Research Staff
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Ste'von Afemata, Laboratory Manager/Technician
Ste'von transferred to the CARE Center in 2003 after working at UCLA Medical Plaza Lab and Pathology since 2000. She is responsible for all research laboratory functions for CARE including processing and storage of samples, histology, cryopreservation (PBMC's/Pellets), quality management and all other assays as defined in protocol-specific guidelines of clinical trials. She received her training at Southern California Regional Occupational Center, as Medical Assistant/Lab Tech in 1996. She also studied at Long Beach City College and the University of Phoenix. Ste'von loves to laugh and enjoys spending time with her husband, two boys and cats!
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Vanessa Cajahuaringa, Study Coordinator
Vanessa began working at the CARE Center as an undergraduate in 2003, primarily translating patient consent forms from English to Spanish to help in the recruitment of monolingual patients. She currently coordinates various clinical trials and supports the various principal investigators with their individual studies. As a study coordinator, she keeps in touch with patients and prospective participants, and she is in charge of the day-to-day operations of her studies. Being from Peru, Vanessa brings the South American touch to this multicultural location.
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Vanessa Ducher, Lab & Research Assistant
Vanessa joined the CARE Clinic in May 2011 as an administrative assistant and has since transitioned to lab and research. She is responsible for assisting study coordinators with various duties, such as preparing materials for patient visits and retrieving medical reports on site and on campus. She also assists the Lab Manager with processing research samples, including PBMC's, as well as shipping and tracking specimens. Vanessa previously interned with the AIDS Institute in Washington, DC and volunteered with the Santa Cruz AIDS Project throughout college. Graduating from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2009, she spent the following year living in southern Spain. Vanessa loves to travel with her sister and cannot wait for their next adventure.
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Alexandra Escobedo, Administrative Assistant
Alexandra joined the Care Clinic in April 2010. Before joining UCLA, she studied Biology at CSUN and was an administrative assistant at an urgent care center. At the CARE Clinic, Alexandra greets patients, assists in scheduling appointments, takes messages for the physicians, and obtains authorizations. When she is not at the CARE Clinic, Alexandra enjoys hiking, Pilates, practicing yoga, running with her dog, and learning how to play piano. |
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Maricela Gonzalez, AMC Project Coordinator
Maricela joined the CARE Center in 2001. She started as an assistant coordinator, transferring from within the CARE Center group. She is currently working as Project Coordinator for the AIDS Malignancy Consortium (AMC) clinical trials. She is responsible for the overall coordination of AMC studies including various chemotherapy and observational treatments. Maricela is also responsible for various administrative work within the network.
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Christine Jackson, Medical Assistant
Christine began working for the CARE Center in October 2005 as one of the clinic medical assistants as well as phlebotomist. She received her medical assistant certificate in 2000; she also received her phlebotomy license in 2005. Christine's responsibilities in the CARE clinic are obtaining patients' vital signs, taking medical histories, assisting physicians during patient examinations, collecting/preparing lab specimens, drawing blood, performing electrocardiograms, and changing dressings. She also spends time answering phones, greeting patients, processing patient medical records, scheduling appointments, and coordinating with testing labs.
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Melinda Kuo, ACTG Data Manager
Melinda joined the CARE Center in 1999 after working with cancer research at the Department of Biomathematics. Her main duties are participant enrollment and data quality assurance for all AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) studies. In her free time, she likes to go to baseball games and tennis matches, and she also enjoys shopping and hanging out with friends.
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Mike Marcial, Management Services Officer
Mike has worked in the CARE clinic since 1997, starting as a temporary employee, and he became a full time staff member in 1998. Mike's previous work experience was in the outpatient Emergency Room registration area at California Hospital and Olympia Medical Center. On May 9th 2009, UCLA awarded Mike with the Outpatient Administrative Support Person of the Year. Mike is responsible for greeting patients, making appointments, scheduling special ancillary appointments for patients, updating demographic information, assisting patients in obtaining outside medical records, collecting all cash payments and obtaining authorization on all HMO's. He enjoys traveling, museums and painting and he laughs every day, because he has found that laughter is the fountain of youth.
