The NC TraCS Equity in Research CPAB brings together a diverse group of members from different communities across North Carolina.
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Catalina Berenblum TobiCatalina Berenblum Tobi is a medical student at UNC who has had Crohn's disease for the past 14 years. She is originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, but grew up in Miami, FL and has lived in Chapel Hill since 2015. Catalina is interested in health equity and in expanding access to clinical trials to people of every background, including those from Latinx communities. |
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Layla BonillaLayla Bonilla is a trans nonbinary person who was born and raised in North Carolina. They are a community organizer with a focus on food equity and education. They are Chief Operations Officer of Garner Grows Community Garden, and they spend their time teaching programs and working to create more accessibility to fresh foods. Layla lives with chronic fatigue and inflammation and works closely with individuals with a variety of chronic illnesses. They look forward to bringing this perspective with them to their work with NC TraCS. |
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Tonya HardenTonya Harden is a native of Charlotte, NC and a mother of three grown sons and one beautiful four-year-old granddaughter. She worked for the City of Charlotte for 11 years. Her tenure with the City was also a time of homelessness for her family. She is now an advocate for women and children, single fathers, LGBTQ teens and people with disabilities, because she too is functionally disabled, and she runs a local non-profit called Ma Dukes. Tonya believes that all people are entitled to have a warm and functional place to lay their head and to have good health and healthcare. She feels that black and brown people are underrepresented and misrepresented in studies and trials, which is her reason for being involved in this CAB. |
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Cheslie JohnsonCheslie Johnson is an experienced patient advocate/advisor who brings her patient experiences to numerous institutions and organizations. Her personal insight has allowed her the privilege to collaborate within the medical research community with the goal of giving researchers the human perspective and helping them understand the benefits of patient centered engagement within research. |
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Rev. William (Bill) KearneyRev. Kearney is a partner in several community-engaged research projects and consults with universities, organizations, and partnerships across the United States. He is the Director/Board Chair of the Warren County Environmental Action Team, Inc. and developer of the Warren County African American History Collective. Rev. Kearney serves as associate minister and faith & health ministry coordinator at Coley Springs Missionary Baptist Church and vice president of the United Shiloh Missionary Baptist Association Church Union. He is also a research associate and community outreach manager at the UNC Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention and managing partner of The PRIME Collective Consultants, LLC. |
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Parvathy KrishnanParvathy Krishnan is Executive Director and Founder at the Krishnan Family Foundation, with professional experience in clinical care as a nutrition support dietitian. She began her efforts in advocacy and awareness after both her children were diagnosed with multiple ultra and nano rare genetic conditions, and is passionate about empowering others through advocacy and patient-family engagement. Parvathy serves on numerous advisory councils and is a subject matter expert on patient and family centered care, surgical oncology family experiences, palliative/complex care, and nano rare clinical trial patient experiences. She is the recipient of the 2023 Caregiver Champions Award from the Health Union’s Social Health Awards. |
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Yvonne LaRoche-PardoYvonne LaRoche-Pardo is a Health Equity Research Coordinator at Novant Health. She enjoys this role due to her intense interest in health education and health issues (especially regarding those who are treated unfairly). She was one of 11 students from North Carolina awarded the 2013-2014 University of North Carolina–Greensboro ACE (Academic Cultural Enrichment) Scholarship. As an ACE scholar, she completed a Master of Library and Information Studies (MLIS) degree program. Throughout the program, she focused on serving diverse populations—including immigrants and refugee families. She is honored to serve in her professional and personal roles and truly loves helping and advocating for others. |
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Tony V. LocklearTony V. Locklear is a member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina and comes from Tuscarora descent. He serves as the Quality Improvement Coordinator for the Hoke County Health Department, an independent Community Researcher/Consultant and Capacity Building Specialist, and a first-year doctoral student at UNC-Greensboro in the Department of Public Health Education. Tony has a breadth of experience working on race and social justice issues and has been involved in grassroots community organizing and community health education for over 20 years. He is excited to be part of the CAB and looks forward to applying his community knowledge to support NC TraCS projects while representing the needs and concerns of the community. |
