Maternal and Child Health Training Program
The Maternal & Child Health Training program (formerly Child & Family Health Leadership program) is a graduate and post-doctoral level training program, federally funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau at HRSA. We are one in a national network of 13 programs.
MCHT provides interdisciplinary training using population health and Life Course Health Development (LCHD) framework to prepare our fellows to assume leadership roles in the field of maternal, child, and family health.
The learning and leadership opportunities our program offers increases capacity for high quality, comprehensive care of MCH populations.
Diana Alfaro
MPH Student, Community Health Sciences
Diana Alfaro (she/her) is a first year MPH-CHS student from Maywood, CA. She is a double Bruin, receiving her Bachelor of Arts and Science in Anthropology and Human Biology and Society. Diana is very passionate about helping people especially womxn and children of color by ensuring that they are receiving equal and equitable resources. During her free time she likes to hang out with her friends and family and enjoys traveling!
2021 Internship: Los Angeles County Office Of Women’s Health
Catherine Cortez
MPH Student, Epidemiology
Catherine is a first-year MPH student in the Department of Epidemiology. She graduated from UC San Diego with a Bachelor of Science in Public Health and a minor in Public Service. Her goal is to promote health equity for all children and families through data analysis, visualization, and effective communication of data, and her research areas of interest include applied epidemiology and surveillance, assessment, and evaluation of maternal & child health programs. At UCLA, Catherine is a member of the Epidemiology Student Association, FSPH Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee, and is currently a training facilitator and graduate researcher with the California COVID-19 Virtual Training Academy.
2021 Internship: AMCHP Graduate Student Epidemiology Program, The Nagata Lab At UCSF
Sophia De-Oliveira
MPH Student, Community Health Sciences
Sophia De-Oliveira is a first year public health Masters student in UCLA’s Community Health Sciences department. She received her Bachelor’s in Public Health from Brown University. Sophia is happy to be back in the warmth and palm trees, since she is from Miami, Florida. She is interested in the intersection of community health and healthcare management, particularly how integrated care delivery networks can streamline healthcare access for communities. Moreover, how different healthcare actors work to promote health and healthcare access for MCH population. Her current work is as a graduate researcher with the Life Course Research Node to improve family development and health.
Internship: Keck Medicine with USC
Carly Hyde
MPH Student, Community Health Sciences
Carly graduated from Bucknell University in 2017 with a BS in Neuroscience and a minor in Studio Art. She currently works with families of children with developmental disabilities at the UCLA Center for Autism Research and Treatment. Her research focuses on implementing telehealth services in underserved communities and increasing the representation of diverse communities in research studies. Carly is originally from Denver, Colorado and she enjoys crafting, reading in hammocks, and running in new places!
Ah Young (Irene) Jang
MECN Student, Nursing
Irene (Ah Young) Jang is a first-year student in the UCLA MECN program. She also attended UCLA for her undergraduate degree in Biology before realizing that her true passion was in nursing and healthcare. She aspires to be a labor and delivery nurse upon graduation, and hopes that the MCH program will aid her in becoming a well-rounded, informed nurse. In her free time, she likes to bake, play with her puppy, and watch sitcoms with her husband. She has lived in Koreatown, Los Angeles for most of her life and hopes to stay in the area after receiving her degree so that she can continue to eat delicious food and help underserved populations.
Rachel Kamran
MPH Student, Community Health Sciences
Rachel grew up in Newport Beach, CA and received her BS in Human Biology and Society at UCLA. She is now back at UCLA pursuing her MPH in Community Health Sciences and exploring her interests in child and maternal health disparities, psychosocial stressors, childhood illnesses, family planning, and women’s health. She is currently applying to medical school and looks forward to using her public health education to inform her future practice as a physician. In her free time, Rachel loves to sing in front of an audience, try new dance forms, practice yoga, and go kayaking.
Michelle Kang
MECN Student, Nursing
Michelle is a first-year nursing student in the Master’s Entry Clinical Nurse (MECN) program. She attended UCLA for undergraduate school and received her Bachelor’s of Science degree in Psychobiology. Michelle began working at a primary care office where she participated in developing outreach projects to educate underserved communities about preventative care. After graduating, Michelle hopes to pursue a career in public health or pediatrics.
