Welcome Alveena Thomas!

Please join us in welcoming Alveena Thomas, Clinical Research Coordinator, to our UCSF Division of Geriatrics!

Alveena started this past Monday and will be supporting Dr. Janice Schwartz in her research as a CRC.  Alveena graduated from UC San Diego with the highest distinction in her Major in Public Health and a Minor in Biology.  Her expertise include systems knowledge in Epic, SPSS/Biostatistics, Python, Qualtrics and data analysis (quantitative and qualitative).  Most recently, Alveena worked as an Evaluator/Coordinator for a Fall Prevention study at UCSD.  The study also examined the impact of CoVID-19 on older adults.  For the fall prevention piece, Alveena applied CDC Manual for Program Evaluation to create a Comprehensive Evaluation and Analysis Plan, and created a logic model incorporating stakeholder inputs and goals.  For the CoVID-19 piece, Alveena evaluated the knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes of older adults (65+) in San Diego regarding CoVID-19 and administered surveys to evaluate the impact of stay-at-home order.  Previously, Alveena worked at the UCSD Altman Clinical & Translational Research Institute as a Research and Administrative Assistant, where she collaborated with medical device representatives, PIs and research coordinators on 12 clinical trials in Cardiology Electrophysiology, and recruited and debriefed participants for studies involving ICDs, pacemakers and other defibrillators, and conducted data analysis.  Last year, Alveena also had the opportunity to witness multiple surgeries including hysterectomy, pessary extractions, caesareans, oophorectomy, and laparoscopic surgery when she shadowed at the Scripps Hospital.  Last but not least, Alveena volunteered as a Pharmacy Administrator in Ensenada, Mexico where she managed a pharmacy in a medical clinic for several months with fellow volunteers.  Those were just some of her experience!  We are very excited for Alveena to join our team and work closely with Dr. Schwartz and her collaborators on their research, which includes these two projects: Direct-Acting Oral Anticoagulants: Anticoagulant Activity in Understudied Older NVAF Patients – funded by the NIH, and Apixaban Nonadherence: Patient-Identified Reasons and Potential Solutions – funded by Bristol Myers Squibb.  Alveena will be responsible for study coordination, data collection, management, quality control and supporting all research protocol and regulatory responsibilities of Dr. Schwartz’ studies.  Like some of our newer staff, Alveena is being onboarded remotely and will mostly work from home, so please help her feel welcome to the team!  Her UCSF email address is: [email protected].   Welcome Alveena!!