Current Group Members
Eduardo has a Masters of Public Health from the University of California, Los Angeles with a concentration in Community Health Sciences. He is interested in health disparities and equitable access to health services, and has a long history working in community health settings. He is developing his research analytic skills in cancer control and population studies with Dr. Fluchel and Dr. Kirchhoff.
Rochelle joined the team in the summer of 2014 after expanding her experience in project management with a local non-profit organization. Previously she graduated with a Master of Science in Experimental Psychology from Utah State University in 2012. Her prior research experience ranges from impulsivity research with rats to incentivizing fruit and vegetable consumption in elementary school students. Rochelle is currently managing several datasets and conducting analyses for pediatric cancer research projects utilizing demographic and healthcare utilization data from both the Utah Population Database and Intermountain medical records. Rochelle also provides support to Dr. Kirchhoff. In her free time, Rochelle enjoys rock climbing, and coaching youth hockey.
Stephanie recently graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in Health Promotion Management and minors in Business and Pediatric Clinical Research. She joined the team in summer 2015 after interning with the Utah Department of Health’s Division of Emergency Services developing the CHIRP Program. She has worked on various pediatric pilot studies at Primary Children’s Hospital and has focused primarily on improving the emergency medical care provided for children with complex healthcare needs. In addition to working with Dr. Fluchel, Stephanie also works with Dr. Kirchhoff.
Jacob joined the team this year as a graduate research assistant and is earning his Masters degree in Biostatistics at the University of Utah. He comes from a diverse research background including the study of chili pepper micropropagation, invasive plant species distribution, and bat populations in the Heber Valley area. He is excited for this opportunity to expand his research experience and interests in the field of pediatric oncology with Dr. Fluchel and Dr. Kirchhoff.
Vannina Correa Gwilliam has worked in the Oncology, Hematology and BMT departments at Primary Children’s hospital as a Language Coordinator which incorporates patient coordination, navigation, and interpretation as a way to provide continuity of care to the Hispanic-Latino population. She has been an interpreter for the past 20 years and has received a Bachelor’s in Foreign Languages, a Radiologic technologist license, and a Master’s of Science in Radiologic Sciences degrees from Weber State University. She is originally from La Rioja, Argentina.
Debbie Morreall has a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Promotion and Education (2001) with an honorary minor in Pediatric Clinical Research (2014) from the University of Utah. Her research interests include closing gaps in health disparities, particularly making health care equitable and accessible across every demographic. She is also working toward understanding the genetic causes and risks of pediatric hematological and oncological diseases with Dr. Fluchel. Debbie is in her first year of medical school and hopes to be an Oncologist.
Lorin Hall is a third year in pediatric resident who is planning on completing training in pediatric hematology/oncology. She is interested in disparities in health care and is involved in the global health program at Primary Children’s Hospital. She is planning on spending a year on an oncology project in an underdeveloped country and then going on to do fellowship in hematology/oncology. Dr. Mark Fluchel is a mentor for both her career and her research.
Former Group Members
Gina Nam
Gina Nam received her B.S. in biological chemistry and B.A. in Japanese with a minor in pediatric clinical research from the University of Utah in 2013. She worked with Dr. Kirchhoff and her team as a research assistant, and enjoyed learning about the impact of clinical research on health care outcomes. Her recent projects focused primarily on survivorship among adolescent and young adult populations. Gina started her MPH at UCLA in the fall of 2015. Gina hopes to continue her studies in public health, and is interested in cancer epidemiology.
Roberto Montenegro, MD, PhD
Roberto was born and raised in East Los Angeles, CA. Roberto attended Pitzer College, in Claremont, CA, where he majored in Psychobiology and Sociology and completed an honor’s thesis that examined inequalities in emergency room visits secondary to doctor-patient communication breakdown. Guided by his fascination with society’s role in shaping health experiences, Roberto completed a PhD in Sociology at UCLA, with an emphasis in Medical Sociology, Race/Ethnicity, and Multimethod research. As a medical student at The University of Utah School of Medicine, Roberto continued his research on pediatric cancer, pediatric palliative care, pediatric cancer survivorship and doctor-patient communication.
Roberto is currently an APA SAMHSA fellow and is working on a national mixed-methods study (survey, interviews, and epigenetics) looking at how microaggressions impact the professional and personal lives of sexual minority physician residents, with a focus on sexual minorities of color. He is also exploring the use of personalized music in inpatient psychiatric units to assess its potential to mitigate nursing shift-change associated agitation. Roberto is interested in child psychiatry, neuropsychiatry, language and cognition, and multicultural psychiatry.