Juan Carlos Belliard, PhD, MPH
Director
Juan Carlos Belliard (PhD, Claremont Graduate University, MPH, Loma Linda University) teaches in the areas of culture and health; traditional, complementary and alternative medicine; ethnographic research methods; health disparities; and migrant health. His research interests are focused on medical pluralism, exploring how migrant communities utilize parallel systems of health care. He is currently a co-investigator at Loma Linda University’s Center for Health Disparities Research. As an educator Dr. Belliard applies service-learning methods to his teaching in local and international communities. Dr. Belliard is dedicated to various efforts that strengthen community-university relationships. He serves on the board of the Community Action Health System (SACHS) and has been a part of the strategic planning team for the San Bernardino City Unified School District, a strategic partner of Loma Linda University. He is currently the director of the Institute for Community Partnerships and Assistant Vice-President for Community Partnerships and Diversity at Loma Linda University.
Nery Pereira
Administrative Assistant
Nery Pereira has an extensive background in administrative support. She has worked for Loma Linda University Health system since 1995 and joined the Institute for Community Partnerships in November of 2011. Her administrative career started in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where she worked as an Executive Assistant for two directors of Golden Cross Assistencia International De Saude Ltda., one of the largest health insurance corporations in South America. Nery’s bi-cultural background and trilingual skills come in handy in ICP’s work with the surrounding communities.
Megan Daly
Associate Director
Megan Daly (Masters of Health Administration, University of Southern California) is Loma Linda University Health’s Director of Community Benefit and the Associate Director for the Institute for Community Partnerships. Ms. Daly’s professional background includes over a decade of service at three of Southern California’s institutions: Keck Medicine of USC; the County of San Bernardino, Department of Behavioral Health; and multiple entities at Loma Linda University Health. Ms. Daly’s administrative background includes work in community health development, grants and project management, patient relations and grievance management, staff education and training, clinic operational management, and program design, implementation and evaluation for outcomes. She has specialty knowledge in behavioral health services, clinical operations experience in managing outpatient oncology, and in hospital-based service excellence and patient satisfaction. Ms. Daly teaches at the Loma Linda University’s School of Public Health as an Assistant Professor on health care system operations, translation of policy into healthcare systems, and the cultural intersections between patients, providers, and systems that require new paradigms of cultural humility. Ms. Daly brings her passion for connecting with people and her enjoyment of the facilitation of complex administration processes to the office of Community Benefit in service to our Inland Empire community.
Brenda Boyd
Service Learning Coordinator
Brenda Boyd (PhD, Leadership, Andrews University; M.S., Health Professions Education, Loma Linda University; M.A., Organizational Management, University of Phoenix) teaches in the Department of Radiation Technology in the School of Allied Health Professions in the areas of active learning and assessment, professional communication, radiologic patient care, professional development, marketing, research and thesis writing, and leadership. Dr. Boyd’s personal mission in life is to make a difference, not only in this world, but in the lives of each of her students. Bottom line, she just wants to help her students succeed while they are on their own transforming journey in life. Dr. Boyd says, “It really matters to me that my students grow, change, and become what God intended for them.” Dr. Boyd created the service learning course in the medical radiography program at LLU, and has planned and traveled on multiple mission trips to Haiti, Belize, Honduras, and Mexico, where she works with students to engage in the local culture and people. She also leads over 75 radiography students every year on a service learning activity in downtown San Bernardino. The experience provides her students the opportunity to take what they learned in the classroom and apply it to a community need, then learn from the experience in order to take it back to their medical profession to make a difference in their patient care. For her radiography students, this involves deeply reflecting on the needs assessment, the community engagement project, and the individual experience of using their interpersonal communication, critical thinking, cultural communication, and leadership skills in a much needed way.
Chintan K. Somaiya, MS, MBA
Program Manager
Chintan Somaiya (MS, Montclair State University; MBA, Loma Linda University) has a passion for leading community health investments, community health needs assessment and community health implementation strategy. He also has a keen interest in building health policy and leadership programs. In his prior experience at Loma Linda University, he has been involved with a wide range of whole-person care programs, financial and grants management activities. Chintan has worked closely with San Bernardino County departments, Arrowhead Regional Medical Center and several community based organizations to develop effective public health interventions, geared towards enhancing community access to quality care. Chintan completed an undergraduate degree in Biotechnology (2007) from Birla Institute of Technology. It was while studying at Birla that Chintan developed his interest in developing research and evaluation based health programs. His program development and financial management skills, adds to the ICP’s team efforts to ensure that Loma Linda University Health is relevant and responsive to the community.
Lily Lee, DrPH(c), MPH
Director, Academic Programs, Promotores Academy
Lily Lee (DrPH(c), Loma Linda University, MPH Emory University) is a public health professional with extensive experience in education programs, healthcare delivery, research and dissemination at the local, state, and federal health agencies as well as non-profit and faith-based organizations. Her experience with underserved and high-risk populations has inspired her dedication for community empowerment, workforce capacity building, health education and promotion, knowledge transfer and organizational behavior change. She began her public health career working with Community Health Workers (CHWs) in the early 1990s and is currently serving as the Director of Academic Programs for Promotores Academy at San Manuel Gateway College, Loma Linda University. She has a passion for educating and mentoring students at all ages and stages of life. She continues to serve as adjunct faculty teaching online and face-to-face public health-related courses to undergraduate and graduate students. She is adept at capturing the big picture, strategizing, and moving problem analyses into operationally productive interventions and systems. On her spare time, she loves to take walks, care for her humble garden and spend time with her family.
Nellie León, DrPH
Director, Program Design and Evaluation Unit (PDEU)
Nellie León (DrPH, Loma Linda University School of Public Health) is the new Director of ICP’s Program Design and Evaluation Unit. Dr. Leon is also faculty with the School of Public Health at Loma Linda University Health and teaches in the areas of program planning and evaluation. Dr. Leon’s training includes preparation in advanced evaluation and research methods. Dr. Leon also serves as a consultant for curriculum design and evaluation methods for local academic institutions and community agencies. Her research interests are focused in the area of public health evaluation, including training of public health professionals as well as community members in program design and evaluation as Evaluation Champions. She serves on the administrative committee of the Promotor Academy (Community Health Worker Academy) and has been instrumental in the development and implementation of academy trainings for local community health workers. Her program design and evaluation skills will add to ICP’s mission to be relevant and responsive to community needs by addressing health disparities.
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Crissy Irani, MBBS MPH
Research Associate
Crissy Irani (MBBS, Rajiv Gandhi University, MPH, Loma Linda University School of Public Health) is passionate about the connections between community, evidence-based practice using research findings and public health programs. As a lifelong public health student, she has contributed to collaborations between many local and international partnerships. Beginning research as a medical intern, she has experience providing clinical care, community health guidance and community based education related to local and national initiatives in and around Bangalore, India. As a research fellow, coordinator and project manager she contributed to many types of research and clinical trials involving trial medication and interaction/outcomes with preventive health measures, over the counter interventions and lifestyle alterations. She is currently focused on ensuring the Vision and Values of Loma Linda University’s Institute for Community Partnerships is exemplified in fieldwork optimization, liaison between program leadership and stakeholders/residents in multiple communities, coordination of interdepartmental collaboration, and her contribution to organizational framework and budget maintenance.
