Research Trainees

Annika Montag, PhD

Postdoctoral Scholar

Education

Doctor of Philosophy, Public Health-Epidemiology
University of California, San Diego and San Diego State University

Bio

Dr. Annika Montag is an epidemiologist and pharmacologist with an interest in perinatal drug exposures and Native American health disparities.  She received her PhD in Public Health Epidemiology from the University of California, San Diego and San Diego State University in 2014.  Currently a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Pediatrics at UCSD, Annika is pursuing questions relating to Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD).

Publications

  • Lee JP, Calac D, Montag A, Brodine S, Luna JA, Flores RY, Gilder DA, Moore RS. Indian student involvement in tribal community-based research: Underage-drinking prevention among Rural Native Californians. J Rural Community Psychol. 2011;14(2).
  • Montag A, Clapp JD, Calac D, Gorman J, Chambers, C. A review of evidence-based approaches for reduction of alcohol consumption in Native Women who are pregnant or of reproductive age. Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse. 2012;38(5):436-43.
  • Montag A, Brodine S, Alcaraz J, Clapp J, Allison M, Calac D, Hull A, Gorman J, Jones KL, Chambers C. Vulnerability to alcohol-exposed pregnancy among a population of AIAN Women. (submitted) Maternal and Child Health J.
  • Montag A, Brodine S, Alcaraz J, Clapp J, Allison M, Calac D, Hull A, Gorman J, Jones KL, Chambers C. Preventing alcohol-exposed pregnancy among an AIAN population: Effect of a SBIRT intervention. (accepted) Alcohol Clin Exp Res. ​2015 Jan;39(1):126-35.
  • Montag A, Brodine S, Alcaraz J, Clapp J, Allison M, Calac D, Hull A, Gorman J, Lyons Jones K, and Chambers C. 'Influence of Depression on Vulnerability to Alcohol-Exposed Pregnancy and Response to Intervention. (accepted​)  The American Journal of Public Health
  • Montag A, Dusek M, Mazzetti A, Nelson L, Ortega M, Calac D, Nyquist C, Clapp J, Chambers C. Preventing fetal alcohol spectrum disorders in a Native American population. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2014:38(6):51A.
  • Montag A, Dusek M, Mazzetti A, Nelson L, Ortega M, Calac D, Nyquist C, Clapp J, Chambers C. Effect of depression on risky drinking and response to a screening, brief  intervention, and referral for treatment (SBIRT) Intervention. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2014:38(6):257A.​

Gretchen Bandoli, PhD

Postdoctoral Scholar

Education

​Bachelor of Arts, Xavier University
Master of Business Administration, Indiana University
Masters of Public Health, San Diego State University
Doctor of Philosophy, Epidemiology, University of California Los Angeles

Bio

Gretchen is a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Pediatrics at UC San Diego. Her research interests include pregnancy and early childhood psychosocial determinants of mental health and cognition. For her doctoral dissertation, Gretchen studied the effects of pre- and postnatal stressors on the respiratory health of children and adolescents. For her masters thesis, she studied the association between change of paternity and preeclampsia. Gretchen graduated from UCLA Fielding School of Public Health in 2015, and in 2014 was a recipient of the Bixby Doctoral Fellowship as well as the Judith Blake Award.

Publications

  • Baer RJ, Chambers CD, Bandoli G, Jelliffe-Pawlowski LL. Risk of preterm birth by subtype among Medi-Cal participants with mental illness. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2016. doi:10.1016/j.ajog.2016.06.017.
  • Bandoli G, Coles CD, Kable J a., et al. Assessing the Independent and Joint Effects of Unmedicated Prenatal Depressive Symptoms and Alcohol Consumption in Pregnancy and Infant Neurodevelopmental Outcomes. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2016:1-8. doi:10.1111/acer.13081.
  • Alwan S, Bandoli G, Chambers C. Maternal use of selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors and persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn. Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf. 2016;100(1):34-41. doi:10.1002/pds.1570.
  • Alfonso VH, von Ehrenstein O, Bandoli G, Ritz B. The Influence of Pre-natal Supplement Initiation on Preterm Birth Among Majority Hispanic Women in Los Angeles County: The Role of Nativity. Matern Child Health J. 2016:1-8. doi:10.1007/s10995-016-1990-4.
  • Bandoli G, Palmsten K, Flores KF, Chambers CD. Constructing Causal Diagrams for Common Perinatal Outcomes: Benefits, Limitations and Motivating Examples with Maternal Antidepressant Use in Pregnancy. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 2016:521-528. doi:10.1111/ppe.12302.
  • Bandoli G, von Ehrenstein O, Ghosh JK, Ritz B. Synergistic effects of air pollution and psychosocial stressors on adolescent lung function. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2016:advanced access. doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2016.04.012.
  • Bandoli G, Ghosh JK, von Ehrenstein O, Ritz B. Psychosocial stressors and lung function in youth ages 10–17: an examination by stressor, age and gender. J Public Health (Bangkok). 2016:advanced access 1-7. doi:10.1093/pubmed/fdw035.
  • Bandoli G, von Ehrenstein O, Ghosh JKC, Flores MES, Dunkel Schetter C, Ritz B. Prenatal Maternal Stress and the Risk of Lifetime Wheeze in Young Offspring: An Examination by Stressor and Maternal Ethnicity. J Immigr Minor Heal. 2015;18(5):987-995. doi:10.1007/s10903-015-0269-y.
  • Bandoli G, von Ehrenstein OS, Flores MES, Ritz B. Breastfeeding and Asthmatic Symptoms in The Offspring of Latinas: The Role of Maternal Nativity. J Immigr Minor Heal. 2015;17(6):1739-1745. doi:10.1007/s10903-015-0158-4.
  • Bandoli G, Lindsay S, Johnson DL, Kao K, Luo Y, Chambers CD. Change in paternity and select perinatal outcomes: Causal or confounded? J Obstet Gynaecol (Lahore). 2012;32(7):657-662. doi:10.3109/01443615.2012.698669.
  • Bandoli G, Johnson DL, Jones KL, et al. Potentially modifiable risk factors for adverse pregnancy outcomes in women with psoriasis. Br J Dermatol. 2010;163(2):334-339. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2133.2010.09899.x.

