New Faculty - January 2021
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Daniel Mendoza Dr. Daniel Mendoza holds joint appointments in the Department of City & Metropolitan Planning, Atmospheric Sciences, Pulmonary Medicine, and the NEXUS research institute at the University of Utah. His research interests include quantifying and characterizing urban greenhouse gas and criteria pollutant emissions for use in human exposure estimation and metropolitan planning. He also examines the health effects associated with acute and chronic pollutant exposure, particularly in vulnerable populations. By combining expertise in air pollution, health outcomes, and urban planning, his work aims to produce enactable scientific and policy solutions to address air quality concerns. He is the co-director of the Consortium for Dark Sky Studies, serves as Editor in Chief of the Journal of Dark Sky Studies, and is an instructor in the Capstone Class on Dark Sky Studies at the University of Utah. His research involves using a dense research grade network of air quality sensors to individualize pollutant concentrations and associate exposure with outcomes. A lifetime ago a very motivated team effort resulted in a RAGNAR ultra victory and he still competes in duathlons and snowshoe races as well as enjoying cross country skiing and mountain biking. |
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Maria Aguilar, MD Maria Aguilar is originally from San Francisco, CA. She completed her GI and Transplant fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona before moving to SLC this past December. In her free time, she enjoys exploring her new surroundings and playing in the snow with her husband and children. Prior to the pandemic, she enjoyed going to concerts, sporting events (especially baseball games), and traveling. She once climbed a volcano in Guatemala which was actively spewing lava (unbeknownst to her at the time!). |
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Jessica Johnson |
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Sarah Norton |
New Staff - January 2021
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Nicole Bedell |
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Morgan Bodily |
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Caterina Brunelli |
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Spencer Calder, MPH, CPH Spencer graduated with a master’s in public health from the University of Utah in 2019 after completing an undergraduate degree in public health from Brigham Young University. As a graduate student, he worked as a Connect2Health mentor and with the University of Utah’s Hotspotting program to improve vulnerable patients’ access to healthcare, affordable housing, and other basic needs. Prior to working as a research analyst, he worked as a lead medical scribe for Robin Healthcare where he worked with otolaryngologists and urologists at UCSF. He is passionate about the potential of nutrition and physical activity to promote health and prevent chronic diseases. In his free time, he enjoys running and exploring new plant-based recipes. |
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Brianna Cavanaugh |
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Isabel Chansing |
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Cassidy Christensen Cassidy Christensen was born and raised in Roy, Utah and currently resides in North Salt Lake with her husband. She began her career in healthcare as a Certified Nurse’s Assistant and has gradually moved toward the administrative side of healthcare. She has experience in patient care, billing and purchasing within a hospital setting. She is excited to begin a career with the University of Utah and see where life takes her from there. |
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Irish Christine Cruz |
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Leisha Flink |
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Jennifer Gros |
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Grace Humiston |
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Sonia Ibrahim |
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Damian Jacenik, PhD Damian Jacenik is from Lodz, Poland. In 2014 earned master’s degree in Biology from the University of Lodz and in 2019 completed his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Lodz. In his research, he focuses on the impact of estrogen signaling and G protein-coupled receptors on the development and progression of gastrointestinal pathologies such as irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel diseases as well as colorectal cancer. In his free time, he enjoys outdoors activities such as travels and hiking. |
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Linda Johns |
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Pam Jones |
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Taylor Mazzacavallo |
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Lindsey Meyer |
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Kristen Pitcher |
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Brenda Preece |
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Lea Ruru |
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Lauren (Ellee) Shields, MN, AGACNP-BC Ellee Shields grew up in San Luis Obispo, California, and completed her Bachelor of Science in Nursing at the University of San Francisco where she focused on critical care. She completed her AG-ACNP degree at Oregon Health & Science University with a focus on improving care for older patients with sepsis. In her free time, she enjoys snowboarding, backpacking, climbing, and biking. One time she rode 200 miles from Seattle to Portland on a tandem bike. |
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Josh Twitchell, DNP, FNP-C, APRN Josh Twitchell grew up in both St. George and North Salt Lake, Utah. He completed his Bachelor of Arts in Biology, Bachelor of Science in Nursing, and Doctorate of Nursing at the University of Utah. His scholarly project was “Improving stroke awareness in Primary Care”. He worked as a nurse for the U for 7 years (6 on NCC and 1 on IMCU) prior to starting with Palliative care. In his free time he enjoys spending his time doing everything with his wife- running, hiking, traveling, and eating. |
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Chrissy Weaver, MS, PA-C Chrissy Weaver grew up in Chicago, Illinois, and completed her Bachelor of Science in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. She subsequently completed a Master of Science at the University of Colorado in Boulder with focus on Integrative Physiology, thereafter completing an MS-PAS at Pacific University in Oregon. In her free time, she enjoys rock climbing, cycling, and hiking with her dog, Tommy. She once ran the grand canyon Rim to Rim. |
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Minkyoung Yoo, PhD Minkyoung Yoo grew up in Seoul, Korea, and received her doctoral degree in Economics from Rutgers University with a focus on U.S. health care spending and public health care policy. She completed postdoctoral training at the Pharmacotherapy Outcomes Research Center in University of Utah School of Pharmacy and is working as a health economist at the Health Economics Core in University of Utah School of Medicine. Her research interests reside in applying economic evaluations, simulations, and modeling to examine the costs and outcomes of health care practices and policies. In her free time, she loves traveling with her family and riding a unicycle. |