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Kieta D. Mutepfa, MSW, Senior Community Health Program Representative
Kieta joined the CARE Center team in April 2011. Prior to coming to UCLA, she worked in various community public health roles in the United States and abroad. At CARE, Kieta recruits research volunteers for HIV treatment, prevention and AIDS defining cancer studies; educates the community in order to increase their knowledge about prevention and treatment research; creates and builds meaningful partnerships that support HIV research and the CARE Center; and works diligently to ensure that communities of color are aware of and involved in clinical research. Kieta is deeply committed to spending quality time with her nuclear and extended family and serving the global community with her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
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Khai Nguyen, Study Coordinator
Khai joined the CARE Center in August 2011 from the USC Department of Ophthalmology, where he worked as a project manager. At USC, he helped plan the logistics and implementation of a public health study. Currently, Khai offers research support for the principal investigators at the CARE Center. He enjoys weekend road trips and helping develop junior tennis players to compete at the college level.
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Cara O'Connor, MPH, CTU Coordinator and Operations Manager
Cara joined the CARE Center in June 2011. She is the Clinical Trials Unit (CTU) Coordinator and the Operations Manager for the CARE Center. She is responsible for coordinating research projects across the four sites in the UCLA AIDS Prevention and Treatment Clinical Trials Unit: the CARE Center, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, AIDS Research Alliance, and UCLA Family Medicine's Vine Street Center. She also oversees the implementation of all AIDS Clinical Trials Group research protocols at the CARE Center. Cara is an avid international traveler who has worked overseas in Thailand and in South Africa. Outside of work she can either be found at bar trivia, at the dog beach with her ridgeback Zissou, or out rock climbing.
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Maria Palmer, PA, Study Coordinator
Prior to coming to the CARE Center in 1999, Maria worked with the HIV Hematology research group at USC School of Medicine. As well, she spent 6 years in Northern New Mexico practicing family medicine at various primary care settings. She's an avid cyclist and has participated in the AIDS ride from San Francisco to LA and the first HIV Vaccine Ride in 2000, from Fairbanks to Anchorage, Alaska.
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Alex Ponce, Community Health Representative
Alex has been working for at the CARE Center since November 2010. His background is as a physician in Mexico. Alex is an Outreach Coordinator at the CARE Center and screens candidates for studies at the CARE Clinic and develops strategies for recruitment of new volunteers for research studies. He also presents frequently throughout Los Angeles county to educate people on HIV and clinical trials. He has been working in the HIV field for the last seven years as a Health Educator and Treatment Educator for different organizations in San Diego and Los Angeles doing prevention, case management, HIV counseling and testing work. Alex also loves ice cream.
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Sonia Salas-James, Medical Assistant
Sonia joined the CARE Center in March 2008. She received her medical assistant certification in 2000. Her past work experience includes working at Central Medical Group, where she worked as an Authorization Coordinator and a Medical Assistant in the Pediatric, Internal Medicine and OB-GYN departments. Her responsibilities at the CARE clinic include obtaining patients' vital signs, collecting and preparing laboratory specimens, assisting with patients' examinations, calling in prescriptions to pharmacies, and other patient care tasks. In her time off, Sonia enjoys going to the beach or park, or any outdoor activities with her five kids. |
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Administrative Staff
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Aida Alvarez, Administrative Specialist
Aida has been with the CARE Center since 2004 after working for the Inglewood Unified District. She is part of the research administration and financial teams, assisting with grant and pre-award and post-award submissions. She assists the MSO, physicians and Fund Manager with everything including accounting, human resources, invoice processing, staff reimbursements, and purchasing. In her free time, Aida enjoys any outdoor or indoor activity with her family.
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Irma Franco-Gonzalez, Regulatory Manager
Irma joined the CARE Center in 1998 as Dr. Judith Currier's assistant. She currently oversees the regulatory aspect of the CARE Center's ongoing clinical trials and is the program coordinator for the CARE Center's annual HIV symposium.
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Faith Landsman, Director, UCLA CFAR HIV Research Study Volunteer Project (HIV RSVP)
Faith joined the CARE Center team in 2006, and she has worked in HIV research and services since 1991. Before coming to the CARE Center, Faith was the administrator of the UCLA AIDS Institute Vaccine Initiative and prior to that was director of the Southern California HIV/AIDS Hotline. Currently, she is the director of the UCLA research volunteer pool for HIV related studies (HIV RSVP).
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Stephanie Stramotas, MPH, Research Analyst
Stephanie joined the CARE Center in March 2012. With a background in Molecular & Cell Biology, Epidemiology and Biostatistics, she provides research support to three of CARE's investigators. Her projects are broad, ranging from literature reviews and grant preparation, to data management and manuscript writing. Before coming to CARE, Stephanie studied at UC Berkeley, and worked at the UCLA Department of Neurological Surgery as a research intern. In her free time, Stephanie is a competitive CrossFit athlete, enjoys singing, and hosts a health and fitness blog.
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