About Us
EPE Team
| Wendy Hetherington She/Her Program Chief | Wendy serves as the Chief Epidemiologist for Riverside County. She leads a multi-disciplinary team of research specialists, epidemiologists, data scientists, and economists who analyze data, prepare reports and presentations, and use statistics and GIS to guide program and policy development. |
| Kevin Meconis He/Him Senior Epidemiologist | Kevin has worked as an Epidemiologist for Riverside University Health System – Public Health since 2005. His focus areas have included infectious disease surveillance, chronic disease, behavioral health, and emergency response (including COVID-19). He has served as Accreditation Coordinator, assisting in the development of Community Health Assessments, Health Improvement Plans, and numerous other health surveys. He is passionate about using GIS mapping and spatial analysis, integrating health equity into all data analysis, and the emerging impacts of climate change on health. |
| Aaron Gardner He/Him Senior Epidemiologist | Aaron Gardner has been with Riverside University Health System – Public Health since 2005. Aaron has extensive experience in qualitative and quantitative data collection, analysis, and communication, with a particular focus on health equity and social justice issues. He has been a project lead on HIV surveillance studies, program evaluation, grant writing, and LGBTQ health. |
| Gimena Ruedas She/Her Senior Epidemiologist | Gimena is an Epidemiologist with an MPH in Research Epidemiology who worked in the field of disease control surveillance for nine years. She joined RUHS- PH committed and passionate about using a holistic approach to understanding the health needs of the community. Her focus areas are injury and violence prevention, and she is also knowledgeable on a variety of topics, including disease control, grant applications, program evaluation, and spatial analysis. |
| Sandra Escobar She/Her Epidemiologist | Sandra Escobar is an Epidemiologist with a focus on maternal, child, and adolescent health (MCAH) and health equity. She holds an MPH from the University of Illinois at Chicago and is currently pursuing a DrPH at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. In her role, Sandra analyzes health data to identify disparities and inform policies that improve health outcomes in Riverside County. She is deeply committed to partnering with communities to advance strategies that promote health equity and improve well-being for all Riverside County residents. |
| Aviva Goldmann She/Her Epidemiologist | Aviva Goldmann is an Epidemiologist with RUHS-Public Health. She is passionate about health equity in access to care, outcomes in chronic disease management, interactions with the built environment, and health services in carceral settings. She received her PhD in Entomology from UC Riverside and worked in public health entomology as a postdoctoral scholar and as a vector ecologist. Aviva is experienced in data analysis and visualization, experimental design, research methodology, communicating data, and creating tools to support data-driven decision-making in public health. |
| Elle Law She/Her Epidemiologist | Elle Law is an Epidemiologist with experience working in state/local government, federal health policy, and academic research in public health and ecology. Elle received her Master's in Applied Epidemiology from UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. She is passionate about supporting evidence-based policy, leading interdisciplinary approaches such as One Health and GIS, future proofing data systems, and infectious/zoonotic diseases. |
| Michael Castro He/Him Epidemiologist | Michael Castro is an Epidemiologist with Riverside University Health System - Public Health. He is a population health researcher focusing on highlighting health equity issues, including in mortality, program access, and immunizations. Michael has an abundance of expertise in various coding languages such as Python, SAS, and R. He utilizes those tools to uncover data quality issues and ensure that data is represented in an accurate and meaningful way. |
| Amy Hyong Epidemiologist | Amy Hyong is an Epidemiologist with Riverside University Health System - Public Health. She received her MPH from Loma Linda University School of Public Health. She has a wide variety of experience in data analysis, spatial analysis, data visualization, grant writing and project management. Her current focus areas include communicable disease surveillance and reporting and outbreak identification, response and management. |
| Jenny Duong She/Her/Hers Epidemiologist | Jenny Duong is an Epidemiologist for Riverside University Health System – Public Health, where she leads data informed efforts to improve health outcomes across Riverside County. She plays a central role in developing the Community Health Assessment and supports cross departmental initiatives that rely on turning complex data into meaningful insights. Her work helps guide public health strategy, planning, and evaluation. Jenny holds a Master of Public Health from the Colorado School of Public Health with a focus in Community Behavioral Health. She is recognized for her leadership in collaborative planning, her ability to bring diverse perspectives to the table, and her skill in guiding projects toward meaningful, actionable outcomes. |
| Amanda Mitry She/Her Supervising Research Specialist | Amanda Mitry is a Supervising Research Specialist for the Epidemiology & Program Evaluation's non-data surveillance team working on enhanced surveillance of communicable and non-communicable diseases. Amanda received her Doctorate of Public Health from Claremont Graduate University focused on transdisciplinary research. She has experience working in academia, non-profit research, disease prevention, and project management. |
