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Irene Yen is the principal investigator and director of the HOPe Lab. She received her B.A. from Stanford University and her MPH and PhD from UC Berkeley. She is a social epidemiologist, a public health professor at the University of California Merced and a Robert Wood Johnson Interdisciplinary...

Rafael Lomeli is a 2025 graduate of UC Merced, earning a bachelor's degree in Public Health with a minor in Psychology. Originally from Tracy, California, he enjoys listening to music, playing guitar and piano, and exercising or watching movies in his free time. Rafael plans to pursue a Master of...

Ana Quintana-Ceja is an undergraduate Sociology and Economics student. She is a native of Merced, where she has been involved in various community organizations since high school. Ana has an interest in studying the effects of land use, housing, and transportation. Her past experience includes...

Dr. Leia Belt, PhD, is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts (SSHA) Department of Sociology since January 2024. She holds an interdisciplinary PhD specializing in Medical Sociology and Social Epidemiology from the University of Iowa. Her research is dedicated...