Our Staff

Gina Baleria is the Program Manager for the Integrated Nurse Leadership Program (INLP) at the UCSF Center for Health Professions. Prior to joining the UCSF team, Gina worked as Associate Director of Programs and Director of Literary Events at The Commonwealth Club, a nonprofit public affairs forum. Before coming to The Commonwealth Club, Gina worked as a news reporter and producer at KCBS Radio and KGO-TV in San Francisco, KCAL in Los Angeles, KXTV and KFBK in Sacramento, and KESQ in Palm Springs. Gina obtained a Master of Arts Degree at Stanford University in Communications: Media Studies. She earned her Bachelor of Arts at UCLA in English, with emphases in film and history. Send Email

Wendy Besse is currently the Program Manager for the Change Agent Program (CAP). She originally joined the Center for the Health Professions to serve as Program Operations Manager of the RWJF Executive Nurse Fellows program. As Program Operations Manager, Wendy managed the day-to-day operations of the program. In 2007, Wendy moved to San Francisco to complete her Masters in Public Administration from Seattle University with Bay Area non-profit internships at Pacific Environment and Tenderloin Health. Prior to that, Wendy worked at the Northwest Regional Primary Care Association in Seattle, Washington as the Education & Training Program Manager providingservices to community and migrant health centers in the Pacific Northwest. Wendy also holds a bachelor's degree in Asian Studies from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. After receiving her bachelor's degree, Wendy spenttwo years in Kobe, Japan teaching English. Wendy was also a 2004 Diversity Executive Leadership Program (DELP) scholar. As a DELP scholar, Wendy participated in an accelerated leadership program of education and volunteer service in the association community. Send Email

Melanie joined the Center in March of 2007 as a Program Assistant for three projects: Health Workforce Tracking Collaborative, Allied Health Care Workforce Program and Center for California Health Workforce Studies. She moved to San Francisco in February 2007 after living and working in New York City, where she was an office manager for a real estate development company. Melanie has a BA in History from Hunter College in NY and is currently in the post-bac pre-health profession program at San Francisco State University. Send Email

Sharon’s work involves investigating legal scope of practice issues for California’s health care professions. The focus of her research is on opportunities and innovations in workforce deployment. Prior to joining the Center, Sharon worked for several attorneys of the San Francisco Juvenile Dependency and Delinquency Courts. There, she assisted with the representation of abused and neglected children and at-risk youth. Specifically, she coordinated case plans with district attorneys, minors and their families, educators, mental health professionals, residential treatment facilities and various community organizations to find suitable placements for young clients. Sharon is also experienced in researching, analyzing and drafting persuasive legal briefs on a wide variety of matters in trademark, employment and environmental law. In addition, she has worked with special education students in the San Francisco Unified School District. Sharon earned her law degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of California at Berkeley in three years. Send Email

Mary Dickow joined the UCSF Center for the Health Professions in 1997 to serve as Associate Director of the RWJ Executive Nurse Fellows Program. As Associate Director, Mary manages the day-to-day operations of the national program office. She manages the financial aspects of the program as well as providing technical assistance to the fellows and alumni of the program. A Bay Area native, Mary has been with the University of California, San Francisco fortwenty-fouryears. She joined the University accounting offices in 1984 as an Accounts Specialist. In 1993 she joined the UCSF Institute for Health Policy Studies where she worked on the Health of the Public Program as a Financial Assistant. Mary received her Master's degree in Public Administration from the University of San Francisco, with an emphasis on nonprofit management. She also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Public Administration from University of San Francisco. Send Email

Sally Durgan is the Director for the California HealthCare Foundation (CHCF) Health Care Leadership Program. She was previously the Program Development Associate for the CHCF Health Care Leadership and the Robert Wood Johnson (RWJ) Executive Nurse Fellows Programs at the Center for the Health Professions, UCSF. Prior to joining UCSF, Sally served as the Health Outcomes Project Manager for Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS), a homeless services organization in Alameda County and as a Research Assistant for The California Endowment. Sally earned an M.S. degree from the Department of Policy Analysis and Management at Cornell University and a B.A. in Biology and French from Lafayette College. Send Email

