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DSC Study Team

Who We Are

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Kennedy Blevins

Kennedy is a California State University, Long Beach alumni and current doctoral candidate at the University of California, Irvine. Her research interests address how culture shapes stress, coping, emotions and health in African Americans. She became involved in the DSC Study based on my personal and professional values to increase the representation of Black women in scientific research and understand the contributing factors to Black women's disproportionate poor health burden. She believes the DSC study is well suited to investigate how the unique day to day experiences of Black women in the Los Angeles metropolitan area relate to their health outcomes.

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Chelsea Okundolor

Chelsea Okundolor received her undergraduate degree from California State University, Long Beach in Health Science with an emphasis in community health education. She is currently an Outreach Coordinator for the Black Health Equity Collaborative and a pre-medical postbaccalaureate student at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her career goals include becoming a women’s health provider and conducting research focusing on black maternal mortality. She joined this research project because of her strong interest in women’s health and the intersection in the Black community.

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Melissa Pantoja

 Melissa Pantoja is a  second-year MPH student at Cal State University of Long Beach and a Community Health Worker for the community of South Central. She first joined this study because my current position highlighted the high health disparities of Black women in the United States, part of it being related to their lack of representation in the field. She believes it is fundamental to give Black women a voice to bridge the said gap and the DSC study is a step in that direction, allowing her to contribute to and address this health disparity.

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August Stine-Woods

 August Stine-Woods is a third year psychology major at California State University Long Beach. He became a research assistant with the DSC study because he wanted conduct research that involved the African American community. This study has given him nthe opportunity to learn more about how discrimination and other psychosocial factors affect African American women’s health outcomes.  

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Antonio Gibson is a Senior Psychology major at California State University, Long Beach. He is interested in understanding the cardiovascular risks that are associated with experiencing discrimination amongst Black women. This study is important to him because, in general, his is seeking a more in-depth understanding of how discrimination affects the health  among populations and the role of sociocognitive processes. He is also seeking participation in the development of intervention programs that combat the negative effects of these experiences to mitigate how it impacts the health of Black populations. 

Antonio Gibson

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    Candace Jacobs

    Candace Jacobs graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles earning a Bachelor of Science in Biology. She is currently a pre-med post-baccalaureate student at San Francisco State University. Her interest in the study stems from her passion for women's and children's health with a focus on those who suffer from health disparities. By joining this study she aims to build her knowledge of how to conduct research while also serving her community.

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    Andrea Rodriguez

    Andrea Rodriguez is a transfer student from Ventura College. She is an undergraduate Junior at California State University, Long Beach majoring in Health Science for Community Health Education. She is a Leveraging Interdisciplinary Nutritional Knowledge Scholar with the Center for Latino Community. She is paired with Dr. Johnson as her mentor for the semester to learn more about conducting research. She is interested in learning more about how daily and past discrimination experiences affect one’s stress (cortisol) levels and how that contributes to health disparities in the Black community. She is also interested in learning about telomeres and how stress can contribute to advanced aging cells. She looks forward to working closely with Dr. Johnson on her DSC study and learning more about the protocols and conduction of research.

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