Centering Health Justice and Trans Well-Being

Krisha Aghi, PhD (she/her)
Krisha Aghi, PhD, is a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at UC Berkeley. She completed her Bachelor of Science in neuroscience at Brown University and received a PhD from UC Berkeley. Her doctoral research was conducted in the laboratory of Ehud Isacoff and focused on uncovering the mechanisms that govern synaptic release and homeostatic plasticity using the glutamatergic Drosophila larval neuromuscular junction. She will soon be starting a postdoctoral position at UCLA, where she will conduct research in the laboratory of Stephanie Correa that centers on the interplay between corticosteroids and gonadal hormones (estrogen, progesterone) in regulating neural function in the hypothalamus and associated areas. She will examine how large-scale changes in metabolism are affected by manipulations of these hormones and delineate the hormone-sensitive circuits responsible.

Elle Lett, PhD (she/her) 
Elle Lett, PhD, MA, MBiostat, is a Black, transgender woman, statistician-epidemiologist and physician-in-training. Through her work, she applies the theories and principles of Black Feminism to understanding the health impacts of systemic racism, transphobia, and other forms of discrimination on oppressed groups in the United States. She holds a PhD in epidemiology from the University of Pennsylvania, Master’s degrees in statistics and biostatistics from The Wharton School and Duke University, respectively, and a Bachelor’s degree in molecular and cellular biology from Harvard College. Her previous work has focused on intersectional approaches to transgender health, reproductive justice, health impacts of state-sanctioned violence and other forms of systemic racism, and diversity, equity, and inclusion in healthcare. Now, she is turning her focus to algorithmic fairness in clinical prediction models and mitigating systems of inequity in health services provision. She is engaging in this new arm of research through a postdoctoral fellowship at the Boston Children’s Hospital Computational Health Informatics Program, before returning to finish her clinical training.