The Our Voice Team

Abby King

Faculty Director

Dr. King, PhD, is a professor of the Department of Epidemiology & Population Health and of Medicine at the Stanford Prevention Research Center. She leads an interdiscplinary research team aimed at creating cutting-edge behavioral and technological programs promoting the healthy lifestyles necessary for living long and productive lives. Her teams' borderless health promotion solutions seek to create health programs that break down barriers related to education, literacy, language, and computer knowledge and access.

Ann Banchoff

Director of Community Engagement

Ann Banchoff, MSW, MPH, has a background in public health, social work, and international human rights, as well as broad experience in developing and sustaining community-academic partnerships.  She has worked extensively with migrants and other underserved populations in the California Bay Area and in Oaxaca, Mexico, and has also lived and worked in Russia, France, Ethiopia, and Peru.  Ann co-founded the Office of Community Health at the Stanford University School of Medicine in 2005, and served as its Director of Educational Programs until late 2014.  

Isela Blanco

Research and Program Assistant

Isela Blanco has a background in sociology and child adolescent development. She is currently pursuing a Master of Social Work degree at San Jose State University. Her current work has focused on delivering health promoting and community engagement interventions among ethnically and socioeconomically diverse individuals.

Patricia Rodriguez Espinosa

Research Fellow

• Dr. Patricia Rodriguez Espinosa, PhD., MPH, is a native of Habana, Cuba, and clinical psychologist by training.  She is an Instructor in the Epidemiology and Population Health Department and also serves as the Associate Director of Research for the Office of Community Engagement at Stanford Medicine. Her research concentrates on health equity issues (particularly among Latinxs and immigrant communities), cardiovascular disease prevention, racial residential segregation, well-being across cultures, and the science of Community-Based Participatory Research, citizen science, and other participatory research approaches.

Maja Pedersen 

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

• Maja Pedersen, PhD, is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Stanford Prevention Research Center. Dr. Pedersen’s research is focused on three inter-related themes; (1) utilizing community-based approaches to improve understanding of individual, social, and environmental determinants of and barriers to physical activity; (2) adapting and implementing lifestyle interventions targeting older adults; and (3) exploring relationships between physical activity, outdoor spaces, and well-being. She is currently a National Cancer Institute K00 Fellow, using community-based approaches and implementation science to increase physical activity and address health equity among rural American Indian and Alaska Native older adults.