Katrina Flores, MPH

Doctor of Philosophy Candidate

Education

Bachelor of Art, San Diego State University
Master of Public Health, San Diego State University, Graduate School of Public Health

Bio

Katrina Flores, MPH, is a doctoral student in Epidemiology in the joint doctoral program at UC San Diego, San Diego State University. Prior to starting the program, she was a post baccalaureate fellow at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), Epidemiology Branch, where she examined racial/ethnic differences in obstetric and neonatal outcomes among women with asthma in the US. She earned her MPH in Epidemiology from San Diego State University and worked at the UCSD Moore's Cancer Center where she examined demographic and clinical factors associated with survival in pediatric brain tumor patients. Her research interests include pediatric cancers, health disparities and the impact of prenatal exposures on infant and childhood outcomes.

Publications

  • Bandoli G, Palmsten K, Flores KF, Chambers CD. Constructing causal diagrams for common perinatal outcomes: benefits, limitations and motivating examples with maternal antidepressant use in pregnancy. Pediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 2016;30(5):521-8. doi: 10.1111/ppe.12302. Epub 2016 May 10.  PMID: 27160789
  • Backonja U, Robledo CA, Wallace ME, Flores KF, Kiely M. Reproductive health knowledge among African American Women enrolled in a clinic-based randomized controlled trial to reduce psychosocial and behavioral risk: Project DC-HOPE. Womens Health Issues. 2016; 26(4):442-51. PMID: 27094910
  • Gonzalez P, Nuñez A, Wang-Letzkus M, Lim JW, Flores KF, Nápoles AM. Coping with breast cancer: Reflections from Chinese American, Korean American, and Mexican American women. Health Psychol. 2016;35(1):19-28. PMID: 26389720.
  • Gonzalez P, Lim JW, Wang-Letzkus M, Flores KF, Allen KM, Castañeda SF, Talavera
  • GA. Breast cancer cause beliefs: Chinese, Korean, and Mexican American breast cancer survivors. West J Nurs Res. 2015;37(8):1081-99. PMID: 25001237.
  • Flores KF, Robledo CA, Hwang BS, Leishear K, Laughon Grantz K, Mendola P. Does maternal asthma contribute to racial/ethnic disparities in obstetrical and neonatal complications? Ann Epidemiol. 2015; 25(6):392-97.e1. PMID: 25724829.
  • Gonzalez, P, Lim, JW, Wang-Letzkus, M, Flores, KF, Allen, KM, Castañeda, SF, Talavera, GA. Breast cancer cause beliefs: Chinese, Korean, and Mexican American breast cancer survivors. West J Nurs Res. 2014. [epub ahead of print July 7 2014]. doi: 10.1177/0193945914541518.

Chelsey Forbess Smith, MD

Rheumatology Fellow

Education/Training

Bachelor of Arts, Harvard College
Doctor of Medicine, New York University
Internal Medicine Residency, Harbor-UCLA
Rheumatology Fellowship, University of California San Diego

Bio

Chelsey is on the clinical research track as a fellow in the Department of Rheumatology at UC San Diego. Her research interests include autoimmune disease in pregnancy and birth outcomes of children born to women with autoimmune disease on immune-modulating medications. Chelsey’s prior research focused on Behcet’s Disease, neuropsychiatric manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus, as well as assessment of cardiovascular risk in rheumatoid arthritis. 

Publications

  • Forbess CJ, Swearingen C, Yazici YY. Behcet's Syndrome Activity Score (BSAS): A new disease activity assessment tool, composed of patient-derived measures only, is strongly correlated with the Behcet's Disease Current Activity Form (BDCAF) [Abstract]. Arth Rheum. 2008;58(9):S854-S855.
  • Lundberg IE, Forbess CJ.Mortality in idiopathic inflammatory myopathies.Clin Exp Rheumatol. 2008;26(5 Suppl 5):S109-14.
  •  Driver CB, Wallace DJ, Lee JC, Forbess CJ, et al. Clinical validation of the watershed sign as a marker for Neuropsychiatric Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.  Arth Rheum (Arth Care Res). 2008;59(3):332-7.
  • Forbess CJ. Primecuts - This Week in the Journals: February 6, 2012. In Shapiro N (ed): Clinical Correlations: NYU Langone Internal Medicine Blog. Faculty Peer Reviewed. http://www.clinicalcorrelations.org, 2012.
  • Forbess CJ. Music Therapy: The Art of Healing: July 10, 2013. In Shapiro N (ed): Clinical Correlations: NYU Langone Internal Medicine Blog. Faculty Peer Reviewed. http://www.clinicalcorrelations.org, 2013.

 For more information about our professional training, visit the Center for Better Beginnings website.