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Norma MartiNorma Marti is dedicated to addressing health equity with a focus on access to health care for adults and children. She previously served in the Children & Youth Branch of the Women's and Children's Health Section within the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and traveled the state conducting workshops providing education and promoting North Carolina's two health insurance programs for children: Health Check and NC Health Choice. Prior to joining DHHS, Norma was a senior staff member of El Pueblo, Inc., a Raleigh-based non-profit statewide advocacy and public policy organization dedicated to strengthening the Latino Community. She currently serves as Community Co-Lead of the Latinx/Hispanic Community Response Team for the North Carolina Community Engagement Alliance Against COVID-19 Disparities (NC CEAL) and is a member of the Wellbeing subcommittee for the Governor’s Hispanic/Latinx Affairs Advisory Council (2022-24). |
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Prudencio Martinez-MengelPrudencio Martinez-Mengel was born and raised in Puerto Rico, son to a Professor of Physics and an Academic Administrator. He holds a B. S. in Biology from the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez Campus and completed his graduate studies at ECU with a M.A. in International Studies and Certificate in Economic Development. He is a trained Spanish Interpreter and has been involved with the Hispanic/Latinx community in North Carolina for the past thirteen years. He currently works as the Workforce Development Coordinator in Continuing Education and Latino Programs at Lenoir Community College in Kinston, NC. He believes research is a vital tool to understand social and environmental complexities and should be executed fairly with responsible, ethical, and inclusive principles leading to results that create equitable policies that benefit everyone. |
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Dianne ShawDianne Shaw is a patient with a rare, chronic autoimmune disease (vasculitis) and has been an advocate for rare diseases at the national level as a Vasculitis Foundation Board member and past president, and most recently as co-PI of the Vasculitis Patient Powered Research Network. Before retiring in 2013, she was Director of Communications for the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center for almost 30 years, where she founded the Patient and Family Resource Center and one of the Center's first patient advisory boards. Through her work and personal experiences, she knows that health equity in access, in research, and in delivery is lifesaving and life changing. She looks forward to being part of the effort to achieve these goals by serving on the NC TraCS CPAB. |
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Christopher TunstallChristopher Tunstall lives in Western North Carolina and currently serves on UNC’s Advancing Clinical Therapeutics Globally (ACTG) Network for HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases (formerly the AIDS Clinical Trials Group) as Chair of the Community Advisory Board (CAB). He also serves as the Co-Chair for the Global Community Advisory Board (GCAB) for the ACTG Network. |
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Mysha WynnMysha Wynn is the founder and executive director of Project Momentum, Inc., a community-based organization located in Rocky Mount, NC. Mysha is a current Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Interdisciplinary Fellow and has served as consultant/Co-PI on multiple community-engaged projects. Mysha uses her 14 years of expertise in community engagement, community based participatory research, and program coordination to leverage assets for communities through research. Mysha is a principal partner with the PRIME Collective, LLC, a group of community experts who provide consulting expertise to investigators on how to incorporate community engagement principals into all phases of research while providing avenues for addressing barriers that stifle community participation in academic research. |
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Austin Caldwell (alumnus)Austin Caldwell is 24 years old, originally from Concord, NC and now residing in Durham. He is a 2020 graduate of North Carolina Central University with a Bachelors of Business Administration and concentration in Marketing. He works as a Network Development Representative for Phreesia. Austin's passion is to advocate for those living with chronic illnesses, particularly in the bleeding disorders community and gastrointestinal disorders. Currently, Austin is a member of the National Youth Leadership Institute through the National Hemophilia Foundation and a proud member of Hemophilia of North Carolina. |
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Thomas E. Clodfelter (alumnus)Thomas E. Clodfelter is an HIV/AIDS activist and advocate. He has dedicated his life to being the face and voice for HIV/AIDS in the Greensboro area. Thomas is a professional motivational speaker. He shares his story in the community, in addition to prevention and outreach. Thomas spends numerous hours at the local Greensboro Transit Authority, passing out condoms and literature. He has been on Fox 8, News 2, and Carolina 14. He has also been featured in commercials, and at Natty Greens, a local restaurant in Greensboro. Thomas has appeared in two issues of Poz Magazine, a magazine for men and women who are infected with HIV or AIDS. He serves as a voice in the political arena of HIV/AIDS, where he addresses issues on Medicaid, Medicare, and ADP (AIDS Assistance Drug Program). Thomas is a peer educator, counselor, and mentor to all. |
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Marti Wolf (alumnus)Marti Wolf began her career in nursing, working in a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) serving low-income, underserved populations in rural North Carolina. She went on to serve as the North Carolina Community Health Center Association's Clinical Programs Director for nearly 20 years. In this role, she oversaw population health, community health, quality improvement/assurance, and clinical projects in all FQHCs and associated clinical departments across the state. She has helped FQHCs develop agendas and policies related to research and has partnered with researchers at UNC and ECU. Marti is interested in broadening peoples' perspectives of "research" and is excited by research focusing on implementation and dissemination. |
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