2023 Recipients of the Applause Program
Highlighting Women and Allies in Tech Across UCI
For Women’s History Month 2023, Women in Tech @ UCI is proud to announce the recipients of the Applause Program who embody WiT’s “Advance. Inspire. Empower. Act.” motto in the workplace.
Each of these individuals was nominated by their colleagues and peers for their impact and accomplishments in fostering an inclusive culture at UCI through their words, values, actions, and attitudes. Let us be inspired to follow in their trailblazing footsteps this Women’s History Month and long after.
2023 Recipients
Jump to — Stacy Branham | Yu-Chien (Alice) Chien | Shruti Gohil | Teresa Martinez-Gonzalez |
Elizabeth Ortega | Kathy Sinajon | Natascha Trellinger Buswell | Shermeen Vakharia
Honorable Mentions
Stacy Branham
Assistant Professor
Informatics
“Stacy goes out of her way through her research and her teaching, to ensure accessibility for all. As an active member of the IT Accessibility Workgroup, she helps guide and produce accessibility efforts all over campus. She has been heavily involved in sub-committee work for both the Pledge program and the Badging program. Her research reveals how technology can isolate, offend, and harm people with disabilities, as much as it has the potential to integrate and empower them when designed properly.”
“Her work has been recognized by several Best Paper awards at top research conferences and has been supported by over $15 million from funding entities, including Jacobs Foundation, Toyota, Intel, and the NSF. In 2021, she received the NSF CAREER Award and was named one of the “Brilliant 10” rising STEM researchers by Popular Science. In 2022, she was recognized by a campus-wide teaching award as a Digital Accessibility Innovator. Her commitment to advancing others should be a model for all of us.”
Which of our four WiT values does Stacy best exemplify?
“Stacy’s entire career is built on making IT accessible to everyone. She doesn’t just parrot tidy taglines, but actively works to make our University and our community more inclusive for folks with disabilities. In addition, she has included accessibility in her curriculum, teaching the next generation of IT professionals to consider accessibility throughout a project’s lifecycle.”
— Meredith Ehrenberg
Office of the Vice Chancellor, Data and Information Technology – ODIT
Yu-Chien (Alice) Chien
Associate Project Scientist
Director of Lasers, Flames, and Aerosols Research Group
Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
“Dr. Yu-Chien (Alice) Chien is a committed and selfless mentor of women and other underrepresented groups in STEM. Dr. Chien is an accomplished researcher and project scientist, currently director of the Lasers, Flames, and Aerosols research group and the W.M. Keck Deep Ocean Power Science Laboratory.
In addition to her outstanding academic contributions, Dr. Chien breaks boundaries, stretches the envelope of customary practice, and demands fairness and conscientious treatment of all, independent of academic standing, race, gender, culture, and ethnicity. She recognizes the challenges of breaking barriers across the male-dominated environment prevalent in engineering, and she accepts that struggle for herself while providing support and encouragement for those in similar circumstances.Dr. Chien leads through her presence and her sincerity. She provides all those interacting with her enormous insights into the challenges faced by the underrepresented, and her core philosophy values the diversity of thought in solving problems of all types. Significantly, she does all of this without sacrificing any of her humility or her demands for quality and rigor as an engineer, scientist, and educator.”
– Anonymous
“Dr. Chien has been an exceptional partner to the California Alliance for Minority Participation (CAMP) with advancing access, diversity, equity, and inclusion (ADEI) in STEM. She has contributed to the CAMP program in a number of ways, despite her other commitments and responsibilities, to support underrepresented students. Since 2018, Dr. Chien has been a faculty judge at the CAMP Statewide symposium. She has viewed and has provided meaningful feedback, to undergraduate research scholars’ presentations to help students enhance their science identity. She regularly attends CAMP events to provide scholars with mentorship to demystify what it means to be a scientist or engineer and has made herself available as a resource to assist them with navigating their postsecondary experience.
