Past Team Members

Suzette Quijada is currently in her first year of the master’s program at California State University, Northridge under Community Health Education. She is interested in pursuing a career in mental health advocacy and prevention programs. Her main goal is to eventually become a professor at a university level. During her undergrad years, she worked at various elementary schools teaching children about safety and well-being which inspired her to join the SHARE project. Teaching is her passion and having experience with students sparked her interest with working with those participating in SHARE. To help out with the community, Suzette works at her local YMCA helping those in need by partnering up with LA food bank. In her free time, Suzette enjoys going to the gym and hanging out with her dog. She practices self-care by creating art projects, swimming, and going to the beach.

Valerie Gonzalez is currently an undergraduate student majoring in Public Health at California State University, Northridge. She transferred to CSUN from Pierce College in Fall 2021. As a first-generation college student, Valerie has always strived for excellence and has worked hard to be a role model for her younger siblings and cousins. She has recently been accepted to Kent State University’s Clinical Epidemiology program where she will pursue her masters. She is eager and is so excited to be part of the SHARE project. She joined the SHARE project to gain experience in research. On her free time, she enjoys doing Pilates, Yoga, and of course spending time with her loved ones.

Mariana Garcia is a first generation college student. She is currently in her second year as a graduate student in the community health education track at CSUN. Throughout her educational career at CSUN, she has volunteered and helped other campus staff with their research projects including a Latino Food Environment and a Nutrigenomics: Diabetes Intervention for Latinos study. Mariana also interned at Canoga Park’s Children Development Institute where she developed and implemented a four week program that promoted healthy environments, social development and civic responsibility for children of 2 6 year olds. Mariana joined the SHARE team to increase her research experience and improve her skills in various areas. Mariana is excited to see the SHARE project grow in participants and be implemented in different states across the country. As a full time employee and graduate student, one way she strengthens her resilience is by going on afternoon walks to enjoy the sunset and fresh air.

Yanira Casasola is currently a graduate student in the California State University Northridge’s Master of Public Health (MPH) in Community Health Education and an intern for Project SHARE. Previously, Yanira received her bachelors in Dental Hygiene at West Los Angeles Community College. Her previous background revolves around the dental health field with 10 plus years of experience. Throughout, this time Yanira has had the privilege of working for Federally Qualified Health Clinics (FQHC) focusing on providing oral health treatment to priority populations. She is so excited to be a part of the SHARE team, where she can continue to apply her newly developed skills. Her goal with this research experience is to act as a support system to her team as well as to learn from everyone's unique qualities. In her free time Yanira loves to explore National Parks around the US with her husband and fur baby.

Michael Mitchell is currently a graduate student in the California State University Northridge’s Master of Public Health in Community Health Education. Although new to the field of public health, Michael has spent time volunteering at the VA Long Beach Healthcare System where he was afforded the opportunity to interact with veterans, a population that is not commonly viewed as marginalized. While shadowing various healthcare professionals, he learned about the common health problems that veterans experience such as chronic pain, sleep problems, anxiety, and depression. Through his internship with the SHARE project, Michael aims to learn more about the social determinants of health, and how these factors, along with healthcare policy, affect an individual’s ability to access adequate healthcare. Michael is also passionate about health advocation, as well as helping individuals access the resources necessary for health promotion. In his spare time, Michael enjoys bowling, playing billiards, watching movies, listening to music, as well as spending time with family and family.

​Velia Nuñez is a current graduate student pursuing her Master of Public Health in Applied Epidemiology. Her life’s passion is to improve the social determinants of health for at-risk populations. During her time at CSUN, she has worked with various faculty researchers on studies ranging from COVID social distancing and masking policy adherence, psychosocial and physiological stressors among overweight minority youth, and examined the benefits of internal assets on the association between bicultural stress and bullying outcomes in Somali and Hispanic youth. She currently holds a position as a project coordinator in the Metabolic and Stress Assessment Lab (MeSA) at CSUN. She joined the SHARE team in the Fall of 2022 both to strengthen her research experience. Velia enjoys exercising and going hiking with her wife and dog. She believes that meditation, exercise, and strengthening her social ties help her manage her stress and help increase her resilience.

Cynthia Robles is a first-generation graduate student at CSUN’s Master of Public Health Program in Applied Epidemiology. Her public health experience includes working with under-resourced populations in non-profit clinics. Cynthia is excited to be part of the SHARE project, where she knows she will learn a lot about adolescent health and resilience. In addition, Cynthia joined the SHARE project to learn more about conducting research, data collection and analysis. Cynthia knows these skills will be an integral part of her future work as an epidemiologist and is excited to grow in these areas. In her free time, Cynthia enjoys going on bike rides, trying new foods, and going to the beach. Cynthia practices self-care by going camping, hiking with her dog, or relaxing in her hammock.

​Jazmine Victoria is a graduate student in the Applied Epidemiology MPH program at CSUN, and a Research Assistant with the SHARE project. Her public health experience includes working as a health equity intern at a health nonprofit, to promote services that address access to care barriers among youth. She has also worked as a public health fellow at a local-level health department, participating in the planning and implementation of a disaster preparedness camp for youth. ​ She looks forward to continuing supporting adolescent health and resilience with the SHARE project. To help Jazmine destress and also just for fun, she loves learning new songs on her guitar, cooking and hiking.

Upon completing his Master of Public Health in Applied Epidemiology, Jonathan became the project manager of SHARE. While in graduate school, Jonathan served as a lab instructor and instructional student assistant for biostatistics lab courses and a research assistant on multiple projects including examining health disparities in diabetes among Asian American cultural groups, investigating students’ use of internet and technology, and exploring the social-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in a diverse group of university students.  His research interests include childhood adversity, psychiatric epidemiology, and the ways that resilience can promote healthy outcomes in spite of environmental and relational influences. To unwind Jonathan enjoys bicycling, philosophy, and supporting friends’ music and art.

Sabikun Nahar Satil was born and brought up in Bangladesh. She finished her MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery) there and moved to the USA a few years ago. Currently, she is a graduate student in applied epidemiology concentration at California State University, Northridge. She strongly feels that this internship opportunity will facilitate both her short and long-term career aspirations, and continue her intellectual development to become a proficient and well-rounded public health professional. To relax, Satil enjoys eating at restaurants with her family. For now, her primary hobby is reading books (she has hundreds of books in her collection). Also, she loves spending time with her son who acts as her inspiration to do better in the future.