Creating Digital Health Innovations

“I love being able to contribute to projects from conception through evaluation, building on and adding to science.”

Mia leads dfusion projects that seek to advance the field of sexual health and wellness. With a Master of Education in Human Sexuality from Widener University, Mia works to make sexuality education accessible, effective, and inclusive. Her skills and passion support other educators through training and curriculum development and delivery. Before coming to dfusion, Mia worked as an HIV tester, an abortion doula, and a classroom sex educator. Her work now centers on instructional design, education app content development, and program evaluation.

“I find purpose in dfusion’s equity-based, user-focused approach to health solutions.”

Mackenzie offers key support to dfusion’s projects throughout their development stages, collecting, analyzing, and presenting qualitative and quantitative data as well as evaluating product accessibility. She brings a background in health equity, environmental justice, and multimedia communication to her work. Mackenzie holds a BA in Sociology with a focus on Science and Risk Communication from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

“I’m proud to work for a woman-owned business that puts social good goals front and center.”

Diana earned her doctorate in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Cruz. At UCSC and Sonoma State University, she taught courses in health and medicine, qualitative research, gender, sexual health, aging, and family. In her decade plus work with a previous social/behavioral science firm, she served as Principal Investigator for several federal projects in the areas of health and prevention. At dfusion, Diana contributes to grant and article writing, curricular design, content development, and social media promotion efforts. 

“As I identify as queer and autistic, I’m fortunate to work supporting the health of communities near and dear to me, with a firm that centers community voices and their holistic lived experiences.”

Lane earned her MPH in maternal, child, and adolescent health from Tulane University and brings her passion about health equity to dfusion. She has experience developing and delivering curricula on HIV prevention and sexual health/wellness with diverse populations, including trans women, the autistic community, and persons who inject drugs. Prior to their time at dfusion, Lane chaired a committee running LGBTQ+ wellness and sexual health events on their college campus.

“I find it truly meaningful and satisfying to collaborate with a team that is so focused and passionate about finding innovative ways to positively impact this world.”

Wendi brings to dfusion nearly two decades of controller experience working with small health and science firms. Her expertise includes financial operations, grants administration, proposal preparation, indirect cost rate proposal preparation, payroll, and 1099 and sales and tax reporting. Her impeccable work is evidenced by having undergone 18 annual audits with no findings. Wendi earned a BA degree in mathematics and a social science degree from San Francisco State University.

“I am grateful to channel my passion for behavioral health and creativity into educational skill development for Skillflix, as well as video set, prop, and costume design.”

Rachel earned her BA in Psychology at Cal State Fullerton. She has a decade of experience educating youth and four years teaching and developing educational materials for adults. Rachel has also provided direct assistance to autistic youth and adults and their families and served as a Youth Development Specialist in Morocco. At dfusion, Rachel contributes to content development, video production, evaluation activities, and dissemination of findings through publications and professional conferences.

“At dfusion, science doesn’t just live in academia or (metaphorically) dusty journals. I love that every day I get to actively apply research and science and fuse it with technology to build products that are impacting people’s health.”

Tamara is an experienced social scientist, programmer, and web developer specializing in the design and programming of health and behavioral science-related technology. In addition to directing or programming over 35 federally funded small business innovation research projects, she has served as Principal Investigator or Co-PI for more than 30 NIH funded studies using technology to improve health outcomes through translational research. These efforts have included developing mobile apps, responsive web sites, online trainings, clinical databases, large scale data sets, and data management systems. Tamara earned her Masters’ degree in Sociology from Stanford University.

“I love my work at dfusion because we truly value and incorporate the voices and needs of our stakeholders, creating materials that can transform lives and make a difference.”

BA brings to dfusion over 30 years of experience in public health education development and research. She has led content creation and transformation into accessible and engaging digital delivery. BA’s professional interests and efforts include evaluation of innovative educational resources focusing on HIV/AIDS education and prevention, sexual and reproductive health, STEM and sports, LGBTQIAA+ inclusivity, neurodivergent youth and families, nutrition, physical activity, substance abuse treatment and prevention, and tobacco use control. BA earned her MPH from San Jose State University.

“I’m grateful to be part of this small and mighty organization whose resources help others make positive and lasting changes to their health and well-being.”

As a founding member of dfusion, Erica is committed to its continued growth and success, overseeing all the organizational demands that keep the business functioning, healthy, and thriving. She proactively participates in organizational development and management from strategy and operations to continuous improvement and human resources. In addition to her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from San Francisco State University, Erica has completed graduate work in Library and Information Science at San Jose State University.

“I love using my expertise to create fun and impactful games and programs for social good.”

Tyler oversees dfusion’s technology development and operations. His decade of experience in web and mobile applications development includes seven years of professional experience with mobile apps, virtual & augmented reality, eLearning, and project management. He also brings to dfusion an eLearning background and advanced UI/UX design skills. Tyler previously worked as Chief Technical Officer at Galatea Digital where he managed and developed engaging educational games. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Collins College with a focus on technology and game development.

“I feel lucky to work with people driven to help the underserved and raise awareness of health and social issues. Using my skills to create tools and services that help people is really all I could ever ask.”

At dfusion, Kalin enjoys “combining art and code to help bring clients’ dreams to life from concept to completion.” His near decade of experience with educational game design and development includes serving as Art Director at educational game studio PopAR, where he designed augmented virtual reality-based apps, adding interactions, informational resources, and bonus features. His design portfolio includes PopAr Safari, Wildlife Wow by National Geographic, illustrations and UI for the children’s Squishland app, and websites and mobile apps for Magic 4-D and BattleTats. Kalin has a Bachelor of Science Degree from Collins College with a focus on Technology Design.

“I am proud to be a part of this amazing company that uses science and data to create meaningful products to better people’s health!”

Izzy is a behavioral psychologist who has worked to improve people’s health behaviors across multiple contexts. She has experience working with children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), youth in The Bahamas, LGBTQIA+ folks in Thailand, and infants in Ethiopia. In addition to health behavior change, Izzy has studied implementation science to help bridge the gap between evidence-based programs in research and real-world settings. Izzy earned her PhD in Psychology as well as graduate certificates in Public Health and Sustainable Development Practice from the University of Florida.