Dave Gootee joined the Center in September of 2006. Dave brings with him over thirteen years of healthcare experience in project/program management, patient care administration, training and change management. He has worked in various healthcare settings including an academic teaching center, a community hospital, and an inner-city urban healthcare system. Most recently, he was Director of Training and Organizational Development at Sinai Health System in Chicago, IL. Prior to Sinai, he worked as the Special Assistant to the Vice President of Patient Services and Chief Nursing Officer at University of Chicago Hospitals. Originally from Jasper, Indiana, Dave received a Masters in Business Administration and a Masters in Health Administration from Xavier University in Cincinnati, OH. Send Email

Jen Hart joined the Center for the Health Professions in 2008 to serve as the Program Assistant for the RWJ Executive Nurse Fellows Program. Prior to coming to USCF, Jen held a Human Resources and Staffing position with a technology company in Silicon Valley. She also worked as a research assistant at the Stanford Research Institute. Jen moved to San Francisco in 2007 after graduating from Santa Clara University with a B.S. degree is Psychology. Send Email

Carolina-Nicole Herrera joined the Center in November 2007 as a Statistician. She has conducted research for universities, government agencies, Fortune 500 companies, not-for-profit organizations, and law enforcement. Most recently, she has been conducting economic experiments in China and survey research on urban land reform in South Africa. At the Center, she is involved in studies of the effects of California's minimum nurse staffing mandate on hospital quality, and the relationships between hospital unions, nurse wages, and patient outcomes. She received her MA in International and Development Economics from the University of San Francisco after completing a BA in Political Science at the University of Chicago. Send Email

Jennifer Kaiser has been with the Center for the Health Professions since March 2004. In May 2009, Jennifer joined the Center’s new Change Agent Program (CAP) as their Program Associate. She originally joined the Center to provide research support to the Center for California Health Workforce Studies, the Allied Health Care Workforce Program, and in 2005, the Health Workforce Tracking Collaborative Project as well. Prior to her work at the Center, she conducted her own unique research project on adolescent mental health, drug abuse, and the efficacy of the DARE program, while at the American Public Health Association. She also worked for two years as a Research Assistant at the NASA/Ames Research Center Cognition Lab at Moffett Field, assisting with research on human perceptual and cognitive processes. Jennifer graduated from U.C. Davis with a dual B.A. in Psychology and African American Studies. Send Email

Terri Kluzik is the associate director for leadership at the Center for the Health Professions at the University of California, San Francisco and program director of the Blue Shield of California Foundation sponsored Clinic Leadership Insitute. Her past roles at the Center included directing the CHCF Health Care Leadership Program, Primary Care Awards Program, National Fund for Medical Education, Leadership for Nursing Education (LINE) and the Community Health Leadership Program. Terri is past-chair and former member of the board of Community Campus Partnerships for Health. Prior to joining the Center, Terri was the assistant executive director of the Health Care Foundation of San Francisco, a preferred provider organization (PPO) sponsored by the San Francisco Medical Society; and she was a member of board of the Health Care Foundations of the California Coast, a consortium of PPOs in Northern California. In addition, Terri managed a shelter for homeless women, worked with the developmentally disabled, taught job search courses, and served as an eligibility worker for a county social service agency. Terri has a Masters in Social Work degree, with a concentration in administration, from San Francisco State University, and a BS in Social Work from the College of St. Benedict, Minnesota. Send Email

James Koontz joined the Center for the Health Professions in October 2006 as program assistant for the Integrated Nurse Leadership Program. Prior to joining the Center he had worked for six years as an administrative assistant for the Medical Supervision and Consulting Department of United Behavioral Health. He graduated from Monterey Peninsula College in 1975 and has been living in the Bay Area since 1978. Send Email

Vincent joined the Center in July 2007 after relocating from Boston, MA. He was previously at the Center for Molecular Imaging Research focusing on novel methods to non-invasively image atherosclerotic processes. Now that he has returned to his native state, he will split his time doing research on mental health and regulatory issues. Vincent received his BA from the University of California - Berkeley in the field of Molecular Cell Biology, as well as a minor in Public Policy. Send Email

Angela joined the Center in December 2007 as a Senior Analyst for the Allied Health Care Workforce Program's Medical Office Assistant project. Angela came to UCSF from the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where she managed projects aimed at screening and secondary prevention of pediatric traumatic stress post-injury. A main focus of her work was on the development of educational interventions for children, parents, and health care providers that could be integrated into health care settings. Prior to working in research, Angela spent several years at environmental and health non-profits. Angela received an M.S.Ed degree in Psychological Services and a B.A. in History, both from the University of Pennsylvania. Send Email

