Lab Members
Akanksha Jain, BS
Akanksha Jain joined the lab in December 2021 as a Health Science Specialist at the Palo Alto Veterans Affairs Health Care System. She earned a Bachelors of Science in Biochemistry and Cell Biology. Currently, Akanksha is taking a gap year before applying to medical school. In her spare time, she volunteers as a Heart Health Coach at the South Asian Heart Center, where she aids participants in making lifestyle changes to cope with their heart health conditions. Additionally, she is a Nurse Unit Assist volunteer at Washington Hospital in Fremont, CA, where she helps nurses by answering patient call lights, being a patient companion, and bringing supplies to nurses and patients. Akanksha hopes to attend medical school in the future and be able to provide culturally-attuned healthcare to my patients. In her free time, she loves to write and publish articles about the impact of TV and entertainment on society. She is also an avid Bollywood fan and love to watch movies and TV with my framily. Feel free to contact Akanksha via email at akanksha.jain@va.gov .
Naina Singh, MD
Dr. Naina Singh is a Health Services Research Fellow with the VA Ci2i. She earned a B.S. in Biochemistry at the University of California Los Angeles and an M.D. at the University of California Davis School of Medicine. As a hospice and palliative medicine (HPM) physician, she aims to improve HPM resources and utilization for all patients. She is interested in palliative care utilization in the Veteran population and understanding barriers/facilitators to improving Veteran quality of life. She has a keen interest in ensuring caregiver voices are represented in HPM research. Naina enjoys singing and playing the piano. She also loves reading for fun -- she might devour a whole novel in 2 days if she loves it enough! She is a self-proclaimed home chef, and is sure her family will attest to that (because they have to!).
Veena Manja, MD, MSc, PhD
Dr. Veena Manja is a postdoctoral fellow in the Health Services Research and Development program. She earned her medical degree from Mysore University and a MSc and PhD in Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact at McMaster University. Her research interests include the implementation of evidence based interventions. Dr. Manja will be working with Dr. Ranak Trivedi to explore the impact of caregivers on decision making. For fun, she enjoys knitting.
Victoria Ngo, PhD
Victoria Ngo, PhD, is a first year VA Palo Alto HSR&D Postdoctoral Fellow in the Elizabeth Dole Center of Excellence for Veteran and Caregiver Research. Dr. Ngo holds a bachelor’s degree in Molecular and Cell Biology from UC Berkeley and a PhD in Nursing Science and Health-Care Leadership from the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at the University of California Davis. Her dissertation explored the characteristics and usefulness of health data for cancer care decisions. She is a health informaticist, and her research focuses on health equity and the optimization of information technology to improve the delivery and coordination of care in the community. During this fellowship, Dr. Ngo will utilize participatory research methods to design and evaluate mobile and social technology-enabled interventions to improve delivery of veteran caregiving in the home.