About us

The Wallace Center is a multidisciplinary research and training center consisting of UC Berkeley faculty, staff, and students that aims to advance the health of parents, adolescents, and children with technology, innovation, and community engagement.

Our mission

The Wallace Center conducts actionable research in innovation and technology to advance maternal, child and adolescent health and reduce inequities, while engaging community and training future leaders

Our values

Equity

We tackle social injustices across the life course to create a healthier and more equitable society

Collaboration

We foster interdisciplinary relationships with students, researchers, and innovators from different fields and sectors

Participation

We center communities, engaging individuals with lived experiences as the experts who inform every step of our process

Innovation

We seek out new ways of research, training, and design to identify inventive, evidence-informed solutions

Our history

The Helen Wallace Center for Maternal, Child & Adolescent Health was established in 2015 with an endowment from Helen Wallace, MD, MPH. Dr. Wallace served as Chair of the UC Berkeley School of Public Health’s Maternal and Child Health program from 1962 to 1980. She was particularly interested in infant health, maternal mortality, health systems change, and expanding healthcare delivery. Dr. Wallace laid important groundwork in the field by fostering collaboration across disciplines at a time when it was rare to do so. Dr. Wallace passed away in 2013 at the age of 99 and the Helen Wallace Center for MCAH was established in her name.

Our team

Kim Harley, PhD

Faculty Director

Dr. Kim Harley is the Faculty Director of the Wallace Center for MCAH and Associate Adjunct Professor at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health. Dr. Harley’s research focuses on utilizing community-based participatory methods and novel research technologies (e.g., sensors, wearables) to measure environmental exposures. She is also interested in using technology to conduct research on maternal and reproductive health outcomes.

Lindsay Parham, PhD, JD

Executive Director

Lindsay Parham, PhD, JD, is a social scientist and lawyer specializing in women’s health policy and healthcare organizations. With over a decade working in reproductive rights, ethics, justice, and health, Dr. Parham brings unique sociological and legal expertise to challenges in real-world clinical settings. Her work focuses on systems and policy analysis to find and close gaps in care for women throughout the reproductive cycle. She is passionate about using technology and innovative interventions to improve prenatal and postpartum care for parents.

Sylvia Guendelman, PhD, MSW

Advisory Committee Chair

Dr. Sylvia Guendelman is the Advisory Committee Chair of the Wallace Center for MCAH and Professor Emerita at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health. Dr. Guendelman’s research has focused on assessing pregnant women and mother’s engagement with digital health technologies and analyzing Google search queries to understand population health concerns.

Colette (Coco) Auerswald MD, MS

Advisory Committee Member

Dr. Colette (Coco) Auerswald is an Associate Professor of Health and Social Behavior and Director of the MS Degree for the UCB-UCSF Joint Medical Program and the Director of the Innovations 4 Youth Research Center. Her research focuses on the social determinants of health for youth and structural interventions to improve adolescent health through community collaborations and youth-engaged approaches.

Coye Cheshire, PhD

Affiliated Faculty

Coye Cheshire is a Professor at the UC Berkeley School of Information. His research examines the social psychological aspects of technology-mediated environments, including trust and distrust in information, restorative approaches to victims of online harm, social interpretations of biosignals/wearable sensors, and information sharing in virtual reality environments. 

Julianna Deardorff, PhD

Advisory Committee Member

Dr. Julianna Deardorff is the Director of the Center of Excellence in MCAH and the MCAH MPH Program. Her research focuses on pubertal development, sexual and reproductive health during adolescence and young adulthood, mental health, particularly among young Latinos in the US.

Siti Juwariyah, MBA

Administrative Manager

Siti Juwariyah is the Administrative Manager of the Wallace Center for MCAH. Ms. Juwariyah provides administrative support for all research and training activities of the Center. She also supports Wallace Center affiliate research centers including the Bixby Center for Population Health and Sustainability, and Innovations for Youth.

Barbara Laraia, PhD, MPH, RD

Advisory Committee Member

Dr. Barbara Laraia is a Professor and Chair of Public Health Nutrition MPH Program. Dr. Laraia’s research focuses on the influence of contextual level effects, including food insecurity and neighborhood environments, on dietary intake, cardiometabolic risk factors and pregnancy outcomes, especially among vulnerable populations.

Cassondra Marshall, DrPH, MPH

Assistant Professor in Residence

Dr. Cassondra Marshall is an Assistant Professor in Residence in the MCAH program at UC Berkeley School of Public Health. Her research focuses on healthcare delivery, patient-centered care, contraceptive decision support tools, and cost sharing and contraceptive adherence. In addition, Dr. Marshall leads several community-based doula research projects.

Ashley Nguyen, MPH

Research Coordinator

Ashley Nguyen is a Research Coordinator for the Wallace Center for MCAH. She supports Dr. Cassondra Marshall’s community-based doula research projects. Through public health and journalism, Ashley has focused on coverage of doula services through Medicaid, employer benefits, and private insurance.

Ndola Prata, MD, MSc

Advisory Committee Member

Dr. Ndola Prata is a Professor and Co-Director of the Doctorate in Public Health (DrPH) program h. Her research expertise includes the design, implementation, and evaluation of family planning and maternal health interventions that maximize distribution and financing mechanisms to increase access to contraceptives.

Jaspal S. Sandhu, PhD

Assistant Adjunct Professor of Practice

Dr. Jaspal Sandhu is an Assistant Adjunct Professor in the MCAH program at UC Berkeley School of Public Health. Dr. Sandhu has served as the faculty lead for the Fung Fellowship for Wellness and Technology Innovations at UC Berkeley. He is also a managing partner and co-founder of the Gobee Group, a human-centered design company that innovates for the equitable health of populations globally and in the United States.

Improving equity through innovation

We are advancing maternal, child, and adolescent health through cutting-edge and collaborative research with innovators, providers, and community members

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University of California, Berkeley
School of Public Health
2121 Berkeley Way, Room 5302
Berkeley, CA 94720-7360

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