Miguel Cainzos Achirica, MD, MPH, PhD

I am preventive cardiologist and cardiovascular epidemiologist trained in Barcelona (Spain) and Johns Hopkins (Baltimore [MD], USA). My research interests focus on 2 complementary approaches to the prevention of cardiovascular disease: 1) interventions at the population level, with a special focus on the identification of vulnerable populations, minorities, and other groups at increased risk of cardiovascular disease; and 2) interventions at the individual level, using cardiac imaging and other novel biomarkers to inform a most precise cardiovascular risk management. My interest in South Asian cardiovascular health stems from my early clinical and research experiences with the local South Asian community in Barcelona. My work in this space since 2013 has contributed to increase awareness on the high burden of diabetes, obesity, and coronary heart disease (CHD) among South Asians living in Southern Europe, particularly Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, and my findings are currently being used by the local health authorities to inform tailored public health interventions. South Asians in the US are also at higher CHD risk than the general population, and there is a lack of SA-specific risk assessment tools for this group in the US. I look forward to contributing to fill these research gaps and have collaborated with the MASALA investigators since 2016.

Ann Chang, Senior Project Director

Ann Chang is the Senior Project Director of the MASALA Study Coordinating Center and the Associate Director of the Women’s Health Clinical Research Center at the University of California, San Francisco. Ann received her B.S. in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics from UCLA and has worked in clinical research since 2003. Ann first started working with Dr. Kanaya on the MASALA Pilot Study in 2006 and continues to support all ongoing programmatic needs for the MASALA Study Coordinating Center.

Eric Vittinghoff, Ph.D, Biostatistician

Eric Vittinghoff is an applied statistician who provides consulting and analysis for the MASALA study.  He got his PhD in biostatistics from UC Berkeley in 1993, is the first author of a well-regarded textbook, Regression Methods in Biostatistics, and co-author of more than 400 peer-reviewed publications, many of them concerning cardiovascular health and disparities, including several by the MASALA investigators.

Nilay Shah, MD

Nilay Shah is a cardiologist and faculty at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, whose research focus is on identifying and implementing strategies to preserve cardiovascular health across the life course in communities at high risk, including South Asian Americans.

Michael Schembri, Programmer Analyst

Michael Schembri is the data systems analyst for the Women’s Health Clinical Research Center where for 8 years he has developed data systems in support of clinical trials.  He has over 20 years of experience programming in health care research, with a list of publications that include areas of health policy research, longitudinal studies, cost effectiveness, as well as clinical trials.  In addition to developing the participant tracking database for the MASALA study, Mr. Schembri manages and develops the data integration processes for the project.  He currently leads the SAS Users Group at UCSF. 

Meghana Gadgil, MD, Clinical Director for the UCSF field site

I am an Assistant Professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine at UCSF, and have worked with the MASALA cohort since 2012.  My research focus is on the role of nutrition in the prevention of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, especially in minority women. To date, my work with MASALA has  characterized the prevalent dietary patterns in this population, and examined their associations with risk factors for cardiometabolic disease. These investigations inform my ultimate goal: to design nutritional interventions to enhance the prevention of these chronic diseases in women throughout the life course.

Shweta Srivastava, MBBS, Clinical Research Coordinator

Shweta Srivastava is a trained Obstetrics/Gynecology physician from Delhi University, India, with a broad background in teaching and research. Her teaching career started at Bryman College in Hayward, where she was a Medical Assistant Instructor. Shweta has also worked on a Clinical Trial Study of H1N1 vaccine at the Stanford-LPCH Vaccine Program. Shweta has been a part of the MASALA Study Team since Sept 2010. She has been actively involved with recruitment, data collection and data management. She thoroughly enjoys interacting with the participants during clinic visits. She loves being a part of the MASALA study which alligns with her interest of prevention of diseases in the South Asian community.

Richa Jain, MBBS, Clinical Research Coordinator

I earned my medical degree MBBS from India and practiced general medicine before moving to USA with my family.  I completed certification in Drug Safety Associate course from Sollers College New Jersey. I am a true believer in preventive care for all diseases . Joining MASALA study as a Clinical Coordinator has helped me to pursue my interest in working with the South Asian Community.

In my spare time I enjoy doing yoga and pranic healing. Being a certified yoga instructor & certified Associate Pranic healer, has always motivated me to lend a helping hand in my community by conducting meditation classes and volunteering camps. 

