People | Martinez Lab

Suzanna Martinez, PhD, MS

Associate Adjunct Professor

Dr. Martinez shares the experience of being the first-generation in her family to attend college. She received a Master’s in Nutrition Education from Columbia University and PhD in Public Health (Health Behavior) from the Joint Doctoral Program at UC San Diego and San Diego State University. Her research has focused on childhood obesity and related health behaviors, such as diet, physical activity, and sleep duration among Mexican American children.

Sonali Singh

Project Policy Analyst II

Epidemiology & Biostatistics

Sonali received her MPH from the University of California Berkeley, with a concentration in Public Health Nutrition and certificate in Food Systems. Her research interests include food insecurity, mental health, diet-related health outcomes, and racial and ethnic disparities in food access. In her free time, Sonali enjoys cooking, photography, and staying active through rock climbing, hiking, and tennis.

Kelley Akiya

Postdoctoral Fellow

Kelley Akiya is a postdoctoral fellow researching the influence of lifecourse exposure to food insecurity on barriers to healthy aging and the implementation of policies and health care interventions that address food insecurity and related social needs. She has a Master of Public Affairs from the University of Texas and a PhD in Public Health from the NYU School of Global Public Health.

Lucia Pacca

Research Data Analyst III

M_Epidemiology & Biostatistics

Lucia Pacca is a Research Data Analyst working on the impact of education, occupation and other life course factors on later-life cognitive outcomes and chronic diseases. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Milan, Italy and is interested in understanding health disparities and advancing quantitative methods in social science research, with specific focus on sequence and cluster analysis.

Jazzy Sabado

Project Policy Analyst I

M_Epidemiology & Biostatistics

Jazzy holds an academic background in studio art and brings professional experience in Human Resources and supporting higher education administration. Their research interests focus on food insecurity and mental health epidemiology. Outside of work, Jazzy enjoys hiking, photography, playing basketball, and engaging with the local arts and culinary scenes.