Policy Brief
766 San Francisco Residents May Be Eligible for Referral to CARE Court
February 27, 2023
Person
Abraham Renteria-Ramirez, BA
Prior to joining BHHI, Abraham worked as a legal intern with Sin Fronteras, an organization based in Mexico City providing legal assistance to migrants, asylum seekers, refugees, and their families as well as helping individuals secure access to medical, educational, employment, and housing resources. He has also worked providing nutritional resources to underserved communities in his hometown of Watsonville, California. He graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in Sociology. Today, he continues to work as a volunteer translator for the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project.
Our Research
Access, Outcomes, and Costs Associated with Surgery for Malignancy Among People Experiencing Homelessness
Annals of Surgical Oncology •
December 10, 2023
Our Research
Analysis of Emergency Department Encounters Among High Users of Health Care and Social Service Systems Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic
JAMA Network Open •
October 28, 2022
Person
Angelica DeGaetano, LLM
Angelica is a researcher with an interdisciplinary background in anthropology, sociology, international relations, and law. After working in direct service for many years, she worked in multiple research settings before joining CVP/BHHI—including three years conducting public opinion research to advance policy on a range of issues. She looks forward to continue informing policy and practice recommendations as a researcher with CVP/BHHI. Angelica holds an LL.M from the University of Essex and an M.Phil from the University of Oxford.
Our Research
Association of Housing Status With Types of Operations and Postoperative Health Care Utilization
Annals of Surgery •
December 1, 2023
Our Research
Association of Shelter-in-Place Hotels With Health Services Use Among People Experiencing Homelessness During the COVID-19 Pandemic
JAMA Network Open •
July 27, 2022
Our Research
Cluster Analysis of the Highest Users of Medical, Behavioral Health, and Social Services in San Francisco
Journal of General Internal Medicine •
April 1, 2023
Person
Corbin Platamone, MPH
Prior to joining BHHI, Corbin served as an IQ shelter supervisor for the Santa Cruz County Health and Human Services Department, and as an EMT in the Bay Area. Corbin recently graduated from UCLA with a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology, where he spent considerable time studying the relationship between maternal health and child outcomes. He looks forward to applying his experiences in epidemiology and emergency medicine to improve health outcomes within vulnerable populations and to promote sustainable housing for all.
Person
Dave Graham-Squire, PhD
Dave serves as a Senior Statistician to lead the quantitative team at the BHHI. Dave has worked in the field of policy analysis for the last 14 years, primarily focusing on issues of labor standards, such as raising regional minimum wages, and expanding health care affordability and access in California. Most recently, he worked as a statistician for the UC Berkeley Labor Center where he provided the quantitative results for dozens of studies to inform legislative debates. In his first week at the Labor Center, he provided the analysis which led to requirements for San Francisco businesses to provide basic
Person
Eve Perry, MPP
Prior to accepting the role with BHHI, Eve was a Research and Policy Associate at the UC Berkeley Labor Center, where she focused on low-wage and health care policy research. They have also worked as the Policy Manager at TechEquity Collaborative and a research assistant at M.I.T. focusing on the design and implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Eve received a Master of Public Policy degree from the UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy in 2017 and Bachelor’s degree in economics from Harvard University in 2009.
Person
Gina Sakoda, BS
Gina is a research data analyst with BHHI. Previously conducting interviews and managing data quality for the CA Statewide Study of Homelessness (CASPEH), Gina now works as a quantitative researcher on a CDSS Home Safe program evaluation, and co-coordinates the statistics and data science team at BHHI. Gina spent over 5 years in direct service provision for folks who are unhoused in the East Bay, most recently as a street outreach worker in Downtown Oakland, and is interested in the intersections of structural inequity, the environment, and homelessness. Gina graduated from UC Berkeley with a BS in Bioengineering and a
Person
News
Homelessness Tied to Worse Cancer Outcomes Among Veterans
MedPage Today •
December 21, 2023
Our Research
Hospital Variability in Adoption of Alcohol and Drug Screening in Adult Trauma Patients
The Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery •
May 1, 2023
Our Research
Hotel-Based COVID-19 Isolation and Quarantine Strategy for Persons Experiencing Homelessness
JAMA Network Open •
March 1, 2021
News
How Hospital Discharge Data Can Inform State Homelessness Policy
Public Policy Institute of California •
September 19, 2022
Our Research
Injury Patterns and Hospital Admission After Trauma Among People Experiencing Homelessness
JAMA Network Open •
June 23, 2023
News
Involving People with Lived Experience in Complex Care Research
The Playbook •
January 5, 2023
Person
Jenna Birkmeyer, MPH
Jenna Birkmeyer, MPH is a statistician at BHHI. In her role, she manages data and conducts statistical analyses as part of the Quantitative Data Team. She has been involved in a variety of projects since joining BHHI in May 2020, primarily focusing on the California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness (CASPEH) and homeless mortality in San Francisco. Jenna previously served as an epidemiologist for the state of Ohio. She graduated from The Ohio State University College of Public Health with MPH and BS degrees in Environmental Health Sciences, as well as a minor in Spanish linguistics.
Person
Jennifer Evans, MS
Jennifer Evans joined the Center for Vulnerable Populations and the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative in April 2020 as Senior Statistician working with Dr. Margot Kushel on research studies focusing on homelessness and its effects on health. She has over 20 years of experience at UCSF providing statistical support to various epidemiologic studies. Most recently she served as principal statistician within Global Health Sciences focusing on the epidemiology of HIV and hepatitis C virus infections in marginalized populations. She holds a Master of Science in Epidemiology from the University of Massachusetts and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Spanish
Person
Kenny Perez, MPH
Kenny is the Co-Director of Research Operations at BHHI. He began working at UCSF in 2013 as an intern while attending UC Berkeley for his bachelor's degree in Psychology and Peace and Conflict Studies. He has since served as an Assistant CRC, CRC, Project Manager, and Senior Project Manager. Kenny holds an MPH from UC Berkeley. His primary professional and academic interests focus on using research methods to work with and for homeless and underserved populations within the San Francisco Bay Area.
Person
Margot Kushel, MD
Margot Kushel, MD, is Professor of Medicine at UCSF, Division Chief of the Center for Vulnerable Populations, and Director of the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (ZSFG). Her research focuses on reducing the burden of homelessness on health through examining efforts to prevent and end homelessness and mitigating its effects on health care outcomes. Margot is a primary care physician at ZSFG’s Richard H. Fine People's Clinic. A leading homelessness researcher, her research has been funded by the NIH, government, and foundations. Margot is quoted frequently in the press. She provides
Person
Our Research
Mortality Among People Experiencing Homelessness in San Francisco 2016–2018
Journal of General Internal Medicine •
March 1, 2022