People

April J. Bell, PhD, MPH

Principal Investigator

Dr. Bell is a community health researcher, social epidemiologist, and health equity advocate dedicated to improving the sexual and reproductive health outcomes of historically marginalized adolescents. Dr. Bell is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine in the School of Medicine at the University of California San Francisco. Her research focuses on reducing health disparities in sexual and reproductive health among Black adolescent women and girls through the development and implementation of novel methods and strategies created in partnership with the community. Dr. Bell is committed to conducting research that is antiracist and does not perpetuate the harms of anti-blackness and white supremacy. She is working towards a future where Black girls are free.

Marli Berry, BS

Research Assistant

Marli Berry is a second-year medical student at the University of California, San Francisco, dedicated to reproductive justice, reducing health disparities, and uplifting communities through education and advocacy. As a future physician, she is passionate about providing culturally responsive care - particularly for historically marginalized populations - and works to bridge the gap between medicine and community needs by centering equity, access, and advocacy in her work. Marli contributes to global health research on cesarean section practices in low-resource hospitals, and as a current Schweitzer Fellow, partners with SF women's shelters to deliver accessible reproductive health programming focused on menstrual cycles, perimenopause, and fibroids. Before  medical school, Marli worked with Grassroots Health in Washington, D.C., leading sexual, mental, and nutritional health courses for middle school students in underserved neighborhoods. Originally from Sacramento, she graduated early from Howard University with a Bachelor's degree in Biology. 

Leila Fite 

Research Assistant

Leila Fite is an Oakland native and second-year undergraduate student at Temple University, where she is studying Public Health. Her passion for public health stems from a desire to advocate for individuals in her community who are disproportionately affected by health disparities. Her time as a Youth Advisory Board (YAB) member for the Girlx Lab encouraged her to center her advocacy on the sexual and reproductive well-being of Black adolescents. In the future, Leila hopes to build an international career and earn a master’s degree in Social and Behavioral Sciences. She is especially excited to return to Girlx Lab in a new role and contribute to the impactful work that first inspired her career path. When she's back in the Bay Area, she enjoys spending time with her four sisters and all the nature the Bay has to offer.

Kelly Giles, MA, BA, BBA

Research Assistant

Kelly N. Giles is an organizational storyteller, workshop facilitator, and a doctoral candidate in the department of sociology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. As a qualitative researcher, interdisciplinary scholar, and storyteller, Kelly’s work bridges sociology, public humanities, and public health. Her research explores the intersections of race and gender, culture and history, emotion and embodiment, and age and aging with particular attention to how incarceration shapes intimate, romantic, and communal relationships within Black communities. Her dissertation, The Willingness to Love: Feeling Race, Culture, Age and Incarceration in the Everyday, examines the relationship between Black love and incarceration, demonstrating their intrinsic connection throughout history; how they shape Black women’s relationship to emotion and feeling and age and aging in the everyday; and how love and the willingness to love sustains Black women, even in the face of surveillance and incarceration.

Destinee Lewis, BS

Research Assistant

Destinee Lewis has graduated from San Francisco State University with her Bachelor’s in Biology with a concentration in Physiology, and a minor in Counseling. Destinee is originally from Las Vegas, Nevada. She aims to integrate her love for study and science by pursuing a profession as an obstetrician/gynecologist in medicine. Her desire to work in medicine stems from her concern for women's health and her desire to help them stop furthering health disparities, specifically among women of color. With this drive Destinee hopes to reform the medical industry specifically in the obstetrician/gynecologist roam of medicine to allow women of color more access to healthcare regarding reproductive health, introduce more birth plans to mothers, introduce more non-traditional medicine techniques to patients, etc. As a future physician, she intends to utilize her knowledge and privileges to help bridge the gap between the healthcare system to eliminate health inequalities, discrimination, and socioeconomic factors that affect women of color.

Zakiyyah Winston, BS

Research Assistant

Zakiyyah Winston is a fourth-year medical student at the University of California, San Francisco, applying to family medicine residency with interests in adolescent health, reproductive health, integrative medicine, and primary care policy. At UCSF, she has championed opportunities for racial and ethnic groups underrepresented in medicine, serving as Mentorship Chair with the Student National Medical Association and as Mentor Lead with Health Link, a year-long program for first-generation college-bound high school students in the Bay Area. Her dedication to mentorship and representation reflects her belief in empowering the next generation of leaders in health. Since her undergraduate years at Haverford College - where she earned a B.S. in Biology with a minor in Health Studies - Zakiyyah has approached her work with a lens of health equity and justice, with a particular focus on the experiences of Black women in healthcare settings. Zakiyyah is excited to bring this commitment to Girlx Lab, supporting Black girls in charting their own best path forward. 

Sativa Banks, PhD, MPH, CHES, is a postdoctoral scholar at the UC Davis Centers for Violence Prevention. Her research sits at the intersection of firearm violence, intimate partner violence, and sexual and reproductive health. Through her work, she examines how policy environments shape who is at risk, who receives protection, and where prevention opportunities are being missed. She advocates for policies that address the structural determinants of health and works to develop community-centered interventions that empower vulnerable populations, promote health equity and advance violence prevention efforts. 

Dr. Rachel Logan, PhD, MPH, CPH, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine (FCM) in the School of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Dr. Logan completed a postdoctoral fellowship in FCM, working with the Person-Centered Reproductive Health Program (PCRHP). Prior to joining FCM, she completed her doctorate in Community and Family Health from the University of South Florida. Rachel’s interests and research include sexual and reproductive health equity, patient-provider communication, and improving patients’ overall experiences of sexual and reproductive healthcare. Dr. Logan partners with community members and reproductive health providers to promote sexual and reproductive autonomy for socially diverse communities, with particular emphasis on addressing the intersections of anti-Black gendered racism. 

Dr. Alicia Swartz, PhD, MSN, PNP, is an Assistant Professor of Pediatric Nursing at CSU East Bay. Her research is focused on adolescent sexual and reproductive health and antiracism pedagogy in nursing training programs. She is a founder of the Dismantling Racism in Nursing Education at CSUEB, and has provided numerous professional development trainings nationally for nursing faculty on the application of health equity, antiracism, and ethics in Nursing.