use, policy and prevention for vulnerable populations: in tobacco growing states; and among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender adults, college students, and bar-going young adults. 

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  Gil Lorenzo

  Gil Lorenzo is a project manager at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) where he manages programs and initiatives that aim to improve faculty and staff wellbeing. Previously, he was the Marketing and Outreach Manager for the Smoking Cessation Leadership Center at UCSF and worked closely with several states—Mississippi, Massachusetts, Kentucky and Michigan—in launching statewide initiatives on tobacco and behavioral health. In addition to working with state departments of health, he provided technical assistance with a focus on quitline marketing to universities, health systems, and community based organizations.

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  Earl Nupsius Benjamin, DrHSc

  Dr. Earl Benjamin-Robinson is a minority and health equity strategist and well known as a skilled strategic convener and facilitator. He is a population health practitioner with over 16 years of public health experience. Dr. Benjamin-Robinson is a AETC-National Multicultural Center certified cultural competency trainer. Since 2015, he has been distinguished by the American Psychological Association as a Health Equity Ambassador. As a health equity strategist, Dr. Benjamin identifies as a community health worker and he is a member of the Health Disparities, Education, Awareness Research & Training (HDEART) Health Equity Scholars. Lastly, Dr. Benjamin-Robinson is an alumnus of Loyola University (New Orleans) and the University of Louisiana at Monroe; he has completed post graduate work at the Jackson Heart Study Summer Institute and acquired his Doctorate of Health Science from Nova Southeastern University Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine, Health Sciences.

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  Gustavo Torrez

  Gustavo Torrez has been involved in the tobacco control movement for the past 22 years. He began his work in tobacco control as a youth advocate in California and continued his career in the field in Boston, where he was a Program Manager with Fenway Community Health and the National Network for LGBT Health Equity, one of the CDC-funded priority population networks.  As a young adult, Gustavo served on Legacy's National Speaker's Bureau and National Activism Council, and in 2012 he was recognized for his efforts with a Trailblazers Award for outstanding and continuous leadership in the tobacco control movement by Legacy.

   Currently, Gustavo is the Director of Youth Advocacy for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, where he oversees the development and implementation of innovative youth-focused programs including Taking Down Tobacco, a new online training program changing the way we engage and train youth to #BeTheFirst tobacco-free generation.

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  Mandi Pratt-Chapman, MA

  Mandi Pratt-Chapman is Associate Center Director, Patient-Centered Initiatives and Health Equity for the GW Cancer Center. Her research has addressed clinical guideline development and workforce capacity to advance patient-centered care and health equity. She led the development of national, consensus-based core competencies for Oncology Patient Navigators and a corresponding online training to provide all navigators access to free training to build competencies. She chaired the Oncology Patient Navigator – Certified Generalist process for the Academy of Oncology Nurse & Patient Navigators. Additionally, she serves as co-PI for the National Cancer Survivorship Resource Center and has co-authored four holistic clinical practice guidelines on breast, prostate, colorectal and head and neck cancer survivorship care with the American Cancer Society. She is an investigator on three Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute-funded projects to inform health services standards for cancer survivorship; catalyze dissemination and implementation of evidence-based cancer survivorship and patient navigation practices; and build community-driven research in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) communities in Washington, DC.