Welcome Anael Rizzo!

Anael Rizzo started this morning at NCIRE, as a Research Assistant III, and will be primarily working with Drs. Rebecca Brown, Mike Steinman, and Program Manager Malena Spar on several of their clinical research studies related to improving health outcomes in older adults and the US Deprescribing Research Network.  Anael has a Bachelor’s Degree from UC San Diego in Physiology and Neuroscience and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, and since her graduation, has been a superstar in working with vulnerable populations. As a quick highlight, Anael was a Global Health Fellow with Saint Joseph Clinic, working as a liaison in Haiti to address a number of health barriers to build an environment that will better aid patients living with acute and chronic illnesses. Through this fellowship, she implemented new systems and processes to address child malnutrition and severe medical cases. In addition, through her experience as the Director of Community Development at the International Health Collective, she worked with the community in Tijuana, Mexico to create health programs that benefitted orphans with neurological illnesses. She also led their Public Health division to focus on designing a Community Health Workers (CHW) program to better address the health disparities experienced by the community. In short, she also brings with her a positive light and passion for implementing impactful changes. Anael will be stationed at the VA (Building 1, Room 207), phone # 415-221-4810 ext. 25049.  We are so thrilled to have her join our team, and if you get a chance to meet Anael, please make her feel welcome to our ever-expanding and talented division!