Additionally, Dr. Chien is a member of the campus-wide Science Technology Education Workgroup (STEW) at UCI. STEW is a collective of campus leadership, faculty, staff, and administrators that are interested in addressing ADEI from a practice, pedagogy, and research perspective. She has consistently contributed to discussions and has provided meaningful contributions to the committee. Dr. Chien embodies what it means to be inclusive and acts to advance ADEI at UCI.”
– Pheather Harris
Which of our four values does Dr. Chien best exemplify?
“Dr. Chien makes herself available to not only support access, diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in STEM, but also contributes to ADEI by launching initiatives to ensure that women and minoritized students feel a sense of belonging. For example, Dr. Chien is the faculty advisor to the UCI Student Chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), and has partnered with CAMP to combine efforts that enhance our collective impact with supporting underrepresented students in STEM.”
– Pheather Harris
“This is a complicated question because all 4 attributes are interconnected. Dr. Chien’s primary commitment is to action. Sometimes the action is to inspire, sometimes to empower, and sometimes to advance women in STEM, but in all cases, it is not a passive agreement but an action with intent and sincerity. Dr. Chien has created journal club discussions, provided training in manufacturing skills for women to help grow their experimental confidence, and created research discussion salons for other career researchers. She acts as a judge for student poster sessions and willingly shares her academic journey whenever asked. She enthusiastically re-established the Society of Women Engineering (SWE) Collegiate Counselor position at UCI and has actively supported SWE UCI, SWE Orange County, and SWE National. Dr. Chien believes in putting her philosophy into action, and it is this (rarely recognized externally) overarching commitment that warrants applause.”
— Anonymous
Shruti Gohil
Assistant Professor/ Assistant Professor in Residence
School of Medicine – Department of Medicine
“Dr. Shruti Gohil is dedicated to ensuring that high-quality care follows patients from the hospital into their home environment. She has been advancing science to allow patients with wounds and medical devices to have a mobile app that alerts for signs of early infection. These apps allow patients to take photos of their wounds and devices to track changes and ultimately perform automated picture processing to alert treating clinicians.
Her pioneering work in partnership with UCI’s Center for Artificial Intelligence in Diagnostic Medicine has the potential to provide sophisticated alerting mechanisms at home to our highest-risk patients. Her work as a leader in Epidemiology & Infection Prevention has led to the creation of special scoring systems for photos of central lines and has caught the attention of infection prevention programs around the nation. Dr. Gohil’s focus on the complex transitions of care has the potential to help reduce barriers to medical care and to help breakdown socioeconomic disparities that are pervasive when patients return home.”
Which of our four values does Dr. Gohil best exemplify?
“Dr. Gohil is incredibly humble, patient, and dedicated to lifelong listening and learning. In her capacity to hear the problems patients face when they return home, she has chosen to find unique and pragmatic solutions to make a difference. Her work in mobile apps has the capacity to make durable changes to care. Furthermore, she is an attentive mentor to undergraduates, medical students, and trainees to help introduce research concepts involving technology understandable and accessible to future generations of researchers.”
— Susan Huang
Medicine (Division of Infectious Diseases)
Teresa Martinez-Gonzalez
Ambulatory Practice Manager
UCI Health
“Teresa Martinez-Gonzalez is an exceptional leader who supports women in technology in the workplace. As the Ambulatory Practice Manager for Pavilion one multi-specialty, Teresa took on the challenge of revitalizing the outdated program, Fast Pass. This automated waitlist system allows patients to secure sooner appointments, greatly improving the patient experience. Under her guidance and tireless work with the Epic team, Teresa was able to revamp the system, increasing its efficiency and effectiveness. This has resulted in an average of 300 patients securing sooner appointments each month, with some even receiving appointments up to 100 days earlier.
Teresa’s dedication to enhancing healthcare technology and her unwavering efforts to improve the patient experience is a testament to her commitment to excellence. She is a shining example of how women in technology can make a positive impact in the workplace and community.”
Which of our four values does Teresa best exemplify?
