Kevin Kwan PhD

Experience

• 

  University of California, Merced

  Jun 2012 - Jan 2015

  Resident Assistant

  Over the course of 3 years I was the primary point of contact to approximately 180 students living on the university campusResponsibilities- Provided overnight emergency response on weekends and weekday. - Created and planned events to engage on campus students, which helped me gain experience in budgeting and collaboration with other on campus organizations.- Member of Academic committee which focused on raising the grades of incoming first year college students through various programs and workshops.- Mentored students with various aspects of university life Show less

• 

  USDA Forest Service

  May 2015 - Aug 2015

  Graduate Student Intern

  I spent time between finishing my undergraduate degree and starting my graduate program helping the Forest Service gather air quality data. I had a great time gathering primary data and learning how the smoke and airborne particulates from fires affect huge areas; often hundreds if not thousands of miles away.Responsibilities- Set up environmental beta attenuation monitors (EBAM) at remote locations throughout California in order to monitor air quality- Serviced EBAM's which were reporting inaccurate readings- Analyzed EBAM reports to build day to day air quality reports- Prepared manuscripts regarding air quality for publication Show less

• 

  University of California, Merced

  Aug 2015 - Sept 2019

  I create research questions and find ways to answer them. Ultimately, these findings are presented and published in peer reviewed journals.Statistical techniques learned through my research career:- Logistic, Poisson, Negative Binomial, Linear and Multivariate regression- Survival Analysis- Interviewing and quantitative analysis- Discrete Choice AnalysisDatasets worked with- Patient protected emergency department and inpatient hospital data (Office of Statewide Health and Planning)- Death data from the California department of Vital Statistics- Syndromic Surveillance data from Californian hospitals- Secondary data data from the California Health Interview Survey- Primary data from the Madera County Community Health Assessment- Survey data from the National Health and Nutrition Survey- Data from the United States Census Bureau and American Community Survey Show less I conducted exploratory research in various topics for my masters thesis and various projects assigned to me.Projects- Examined self reported increases in mental health care among adolescents after the 2014 expansion to the Affordable care act using data from the California Health Interview Survey- Examined trends in adolescent assault and repeat assault injury among Californian adolescents using data from the Office of Statewide Health and Planning Department.- Examined rates of malnutrition among older adults reported to Californian ED departments for the purpose of identifying areas where under-reporting of the malnutrition may be happening. Show less

  • PHD Candidate

    Jan 2018 - Sept 2019

  • Teaching Assistant

    Aug 2015 - Aug 2019

  • Graduate Student

    Aug 2015 - Jan 2018
• 

  Madera County Department of Public Health

  Sept 2015 - Jun 2016

  Graduate Student Intern

  Helped analyze data collected by the Madera County Department of Public Health for their public health accreditation application and bi-annual county needs assessment.- Cleaned and prepared survey data gathered from in person events and from Qualtrics online survey system- Using STATA statistical software, analyzed data and created materials for publication of the needs assessment- Helped prepare and present findings to county supervisors, the general public, and other stakeholders Show less

• 

  California Department of Public Health

  Feb 2020 - Jun 2022

  Research Scientist

  My work is concerned with identifying how effective current state programs are at addressing various health concerns, justifying current and future levels of funding for these projects, and helping stakeholders, including state and federal politicians, state health departments, and community groups understand health outcomes and indicators in California.My main responsibilities include- Developing ways to help and track the health outcomes of Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs.- Create online Tableau dashboards and interfaces for the CDPH website to better enable stakeholders and partners to access department findings.- Analyze and write reports for various state committees to justify Title V funding allotments. Various reports and data products are written for public dissemination (see publications section below).- Provide custom analysis and reports for state and federal politicians/organizations and stakeholders.Datasets worked with- Patient Discharge Data- Birth and Death Records- Various survey data - California Health Interview Survey, KidsData, National Survey of Children's Health Show less

• 

  County of Santa Clara Public Health Department

  Jun 2022 - now

  Epidemiologist II

  - Currently leading the department's efforts to design and implement Santa Clara County's new Opioid/Drug Surveillance system which relies on real time data from Emergency Medical Services, Wastewater Sampling, Poison Control, Syndromic Surveillance of Hospitals and ER's (ESSENCE). This is bolstered by annually updated data sources from the department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) and the Department of Justice's Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System (CURES) database.- Work with vendors to provide wastewater testing services for the opioid/drug surveillance system.- Perform custom analysis for other Santa Clara County Public Health branches other local agencies. Show less