Micromentor bios
Kris Calvin, PhD | I am the CEO and Policy & Advocacy Director for AAP California. I train pediatricians and pediatric residents in hands-on advocacy. I have over 20 years of experience advocating for child health & well-being in all kinds of areas, including vaccines, criminal justice issues, obesity and nutrition and much more.
Mark Del Monte, JD | I serve as CEO/Executive Vice President of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). In this capacity, I lead a strong chief executive team for the organization which serves 67,000 pediatrician, pediatric medical subspecialist, and pediatric surgical specialist members.
Gena Lewis, MD | I am currently the Medical Director of Federally Qualified Health Center services, Associate Director of the Primary Care Department and pediatrician at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland. I served as President to the American Academy of Pediatrics California Chapter 1 until May 2015 where I now serve on the nominating committee. My work focuses on educating legislators how to better promote the health and well-being for all children in California including the care of the medically complex and special health needs child in the era of healthcare reform. My advocacy efforts focus on medical legal collaboration, early childhood literacy, immigrant health, and insurance reform for the child with medical complexity and promoting community focused pediatric training to encourage a larger pediatric workforce dedicated to the underserved.
Pamela Simms-Mackey, MD | I am currently the Director of Graduate Medical Education and Pediatric Residency Program at Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland. I am very involved with community, mentorship and health equity outcomes, which have prompted my work not only clinically in primary care at Children's Oakland, but also work with First 5 Alameda County for the past 14 years and The California Wellness Foundation the last several years.
Zea Malawa, MD, MPH | I am a pediatrician and public health professional committed to improving health outcomes for children of color. Upon completing my undergraduate degree at Columbia University, I earned a medical doctorate from UCLA and a master’s degree in public health from UC Berkeley. Because I recognize that medical care alone will not close racial disparities, I have become adept at integrating political advocacy and anti-racism strategies into my practice. Currently, I see patients at Mission Neighborhood Health Center and she works for the San Francisco Department of Public Health leading a citywide collaborative to address maternal outcome disparities.
John I. Takayama, MD, MPH | I am the Immediate Past President of the Northern California Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics; I believe that “one size does not fit all” in the world of advocacy, that advocacy requires a passion to speak on behalf of a person or people who are unable to so, a willingness to network and collaborate, and the discipline to do the homework: to double check evidence, to find out what has worked or not worked, and to map out potential costs and outcomes of advocacy efforts. I received the Jane Addams Award for Social Justice from the UCSF Department of Pediatric Social Work in 2011. I suggest “The key to a career in advocacy, is to choose what inspires you and weave these into your everyday activities.”
Kelley Meade, MD | I am the Associate Dean of Clinical and Academic Affairs at UCSF School of Medicine at Benioff Children's Oakland. I earned my MD from the Chicago Medical School and completed my pediatric residency and chief residency at Boston City Hospital. Trained as a general pediatrician, I have held various positions including Medical Director of the Federally Qualified Health Center and Associate Director of Primary Care, where I championed a team-based care approach to the delivery of care. My current professional interests include asthma, family navigation, primary care transformation and physician wellness. I have also served as an elected officer of the Benioff Children's Oakland medical staff.
Rita Agarwal, MD | Past Chair for the AAP Section on Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine and current President of the Society for Pediatric Pain Medicine. I trained at Baylor College of Medicine and worked for over 20 years at Children's Colorado, before coming to Stanford. My passion is educating anyone who wants to be educated.
Raelene Walker, MD | I am the current AAP California Chapter 1 President, a general pediatrician, hybrid primary care/hospitalist, and the Pediatric Medical Director of palliative care and hospice program at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation. I am a very involved mother of two adolescents.
Michael R Anderson, MD, MBA | I am a Pediatric Critical Care Physician and President of UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals in San Francisco and Oakland. I have served in multiple roles at the American Academy of Pediatrics and a dedicated child advocate, focused on Safety, Quality and Disaster Response efforts.
Tom Newman, MD, MPH | I have worked on peace, justice, and environmental issues with Physicians for Social Responsibility and the Unitarian Universalists of San Mateo for decades. Consistent with my interest in sustainability, my research has focused on improving healthcare value, primarily by "safely doing less."
Bert Lubin, MD | I am the former President and Chief Executive Officer of Children’s Hospital Oakland and former Associate Dean of Children’s Health for UCSF. I am also a Pediatrician who has been devoted to and has spent my life committed to advocacy and support of all programs directed to the health and well being of children,especially the undeserved and their families.
Dayna Long, MD | I am a staff pediatrician at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland and one of the founders and co-medical director of the Family Information and Navigation Desk (FIND)—helping to address the social and environmental factors that contribute to health when families present to the healthcare settings. I am also the spokesperson for Too Small to Fail, a campaign promoting new research on the science of children’s brain development, early learning, and early health.