“Teresa’s work on the Fast Pass program has fostered a spirit of advancement within the clinic. The automation of the program has not only improved the patient experience but also made it possible for clinic staff to increase their productivity, as they no longer have to manually contact patients for open appointments. This allows them to focus on other important aspects of patient care, leading to a more efficient and effective healthcare system overall. Teresa’s innovative approach to problem-solving and her commitment to improving the workplace have set a strong example of leadership within the clinic, and her contributions have greatly benefited the clinic and its patients.”
— Alyssa Lopez
Pavillion 1 Multi-Specialty
Elizabeth Ortega
Data Scientist
Enrollment Management
“Elizabeth Ortega is a member of the Enrollment Management Analytics (EMA) team within the Division of Enrollment Management. The value and impact Elizabeth brings to the unit, division, and campus far exceeds her role and working title as a Data Scientist. Aside from being a wonderful colleague in the workplace, both in terms of professionalism and congeniality, she provides significant and tangible contributions to campus through her work and innovation.
Elizabeth provides indirect support by demonstrating her success and expertise through her contributions and level of impact. In her work, Elizabeth has to have direct contact with stakeholders and functional users to provide consultative services and support to provide solutions to meet specific functional and business needs. She is a visible member of the EMA unit and works with a wide range of stakeholders around the campus. As such, I believe she is serving as a role model and example of how women in technology are making vital contributions to the advances at the university.”
Which of our four values does Elizabeth best exemplify?
“Among her many contributions since joining UCI, Elizabeth has developed a completely new and innovative admissions yield modeling application that is used in the new student enrollment process for undergraduate admissions. The utility and significance of this tool cannot be overstated as it serves a critical functional role in the enrollment process to ensure the campus meets its enrollment goals every year.
Elizabeth exemplifies what it means to be an enterprise contributor, not only because of the dedication and commitment she exhibits through her work ethic but through her innovation and expertise, she’s making significant contributions to a critical piece of campus operations. Beyond her technical skill sets, her success is also rooted in her ability to communicate and work collaboratively with functional stakeholders. It is no exaggeration that her ability to develop the tools that functional users want to use and rely on is heavily reliant on her ability to work collaboratively with them.”
— Tony Hwang
Enrollment Management
Kathy Sinajon
Assistant Director
Strategic Communications
“Kathy is an incredible example of a ‘woman in technology in the workplace’ because of the myriad roles she serves in our department, which serves as the central communications and marketing team for UCI. She supports everyone on our team by being one of the primary designers of multiple web platforms for Strategic Communications, including the UCI homepage and our UCI News page. Beyond wearing all of those hats and doing her own work exceptionally, Kathy goes above and beyond to teach teammates who may be lacking skills that can help improve their work performance. She’s always the first to offer help and to schedule a meeting to show us how to do something in her digital/tech world. Her generous sharing of her skills is a great example for all – and her kindness is an absolute joy to be around.”
— Cara Capuano
Strategic Communications
“Kathy is a strong and talented woman, teammate, and Anteater. She exhibits true integrity in all its forms. She thoroughly understands the social complexities and nuances of office culture and is very adept and interfacing with others and bringing people together in positive and constructive ways. Kathy’s impressive skill set, commitment to UCI, and ability to continually adapt to an ever-evolving technical landscape establish her as a role model for women in technology.“
— Todd McGill
Strategic Communications
Which of our four values does Kathy best exemplify?
“At the top of the page, it invites us to “think of a time at work when you’ve felt heard, seen, and appreciated” and “when a colleague went above and beyond to foster a welcoming, supportive, and encouraging environment for you.” Kathy has done ALL of those things for me since my very first day on our team back in August of 2021. Our department works remotely and Kathy was one of the first people to reach out and welcome me to the team. When we exchange ideas on improving work flow, she listens closely, then offers supplemental ideas to expand on the possibilities we’re discussing. When I ask a question to our team about how to do something, Kathy is the first to offer her assistance or advice on what has worked for her before. Our department is large and has many different subsets and I’ve seen Kathy work that way with everyone in our group. I’m aware she also collaborates with communications experts all around campus and I’m certain I have colleagues who’d agree with my assessment. Kathy supports and empowers all of us – her value to UCI, especially and the people she works with and the audience she serves – is immense.”