Dr. Mutha is Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine and Program Director at the Center for the Health Professions at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Her scholarly work focuses on educational and organizational approaches to improving the quality of care for diverse populations. Her recent efforts includes interventions to use rapid cycle improvement methods to reduce cultural and linguistic barriers in safety net hospitals, a study to assess the feasibility of integrating cultural competence into California’s pay-for-performance program, and an initiative to develop a statewide network to provide organizations with resources and tools to for delivering culturally competent health care. She is a member of the Joint Commission’s Expert Advisory Panel which will guide the development of hospital standards for culturally competent patient-centered care. She was also a member of NQF’s Cultural Competence Steering Committee, NCQA’s CLAS Award program’s expert panel in 2008. Dr. Mutha is the lead author of a nationally distributed curriculum, “Toward Culturally Competent Care: A Toolbox for Teaching Communication Strategies” and has conducted faculty development trainings in cultural competence for over 800 individuals from a range of health professions backgrounds, including medicine, nursing, dentistry, pharmacy, mental health and allied health. She is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and a member of the Board of Directors for Brown and Toland Medical Group, comprehensive, multi-specialty independent practice association (IPA) serving the residents of the San Francisco Bay Area. A practicing internist, she is actively involved in educational activities for UCSF primary care residents and has been the recipient of several teaching awards. Dr. Mutha completed her residency and chief residency at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, followed by a fellowship in the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars program at Stanford University. Prior to joining UCSF, she was a faculty member at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. Send Email

Brett Penfil joined the Center for the Health Professions in 2004 as a member of the Pharmacy Leadership Institute. At the Center she develops and teaches leadership courses and coaches health care professionals. Prior to her work at the Center, Brett worked as a Senior Organizational Consultant for Blue Shield of California, where she provided consulting to individuals and teams on team development, change management, and leadership development. In addition to her work at the Center, Brett is a psychotherapist (MFTI). Brett received her master’s degree in public health from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and her master's degree in counseling psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies. She is a certified integral coach. Send Email

Joanne Spetz, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Community Health Systems, UCSF School of Nursing. She also is the Associate Director of the Center for California Health Workforce Studies. Her areas of expertise include nursing labor markets, hospital industry structure and finance, quality of patient care, information technologies, cost-effectiveness analysis, and econometrics. She has led surveys of California registered nurses and nursing schools, evaluations of programs to expand the supply of nurses, research on the effects of health information technologies in hospitals, studies of hospital industry structure, and analysis of the effects of minimum nurse staffing regulations on patients and hospitals. Joanne was a member of the National Commission on VA Nursing, and is a member of the California Board of Registered Nursing Workforce Advisory Committee. She frequently provides testimony and technical assistance to state and federal agencies and policymakers. She has taught quantitative research methods for doctoral students, and financial management and health economics for master’s students in nursing administration and public health. Joanne received her Ph.D. in economics from Stanford University after studying economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Send Email

Grace joined the Center for the Health Professions in September 2008. As a Leadership Development Associate, Grace focuses on the program management, development, communications and marketing for the customized programs of Center Services, including the Pharmacy Leadership Institute and the Institute for Physician Leadership. Prior to working at the Center, she served as a co-Director at U.S. Campus Ministry’s San Francisco chapter, a nonprofit organization focused on leadership training and spiritual development of college students. Grace received her BS in Human Development and Family Studies with a minor in Sociology from the Pennsylvania State University in State College, PA. Send Email

Renae joined the Center in March 2006 with experience in program evaluation, focus groups, and epidemiological research. Her work at the Center focuses on the analysis and description of the nursing labor market in California and its effects on hospitals, nurses and patient quality of care. She currently works on projects related to nurse migration and increasing student enrollment at California nursing schools. Prior to joining the Center, Renae worked in infectious disease epidemiology, obesity prevention, and reproductive health education with a variety of state and social service agencies. She also has several years of experience using Spanish language skills in research, healthcare, and social settings. Renae graduated from Carleton College with a BA in Latin American Studies and continued to the University of Minnesota where she earned a Master’s in Public Health. Send Email