Fareeha Qureshi, MBBS, Clinical Research Coordinator

Fareeha Qureshi is a Clinical Research Coordinator at U.C.S.F. She earned her M.B.B.S from Rawalpindi Medical College in Pakistan. She joined the Masala study team for exam 1 and 2. She has found her earlier effort very rewarding and is excited to be a part of a study that will have a great impact on the livelihood and quality of life of the South Asian community. She is a proud mother of 2 children, loves to read and spend time with family.

Juned Siddique, Dr.PH, Biostatistician

Juned Siddique is an Associate Professor and Biostatistician in the Department of Preventive Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. His research efforts focus on developing statistical methods for handling incomplete or missing data. He applies these methods to a range of problems including rater bias, participant dropout, data harmonization in individual participant data analysis, and measurement error. He collaborates closely with lifestyle intervention researchers and has particular interests in the analysis of diet and physical activity data.

Maneet Bhatia, Research Assistant

Maneet Bhatia is a research assistant for the MASALA Study. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology from UC Berkeley. She hopes to attend medical school in the near future. She loves being a part of a study that can have such a great impact on the health and wellness of the South Asian community. In her free time, she enjoys reading, gardening, and spending time with family and friends.

Matthew J. Budoff, M.D.

Professor of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center Program Director and Director of Cardiac CT, Division of Cardiology, Harbor-UCLA Medical CenterEndowed Chair of Preventive Cardiology, Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute

Dr. Matthew Budoff is at the forefront of the medical community’s efforts to develop early detection methods for cardiac disease, the number one cause of death in the U.S. Given that approximately 50 percent of U.S. heart disease victims learn of their illness by experiencing a sometimes fatal heart attack, Dr. Budoff has devoted much of his time over the past 20 years to advancing procedures that can help doctors identify cardiac patients early, and place them on a therapeutic path to prevent a heart attack.

Dr. Budoff works on at least 20 active medical research trials at any given time, and is a frequent lecturer on topics of cardiology at symposia, congresses and annual conferences on every continent. He has authored or co-authored over 750 research papers, six books, and 40 book chapters.

 Dr. Budoff has been listed among America's and Los Angeles' Top Doctors every year since 2005.  In the past two years alone, Dr. Budoff has been honored with multiple awards recognizing his professional skills and accomplishments. Of particular note is his receipt of the Einstein Award for Scientific Achievement from the International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, U.K.; being named to the US News list of Top Doctors for 2011; and, most recently, named to “Worlds Most Influential Scientific Minds” in 2014. In 2015, he was named the Endowed Chair of Preventive Cardiology at his institution and was awarded the Arthur S. Agatston Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Award.

Dr. Budoff graduated cum laude from the University of California, Riverside, with a major in biochemistry. He went on to graduate with distinction and a member of Alpha Omega Alpha from the George Washington University School of Medicine, in Washington, DC, before returning to his native California to complete an internship and residency in internal medicine, and a fellowship in cardiology, at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, where he currently acts as Program Director for the Cardiology Fellowship and Director of Cardiac Computed Tomography.

Neil A. Zakai, M.D., M.Sc.

Dr. Zakai is Associate Professor of Medicine and Pathology, and a practicing hematologist at the University of Vermont. He supervises the MASALA lab repository. His expertise is in evaluation and management of premature arterial vascular disease and hyper-coagulable syndromes. Dr. Zakai is also an investigator for the The REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke Study (REGARDS).

J. Jeffrey Carr, M.D., M.Sc.

Dr. Carr is a Professor of Radiology and Biomedical Informatics and Cardiovascular Medicine at Vanderbilt University. Dr. Carr specializes in non-invasive cardiovascular imaging and studies ways to predict disease before it is clinically evident. He is a co-investigator for the MASALA study and his lab has conducted the readings for ectopic pericardial fat and liver fat for the MASALA study. His lab is also making novel measurements of coronary artery cross-sectional area from MASALA cardiac CT scans currently.

Sarah Nadimpalli, RN, MA, PhD

My primary research interests are in health inequities, the social determinants of health, and psychosocial factors that may lead to poorer health behaviors and outcomes among ethnic minority groups. Specifically, I evaluate how psychosocial and acculturative factors mediate cardiovascular health pathways among South Asian Americans. My work with the MASALA Study has primary focused on how discrimination may relate to multiple health outcomes among Asian Indians.