— Cara Capuano
Strategic Communications
“Kathy is a beacon of empathy, understanding, inclusiveness, compassion, and professionalism. She inspires those around her in surprising ways through her sense of engagement, commitment, and selflessness. She has shown others ways to be successful in technology, has motivated others to assert themselves and harness their agency, and instilled in others confidence and eagerness to leverage their technical expertise in pursuit of UCI’s core mission. Kathy is a leader on the rise. UCI is a better institution with her as part, both as a talented woman in technology and as a role model for those she interfaces with.”
— Todd McGill
Strategic Communications
Natascha Trellinger Buswell
Assistant Professor of Teaching
Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
“As one of the few female professors in her department, Natascha’s presence in the mechanical and aerospace engineering department is a blessing in itself. Her academic focus is in engineering education, and the essence of her work is in enhancing the equity and inclusivity of diverse students, including women. She also runs a social media account that teaches about making engineering choices that are fair and bringing attention to the harmful impacts that tech and engineering can perpetuate to diverse users. Her students report that she is a caring instructor as well as a teacher that encourages students to think about engineering in a different way, which only her experience and expertise could foster.”
How has Natascha personally impacted you in your role?
“Natascha encouraged me to pursue a career in tech and academia and also provided me with the actual support to do so. For me, she was the first person to encourage me to pursue my dreams of working in tech and even advised me on the process of building a career in tech. I’m just one of many Anteaters who had the pleasure of interacting with her, and have been positively impacted and empowered by her support.”
— Anonymous
Shermeen Vakharia
Clinical Professor
Vice Chair – Clinical Affairs
School of Medicine – Anesthesiology
“Dr. Shermeen Vakharia has multiple roles in ensuring patient safety, compliance, and quality improvement for one of the busiest university anesthesiology departments in California. She has been instrumental in leading and providing mentorship for countless attending and resident anesthesiologists as they build their academic and clinical portfolio as faculty.
For example, she has mentored another anesthesiologist (Dr. Becker) and her years-long project to improve the communication and care pathways for patients with ‘difficult airways’ who are at risk for rapid deterioration around UCI. In addition to the significant patient safety improvement appreciated (~1 patient/month was previously at risk for airway-related mortality in our ICUs/month, and this frequency has significantly decreased), her mentorship of Dr. Becker also resulted in a national presentation and feedback from colleagues in anesthesia and industry around the country.
In addition to her academic mentorship, she is involved with countless committees, representing our department and working to improve our patient care and efficiency alongside other role models, including other perioperative nursing managers, department heads, and CCO/CNO.”
Which of our four values does Shermeen best exemplify?
“Action speaks louder than words, and Dr. Vakharia’s actions are resounding. In the midst of a severe staffing crisis in our Anesthesiology department, Dr. Vakharia has gone far above and beyond to tend to and mentor our department as many of us have had to spend a significant amount of extra time in the OR to cover this shortage. To do this, she has voluntarily sacrificed many of her academic days to cover in the OR so that our team can have at least some time to meet its academic and QI objectives. The amount of responsibility is enormous, not even considering navigating these dynamic changes through a pandemic and our current flu season, as well as meeting the clinical volume with our forthcoming new hospital in Irvine.”
— Aalap Shah
Anesthesiology
Honorable Mentions
In addition to the 2023 Applause honorees, we’d like to acknowledge these remarkable women in technology who also embody WiT’s motto of Advance, Inspire, Empower, and Act.
Srilatha Adurthi
Application Developer
Office of Information Technology
Shufen Tsai
Instructional Designer
OVPTL – Learning Experience Design and Online Education
Casie Kelly-Quintos
Assistant Director
Invention Transfer Group