Atlas Research Project Goals

The Atlas research project aims to:

• Understand more about the activity of placenta cells
  • Do maternal or fetal cells contribute more to labor onset?
  • Are genetic elements shared by populations or are they population specific?
• Improve population-specific knowledge of preterm birth and predictors of risk 
  • Compare genomes from preterm births to the Atlas in order to identify population-specific mutations
• Build an open access Placental Cell Browser
  • Create the first cellular map generation for underrepresented populations
• Reveal molecular contributors to population disparities associated with pregnancy complications

Areca Smit | Community Engagement Lead, UCSF

Areca Smit is the Executive Director of the California Preterm Birth Initiative at UCSF. As part of the executive leadership team, she is committed to advancing racial equity and birth justice in partnership with the community. What sets Areca apart is her personal experience of giving birth prematurely. This has been a driving force behind her involvement as co-chair of Alta Bates Summit Medical Center's NICU Family Advisory Council and what brought her to PTBi. Areca brings a commitment to undoing the disparities in Black maternal and infant outcomes through birth research by addressing and dismantling structural and interpersonal racism.

Selina Lao Mason | Community Engagement Lead, UCSF

Selina Lao Mason (she/her) is an advocate for equity and justice, a passionate entrepreneur, and a creative writer who is rooted in her faith and her desire to impact systemic change to break cycles of poverty and trauma. She is currently a Program Manager with the California Preterm Birth Initiative at UCSF, and has over five years of experience in running programs that center community partnership, health and racial equity, and trauma-informed practices. She is committed to creating equitable birth and postpartum experiences for all parents and families of color. Her previous work was dedicated to UC-wide sexual violence policy change and ensuring basic needs security for students at UC Berkeley. As a first-generation Chinese-American, she is proud to be a wife, a kitty mama, a Cal Bear alumni, and a Bay Area native.

Sofia Valenzuela | Atlas Research Intern

Sofía is a first-generation Latina with a passion for public health and medicine. She is a community college transfer and a recent graduate of UC Berkeley, where she majored in public health on the pre-medical track and minored in race and the law. Through her experiences at community college and UC Berkeley, she immersed herself in research opportunities that fueled her passion for addressing health disparities among underrepresented BIPOC women and birthing people by integrating preventative medicine with biostatistics, programming, and design innovation. Sofía is currently applying to medical school in the upcoming cycle, with hopes of joining an MD/MPH program and completing her residency in OB/GYN and neonatology. When she is not studying or conducting research, she enjoys mentoring BIPOC youth to pursue careers in STEM and advocating for senior and shelter/rescue animals.

Silvie E. Arabia, MPH, PHN, RN | Community Advisory Board Member, San Francisco Bay Area

Silvie is a nurse, doula, birthing advocate, and public health professional. She was born in San Francisco, California to Central American immigrants and is committed to promoting culturally concordant care in the clinical setting and beyond. Silvie’s background is in birth work, health equity and clinical research at the Division of General Internal Medicine and School of Nursing at UCSF as well as the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK. She holds a Master in Public Health (MPH) degree from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, was trained as a Registered Nurse at UCSF and graduates from Duke University in 2023 with an Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) as a Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner. Currently employed as a Maternal and Child Health Nurse for her local public health department, Silvie educates and provides nursing support to underserved mothers and birthing families in addition to perinatal services coordination. 

Vanessa “V” Castro | Community Advisory Board Member, San Francisco Bay Area

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Kolena Dang | Community Advisory Board Member, San Francisco Bay Area

Kolena Dang was born and raised in Seattle, Washington where she began her career in public health at the King County Department of Public Health.  In 2020, she brought her passion for community health and the social determinants of health to the Bay Area, where she obtained a master's in public health degree (MPH) with a focus in the social, cultural and bio-behavioral determinants of health and health behavior. After graduation, Kolena was hired as a social health product manager for a national healthcare organization. Through her professional work and extracurricular activities, she remains committed to improving the health of immigrant, at-risk, and underserved communities using holistic and inclusive approaches. Outside of her interests in health, Kolena enjoys going outside to hike, backpack, travel, and explore the vibrant neighborhoods of the Bay!

Brandi Gates-Burgess | Community Advisory Board Member, San Francisco Bay Area

Brandi is a graduate of California State University, Eastbay, a mother of three exclusively breastfed girls and a passionate breastfeeding advocate. She co-founded a community awareness advocacy group, The Breastfeeding MAFIA (Mother’s Against Feeding Infants Artificially). Currently, Brandi works for Highland Hospital, the West Oakland Health Council as the Breastfeeding Coordinator and Lactation Consultant for the WIC program and Health Center.  She is the creator and lead facilitator of the Breast Friends Mommy Group. Most recently, Brandi was awarded the Rising Star Award from the California Breastfeeding Coalition and the Black Girls Rock Award for her leadership in her community.

Lucía Lainez​, MS, CCC-SLP, C/NDT | Community Advisory Board Member, San Francisco Bay Area

Lucía (she/her/ella) is a proud San Francisco native with family roots in Nicaragua. Professionally, she is a Pediatric Care Consultant and the owner of LaLa Speech Therapy, Inc., in San Francisco, California. Since 2006, Lucía has practiced as a bilingual Speech-Language Pathologist (English/Spanish), specializing in lactation, pediatric feeding and complex developmental language delays. She has dedicated her professional career to holistically support young children and their caregivers. She provides direct intervention and systemic consultation to marginalized communities throughout the Bay Area, Hawaii and Latin America. On a personal note, she is a proud mami of her adult son.

Dashia Marr | Community Advisory Board Member, St. Louis

Hi, I am Dashia "Halo" Marr, and I am a mother of two! I am full spectrum doula with a primary focus on postpartum and grief. I am also a transitional mindset coach helping women and parents heal their relationship with failure through spiritual alchemy! I am life path 9 and Human Design 6/2 Reflector here to assist communities bridge the old into the new! I hope to bring awareness to the importance of spirituality and cultural sacredness within community engagement and perinatal practices. I am currently a member of Washington University CAB as well.

Angel Rayford | Community Advisory Board Member, St. Louis

Angel Rayford was born and raised in New York but has been living in Saint Louis for the last three years. A true Pieces, Angel is a romantic and left the Big Apple to marry her husband and start a family. A self-described "boys mom," Angel joined the Atlas CAB because of her passion for pregnancy and birth research. As someone who endured cesarean deliveries for all three of her children and difficult postpartum experiences, Angel is excited about the opportunity to utilize her life stories to make a difference.