| Nancy Renfro She/Her Supervising Research Specialist | Nancy Renfro is a Supervising Research Specialist for Riverside University Health System – Public Health. She has evaluated programs for various departments within Riverside County and has helped create evaluation plans for several Public Health CDC grants. Nancy has extensive experience with quantitative and qualitative analysis as well as survey design and data collection. She has a Master’s Degree in Social Psychology and Evaluation from Claremont Graduate University. Her research interests reside in health equity and prevention measures. |
| Dulce Martinez Luna She/Her Research Specialist II | Dulce Martinez Luna is a bilingual Research Specialist II at Riverside University Health System – Public Health. A first-generation college graduate, she holds a Master of Public Health (MPH) from California Baptist University. Dulce brings valuable experience in healthcare, data collection, and data analysis, with a strong commitment to advancing community health. She is passionate about uncovering meaningful trends, translating data into actionable insights, and supporting public health interventions that promote health equity in underserved and marginalized communities. |
| Iman Abouazra She/Her Research Specialist II | Iman Abouazra is a Research Specialist II for the County of Riverside Department of Public Health- Epidemiology and Program Evaluation branch. She is the current Surveillance Lead for Riverside County Overdose Data to Action Program, responsible for surveillance data dissemination, and oversees the response strategy for potential outbreaks. Iman received her Masters in Public Health with a concentration in Environmental Health and Epidemiology from Loma Linda University and has since worked within the fields of Behavioral and Public Health. |
| Erin Curlee She/Her Research Specialist II | Erin Curlee is a Research Specialist II with Riverside University Health System – Public Health. She has been with the county since 2011. Since 2022, Erin serves as one of the department's Public Health Accreditation coordinators. Her experience is in conducting community health assessments, strategic planning, and data analysis. She is experienced in working with HIV/AIDS and STD data. Both analysis and dissemination of data are her passion and interests in order to provide equity, and social justice to all people. |
| Hannah Bojorquez She/Her Research Specialist I | Hannah Bojorquez is a Research Specialist I with Riverside University Health System – Public Health. She received her Master's in Evaluation and Applied Research from Claremont Graduate University. She has strong research skills in data analysis, statistics, and research design having worked in the clinical research field studying Alzheimer's Disease and other mental health indications. Hannah is passionate about efficiently providing accurate information and educating the community on important health related information. |
| Rina Katayama Hutajulu She/Her Research Specialist I | Rina K. Hutajulu is a Research Specialist I with Riverside University Health System – Public Health. She brings expertise in data analysis, statistical software, data visualization, and GIS. Rina earned her Master’s degree in Economics with a concentration in Demography from Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo, Japan. Her research interests include spatial accessibility and health disparities. She is particularly passionate about leveraging GIS and spatial analysis to enhance data interpretation and support informed decision-making aimed at promoting countywide health equity. |
| Andrea Perez GIS Research Specialist I | Andrea Perez has served as the GIS Research Specialist for Riverside University Health System – Public Health since 2022. Andrea manages GIS research including spatial and spatiotemporal analysis, and develops interactive dashboards and web applications. Grounded in Indigenous climate and community practices, Andrea focuses on supporting communities, advocating for the dissemination of data for community empowerment. Andrea holds a BS in Environmental Science from the University of San Francisco and a MS in Geographic Information Science from CSU Long Beach. |
| Ryan Underwood Data Scientist | Ryan Underwood is the Public Health Data Scientist at Riverside University Health System – Public Health. He received his undergraduate degree from UC San Diego and has a PhD in Biochemistry from Columbia University. Ryan has experience in a wide range of fields including Bioinformatics, Biostatistics, and Machine Learning. He is passionate about utilizing this experience to contribute to the health and wellbeing of his fellow Riverside County residents. |
| Thomas Patton He/Him Public Health Economist | Thomas Patton is a Public Health Economist with Riverside University Health System – Public Health. He received an MSc in Health Economics and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of York (UK). He previously worked as a Research Fellow at the Centre for Health Economics, University of York and a Postdoctoral Fellow in the NIH T32 Training Program in Substance Use, HIV, and Related Infections at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Thomas is experienced in data analysis, grant writing, and research, particularly in the development of economic evaluations for the assessment of policy interventions. |
| Hongbin (Fred) Jin He/Him Infection Preventionist II | Hongbin (Fred) Jin serves as the Local Health Department Infection Preventionist at Riverside University Health System – Public Health. He received his MPH and PhD from University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He is also a registered nurse certified in Infection Control (CIC®). Leveraging his clinical expertise and advanced public health training, he specializes in communicable disease epidemiology, surveillance, and the investigation and control of outbreaks, particularly healthcare-associated infections, throughout Riverside County. |