Kelly Landaverde
MPH Student, Community Health Sciences
Kelly Landaverde is a first-generation, Latina, graduate student at UCLA Fielding School of Public Health in the Community Health Sciences Department. She was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley, but moved to the east coast to attend one of the Seven Sisters, Mount Holyoke College, in Western Massachusetts. At Mount Holyoke College, she pursued a major in Biological Sciences and completed a minor in Latinx Studies. Kelly has always been interested in the intersection between the medical and social sciences and thus decided to pursue a degree in Public Health. Her maternal and child health interests lie in improving the birthing experiences of immigrant people as well improving the primary care system to ensure culturally sensitive care that meets the needs of Black and Brown children. During her free time, Kelly enjoys discovering new hiking trails, going to the beach, spending time with friends and family, and traveling. Her current hobbies include caring for her plants and reading for leisure.
2021 Internship: All Children Thrive
Dome Enrico Lupac
MPH Student, Community Health Sciences
Dome Lupac is an MPH student in Community Health Sciences. He is from Carson, CA, and received his BA in Public Health and Social Welfare from UC Berkeley in 2017. His passion for public health stems from addressing health inquiring that disproportionately affect immigrant children and families the most. For hobbies, Dome enjoys going on hikes, traveling, cooking, dancing, staying physically active, and learning more about personal finance.
2021 Internship: Community Health Councils
Samantha Reyes Macam
MPH/MSW Student, Community Health Sciences
Sam was born and raised in San Diego, obtained her BA in Public Health from UC Berkeley, and is now working toward her dual MPH-MSW degree at UCLA. Sam is interested in child and adolescent mental health, especially among racial/ethnic minority youth and immigrant families. She one day hopes to become an LCSW providing mental health therapy while simultaneously conducting community-based participatory research to better understand how positive experiences and strong support systems during early childhood development improve health trajectories and adult health outcomes. Her long-term goals include setting up a school-based health center at her old high school to increase access to and minority representation in mental health services, and to also help combat the school-to-military pipeline by exposing students to different career paths. In her free time she enjoys propagating plant cuttings, cooking/baking, and cuddling with her cat.
2021 Internship: Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Filipino Family Health Initiative
Delia G. Melendrez Gomez
MPH Student, Community Health Sciences
Delia Melendrez is from South Los Angeles, California and attended CSULB to receive a bachelors in Psychology. She is interested in child and adolescent health, the relationship of mental and physical health, chronic stress, and minority health issues. In addition to serving as the Communication Chair in the Maternal and Child Health Student Interest Group, Delia is a Planetary Health student ambassador for UCGHI, member of the FSPH Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee, and a graduate student researcher for two projects in health/social justice. One of her professional goals is to become a director of research at a non-profit to bridge the gap between research and community work. On her free time Delia enjoys going on hikes, walking her dog, and dancing with her hula-hoop.
2021 Internship: California Latinas for Reproductive Justice
Yanel Saenz
MPH Student, Community Health Sciences
Yanel Saenz (she/her/hers) is a 1st year MPH student in the Community Health Sciences department at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. Her interests are in the built environment and how it can positively influence children’s health, which led her to become a Maternal and Child Health Fellow and participate in MCH SIG. Prior to starting graduate school at UCLA, Yanel worked at the Los Angeles LGBT Center in the Quality Improvement department of their FQHC where she helped improve the health of LGBTQ+ patients by increasing access to preventive screenings for colorectal cancer screening, cervical cancer screening, and annual wellness visits. She graduated from UC Berkeley with a BA in Public Health in 2017 and her hometown is South Central Los Angeles (specifically in the neighborhoods of Watts and Florence-Firestone) where she currently lives and is actively involved in anti-gentrification efforts.
2021 Internship: Los Angeles Walks
Katrina Salinas
MPH Student, Community Health Sciences
Katrina is a Master of Public Health student in the Department of Community Health Sciences. She is from San Diego, California and received her Bachelor’s degree in Global Health from UC San Diego. Acknowledging the health and economic disparities faced by migrants and refugees, particularly women and children, in the United States and their country of origin, Katrina aspires to work with this community to further address the health inequities that exist because of social/cultural norms, language, and violence/discrimination. Katrina is most interested in learning about how these factors play a role in educational and professional advancement across the life course and identifying policy solutions to ease the burden of disease caused by these inequities. In her free time she enjoys practicing yoga and meditation and taking long walks with her dog.
Judy Tang
MECN Student, Nursing
Judy is currently at UCLA School of Nursing, in her first year of the Master’s Entry Clinical Nurse (MECN) program. She completed her B.S. in Cognitive Science, with a Specialization in Neuroscience at UC San Diego in 2018. After obtaining her B.S., she worked on a women’s health research study as a Research Assistant and at a pharmaceutical intelligence company as a Research Analyst. She intends on becoming a Nurse Scientist and her MCH research and clinical areas of interest include mental health, violence, and trauma. In her free time, she enjoys trying new foods, watching lots of TV, and cooking.