Meghan Morris, PhD, MPH
Meghan D. Morris is an Associate Professor in Epidemiology & Biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco with a Ph.D. in Epidemiology and Global Health. She has held various academic positions, including Adjunct Associate Professor and Postdoctoral Fellow at UCSF. Her research interests encompass epidemiology, global health, substance abuse, HIV/AIDS prevention, and hepatitis C virus pathogenesis. Her research and mentorship efforts are diverse, including involvement in the Hispanic Health Awareness and Practices Survey and advocating for graduate students' interests as a Student Representative at UC San Diego. She has contributed to science education programs and actively engages with initiatives like the Science Education Partnership (SEP) at UCSF, focusing on underserved students. Morris demonstrates a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion, mentoring graduate and undergraduate scholars and addressing systemic inequalities within her department. Her advocacy extends to criminal justice reform and drug-related stigma, resulting in tangible policy changes and legal consultations. Additionally, she volunteers and leads initiatives aimed at eliminating HCV in San Francisco, maintaining strong community ties.
Ryan Assaf, PhD, MPH
Dr. Ryan Assaf's work applies community-engaged practices, social determinants of health frameworks, and epidemiological methods to examine the intersections of infectious diseases, substance use and drug-related overdose, and sexual health among people experiencing homelessness and sexual and gender diverse populations.
Ryan is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Health Equity and Society. He received his PhD in Epidemiology at the University of California, Los Angeles, Fielding School of Public Health where he also received his MPH and earned his BS at the University of California, Irvine. He completed his postdoctoral fellowship at the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, where his work centered on substance use, treatment, overdose, and harm reduction among people experiencing homelessness. Throughout his postdoctoral fellowship, Ryan presented data from the California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness at academic conferences, in scientific publications, and through op-eds-- one of which was published in the LA Times.
Prior to joining BHHI, Ryan was an epidemiologist at the Los Angeles LGBT Center. With nearly a decade of community- and academic-focused service, he continually worked for organizations that promote advocacy and provide services and protections for marginalized populations, including sexual and gender diverse groups, individuals who use substances, and people experiencing homelessness.
Aanchal Narang
Aanchal Narang is the Clinical Research Coordinator for the YETI Partner Study. She is also the Data Analyst and Clinical Research Coordinator for a number of studies with the UCSF Institute for Global Health Sciences.
Aanchal received her Bachelor’s in Arts in English and International Studies from Northwestern University in 2014. She then began teaching and staffing at an orphanage in India. She continued her work in the education field as a curriculum advisor at Bridge International Academies, Boston University Teaching Fellow, and Boston Arts Academy teacher. During this time she also received her MFA in Creative Writing from Boston University. At Boston University, she received the Leslie Epstein Global Writing Fellowship. Aanchal then pivoted her career towards the field of mental health and psychiatry – she served as a mental health specialist at Mclean Hospital, working with individuals with BPD, DID, and schizophrenia; she was also an EMT for a 911 Boston EMS truck.
Aanchal completed a pre-medical post-baccalaureate certificate at Mills College in 2022. Through Brigham & Womens Hospital and Vital CxNs, she also began researching Boston’s food ecosystem and the impact of COVID on food access for Boston families. Since then she has been at UCSF – first as a volunteer researcher conducting research on noncommunicable diseases in immigrant populations, and now as a CRC and Data Analyst conducting research on HCV public health practices, healthcare around breastfeeding and allergies, and the impact of temporary childbirth migration on healthcare continuity for Indian women.
Tiffany Nguyen, MPH
Tiffany (she/her) is the data manager and analyst for the YETI study. She received a BS in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology from UC Davis, a post-baccalaureate certificate from CSU East Bay, and an MPH in Epidemiology & Biostatistics from UC Berkeley. Tiffany has had a variety of experiences in healthcare and public health, including health education, HIV/HCV test counseling, data analytics, and research. She volunteered at Lifelong Medical Care in East Oakland in their health education programs, including workshops like "Food is Medicine", technology programs, and holistic movement courses. While a student, she worked as research assistant for the Transgender Research Project, conducting research at SF PRIDE and Folsom Street Fair to investigate factors related to HIV in the transgender community. She served as a data analyst and panel manager at the San Francisco Community Health Center leveraging EHR data and internal databases for grant reporting and clinical care management teams. Here, she also volunteered as an HIV test counselor on a weekly and for special events. While getting her masters, she was a graduate student instructor for introductory biology and epidemiology courses. In her work, she has focused primarily on the LGBTQ+ community, people experiencing homelessness, people who use/inject drugs, and communities of color. Her interests include leveraging community relationships and social networking tools (i.e. social media & mobile apps) to tackle STI/infectious disease prevention and mitigation.
Danyion Reagan
Danyion is a Clinical Research Coordinator for the YETI partner study. He graduated from the university of California-Berkeley in 2022 with a B.S. in public health and demography. During his time as an undergraduate he was a queer sexual health educator/tester/data analyst for STI/HIV transmission on his campus through the sexual health education program. He then went on to work for the National HIV Behavorial Surveillance Study conducted by the CDC as a data analyst and research associate. This study focused on vulnerable populations advocacy for access to health resources. He is passionate about mental health and queer communities and improving access to their resources.