Anna Krasnova, PhD MHS received her doctorate in Epidemiology from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York. Prior to this, she earned a Master of Health Science in Mental Health at Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Statistics from the University of British Columbia. During her time at Columbia University, Anna worked as a graduate research assistant in the Global Psychiatric Epidemiology Group at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. There, she contributed to projects examining the effects of neighborhood and family environments on sleep quality and BMI of high-risk adolescents

Jared Martin, PhD, received his doctorate from Ohio State University in Human Development and Family Science. His research focus covers two areas: (1) housing and related supportive interventions for youth and families experiencing homelessness and housing instability, and (2) implementation science in human service organizations. His dissertation used mixed methods to understand the influence of system-level factors on the adoption of research-backed practices among organizations serving youth and young adults experiencing homelessness. He has also conducted research on youth attitudes toward service providers, a tailored Housing First approach for youth populations, and implementation of a cross-system intervention to support families

Lourdes Johanna Avelar Portillo earned her PhD in the Population, Health and Place at the University of Southern California where she focused on addressing interim-level needs, specifically drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH) service needs of unhoused residents in Los Angeles. Prior to USC, Johanna earned her MA in Geography at Cal State Long Beach where she explored the intersections of demographics, emotional geographies, and household water insecurity in rural areas of Santo Tomas, El Salvador. Johanna earned her BA in Geography and Environmental Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles. These research experiences have shaped Johanna’s research interests

Dr. Margaret Handley is a public health-trained epidemiologist in the Departments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and Medicine. She is core faculty at the Action Research Center for Health and at the Benioff Housing and Homelessness Initiative. Dr. Handley’s research focuses on bridging the fields of primary care, public health, and health communication for improving health outcomes and access. She co-directs the UCSF PRISE Center, which focuses on applying implementation science methods to meet the challenges of eneven health outcomes and access to care. At BHHI she is one of the Principal Investigators along with Drs. Margot Kushel and Rebecca Sudore

Margot Kushel, MD is a Professor of Medicine at University of California San Francisco, Division Chief of the Division of Health and Society, and Director of the UCSF Action Research Center for Health and the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative. She is a practicing general internist at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. Her research focuses on the causes and consequences of homelessness, with the goal of preventing and ending homelessness and ameliorating the effects of homelessness on health. She is the Principal Investigator of the California State Study of People Experiencing Homelessness (CASPEH) and numerous NIA funded studies on

Dr. Vijayaraghavan is a practicing general internist at the San Francisco General Hospital and a researcher in tobacco control with a focus on populations experiencing homelessness. Dr. Vijayaraghavan's intervention research stems from collaborations with community organizations. As PI of two grants (22XT-0020, 25CP-0002) from the Tobacco Related Disease Research Program, she collaborated with homeless shelters and supportive housing programs to implement interventions to increase access to cessation services and smoke-free policies among homeless clients. As co-investigator (PI Satterfield, DA034253-04) on an implementation and dissemination grant on a randomized controlled trial of computer-facilitated delivery of 5As for smoking cessation, she worked

Dr. Morris’ professional activities are grounded in engaging diverse partners in the development of evidence-based policy change to reduce social inequalities and improve health among underserved communities. As a Professor, Dr. Morris’ research focuses on applying epidemiological methods to study the impact of individual, social, and structural factors on disease transmission within marginalized populations. In particular, her work has focused on using qualitative and quantitative methods to examine social determinants of health within people who use drugs, including HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, worldwide. Internationally Dr. Morris has collaborated with researchers to carry out HIV and HCV prevention

Ryan Assaf, PhD, MPH is an Assistant Professor at BHHI and the Division of Health and Society, a mentored faculty member in the UCSF Action Research Center for Health at ZSFG, a member of the UCSF ARCHES New Faculty Peer Cohort 25, and a 2026 UCSF John Watson Scholar. 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 recently completed his postdoctoral fellowship at the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, where his work centered

Shannon Smith-Bernardin, PhD, MSN, RN, is an Associate Professor in the UCSF School of Nursing, co-founder of the National Sobering Collaborative, and faculty at the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative.

Trina Johnson PhD, MSc, earned her doctorate in Health Services and Policy Research at Boston University School of Public Health in a NIDA-funded training fellowship focused on the integration of research and care for Addiction, HIV and HCV. Trina has prior experience working as a mental health counselor for adolescents, a substance use counselor for adults, and a house manager in transitional programs for formerly unhoused individuals with co-occurring psychiatric and/or substance use conditions. She has also volunteered with the Berkeley Free Clinic for over 10 years and has held several roles which has included doing outreach to people who