People

Carisa Harris, PhD, CPE

Director of COEH | Director of UCSF/UCB Ergonomics Graduate Training Program | STEER Director

Associate Professor and Director Carisa Harris Adamson, PhD, CPE is the primary graduate advisor for M.S., MPH and Ph.D. students; approximately 50% of her time is directly involved in teaching and mentoring (e.g. courses, oversight of graduate students' research projects, mentoring field/clinical internships etc). She is a Faculty Member in the Department of Medicine at University of California San Francisco with a...

Patrick Benda

Student Researcher
Human Factors & Ergonomics
Degree Program: Master of Science in Medical Engineering Expected Graduation: 2024 Area(s) of Interest: Biomechanical design, wearable technology, programming for healthcare innovation Projects: Leveraging EMG and IMU sensors to quantify risk factors for distal upper extremity disorders through a machine learning-based approach Desired Employment: Industry or Research

Melissa Afterman, MS-HFE, CPE

Senior Ergonomist, Consultant, Instructor, Researcher
UCSF

Melissa is a board Certified Professional Ergonomist and an EH&S specialist for the Department of Occupational Medicine at UCSF. Working with the University of California's Center for Occupational and Environmental Health (COEH), she is also the director of the Online Ergonomics Certificate Program. Melissa studied BioResource/ Agricultural Engineering at Cal Poly SLO and earned her Master's degree in Human Factors/Ergonomics Engineering from San Jose State University.

Meg Honan, MS, CPE, PT

Instructor, Consultant
UCSF

Meg is an EH&S specialist for the Department of Occupational Medicine at UCSF. She also serves and an instructor and development team member working with the University of California Center for Occupational and Environmental Health (COEH) Online Ergonomics Education Program. She studied Physical Therapy at Boston University and earned a Masters in Environmental Health Sciences/Ergonomics from UC Berkeley. Meg is a Board Certified Professional Ergonomist.

Kevin Ru

Student Researcher
Occupational & Environmental Epidemiology

Degree Program: Master of Public Health

Expected Graduation: 2024

Area(s) of Interest: Chronic disease disparities, occupational health exposures, air pollution, toxicology, social determinants of health

Projects: Janitor workload study assessing the impact of union representation on workers' exposures and adverse health outcomes

Desired Employment: Public Agency, Industry

Eileen Thai

Student Researcher
Human Factors & Ergonomics

Degree Program:Masters of Public Health

Expected Graduation: 2025

Area(s) of Interest: Eileen is an MPH candidate in the Environmental Health Sciences department with a concentration in Human Factors & Ergonomics. Her areas of interest include occupational safety and health, prevention of work-related musculoskeletal disorders, and development/design of wearable technologies for healthcare.

Projects: TBD

Desired Employment: Industry

Frederick Houghton

Staff Engineer for Human Factors & Ergonomics Lab
Human Factors & Ergonomics

Frederick (Freddie) Houghton is an EH&S Specialist for the Department of Occupational Medicine at UCSF. He recently earned his M.S. from UC Berkeley in mechanical engineering with a concentration in biomechanics and an emphasis in human factors and ergonomics, as well as his B.S. in mechanical engineering with a minor in bioengineering. He provides engineering services for research projects in the Human Factors and Ergonomics Lab.

Aman Mehrotra

Student Researcher
Human Factors & Ergonomics

Degree Program: Masters of Information Management Systems

Expected Graduation: 2025

Area(s) of Interest: Aman is a MIMS candidate at Berkeley's iSchool focusing on UX Research, emphasizing ergonomics and human factors. Areas of interest include consumer electronics, wearable technologies, and healthcare.

Projects: Sonography design, Pipette design

Desired Employment: Hardware UX

Kevin Ru

Jiayin Chen

Student Researcher
Human Factors & Ergonomics

Degree Program: Bachelor of Arts

Expected Graduation: 2024

Area(s) of Interest: occupational health, job risk assessment, work measurement, built environment design, cognitive human factors

Projects: Time Motion Study of Janitorial Workers in California