The Core Team
-
Katherine Kim
FOUNDER & CEO
-
Tyler Kim-Hayes
Co-founder & Head of Administration
-
Kimberly Harris
Co-Founder & VP of Opportunity
-
Vinay Pai
Co-founder & CTO
Our Affiliates
-
Misty Pacheco
Affiliate
-
Tomás A. Magaña
Affiliate
Katherine Kim, PhD, MPH, MBA, FAMIA
Founder and CEO
Dr. Katherine Kim is a health informatics researcher and expert in digital health, community engagement, and health equity. She has taught undergraduate and graduate students at University of California Davis School of Nursing and School of Medicine, UC Berkeley’s Biology Scholars Program, and San Francisco State University’s Health Equity Institute and departments of health education and biology. She is also the creator of several professional development training programs for healthcare staff in hospitals and clinics.
Dr. Kim is an Adjunct Professor at the UC Davis School of Medicine, Public Health Sciences Department. She is an elected fellow of the American Medical Informatics Association and has received numerous awards for community-engaged and participatory research related to technology and health. Dr. Kim has over 25 years of previous experience as a hospital and medical group manager, an entrepreneur--CEO of a venture-funded startup, leader of a technology incubator, and founder of a consulting firm—and in software product development with Oracle. She currently serves on the Board of Archstone Foundation which is dedicated to improving the health of older adults in California. She received a PhD at UC Davis, MPH/MBA at UC Berkeley, and BA at Harvard University.
Tyler Kim-Hayes
Co-Founder and Head of Administration
Tyler Kim-Hayes is the Head of Administration at Health Tequity. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Oberlin College where he focused on plant physiology, genetics, and computer science. He served as a Geneticist at NSF International conducting Next Generation Sequencing to certify purity of nutraceuticals, natural supplements, and other botanically based products. He was also in charge of onboarding and training of new laboratory staff members. He trained numerous lab techs on techniques including DNA extraction and purification, PCR amplification, and DNA sequencing. In addition, he managed the development and maintenance of a custom database/data management system.
Tyler has also done consulting work on a variety of projects from product development, database management, and web design to marketing, outreach, and training. As a consultant with the Center for Genomic Pathology, Tyler developed an online course to teach undergraduate and graduate students about pathology of cancer using mice as a model organism. Additionally, he managed data transfer and validation of crucial genomic pathology data for use in research studies at UC Davis and worked closely with commercial database companies, IT personnel, and professors and staff members to ensure quick and effective data migrations from old database systems to new modern database systems.
Throughout Tyler’s career he has trained Lab Technicians, Geneticist, Sales Representatives, Engineers, and more on topics ranging from Biology and Genetics to building rapport and achieving effective communication.
Vinay Pai, PhD, MBA
Co-founder and CTO
Kimberly Harris
Co-founder and VP of Opportunity
Kimberly has spent her career working in innovative and entrepreneurial settings most often at the intersection of aging and technology. She joined Health Tequity as a cofounder to support program design, partnership development, and strategic consulting to help communities advance health equity through the use of digital technologies. Previously, she worked as an independent consultant on projects that advanced digital equity, promoted trauma-informed care, and supported best-practices for funding aging and technology and as a VP at an innovative tech startup that supports mobility-impaired older adults.
Harris developed as a leader in the field of aging and technology during her work for almost a decade at the New York City-based nonprofit Older Adults Technology Services (now an affiliate of AARP), most visibly on the development of its flagship program, Senior Planet. Under her direction, Senior Planet grew to become an award-winning internationally-recognized and tested model for innovation in aging which she helped scale across diverse geographies in six states through international and institutional partners. Within OATS she also built an internal consulting practice in order to amplify the mission and experience of the nonprofit for government, nonprofit, and corporate partners.
Harris is a member of the board of directors of Community Tech Network (a nonprofit closing the digital divide), the advisory chair of the intergenerational collaborative LinkAGES, on the aging leadership committee for the UJA-Federation New York, and a member of aging-focused and digital equity working groups in multiple states. Harris holds a BA in sociology and anthropology from the University of Redlands, an MA in Interdisciplinary Humanities and Social Thought from New York University and is pursuing a PhD at Friedrich Schiller University.
Vinay Pai is the Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of Health Tequity, LLC. Prior to that, he used to be a Digital Health Specialist in FDA’s Digital Health Center of Excellence. Before joining FDA, Vinay served at the National Institutes of Health, first as a staff scientist in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (working on MRI and CT technology development and image processing, and researching cardiac function in humans and mice models) and then as a program officer and division director for biomedical imaging informatics and health informatics in the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering. Before NIH, Vinay was a member of the faculty at New York University School of Medicine, developing novel magnetic resonance imaging approaches for studying cardiac and lung function. Vinay has a PhD in mechanical engineering from Florida State University, and an MBA from Johns Hopkins University
Misty Pacheco
Affiliate
Misty Pacheco was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaiʻi. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from California State University, Sacramento, a Master’s degree in Health Administration from the University of Southern California, and a Doctor of Public Health degree from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Misty has 20 years in the health field, having worked in the private and public health sectors, nonprofits, and global public health.
Dr. Pacheco is a Professor at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo in the Kinesiology and Exercise Sciences Department and conducts health disparities research. She is also a founding member of Maika’i Health Corporation, a community health center in East Hawaiʻi, the Board Chair of the Hawaiʻi Public Health Institute, and the President of a non-profit organization called Hui Kahu Mālama that addresses the primary care physician shortage on Hawaiʻi Island.
Tomás A. Magaña, MD, MA, FAAP
Affiliate
Dr. Magaña is a board-certified pediatrician with expertise in the care of vulnerable children and adolescents, including those impacted by the juvenile justice and foster care systems, immigration, and community violence.
Dr. Magaña has more than twenty-five years of clinical experience working in community-based, safety net health organizations, including extensive experience in school-based health centers. Currently, he is Lead Physician in the Department of School-Based Health Centers at La Clínica de La Raza, Inc. where he serves the complex medical needs of diverse youth from Alameda County. Previously, Dr. Magaña was a member of the Division of Adolescent Medicine at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland, where he served as Medical Director of Alameda County’s Juvenile Justice Center and attending physician at the hospital-based Teen Clinic and Youth Uprising School-Based Health Center in East Oakland, CA.
Dr. Magaña has extensive experience in the design and implementation of health workforce pipeline programs for youth and young adults. As a Principal Investigator at the Public Health Institute in Oakland, CA, Dr. Magaña is Founding Director of the award-winning FACES for the Future Coalition, a national collaborative of programs designed to prepare disadvantaged youth for entry into careers in the health professions.
Dr. Magaña co-founded the FACES program in 2000 to improve health outcomes for at-risk adolescents, respond to imperatives for building a diverse and culturally responsive health care workforce, and address workforce shortages in healthcare professions. FACES programs provide an array of holistic services that support the development and training of youth who have been historically excluded from traditional health careers educational programs. Additionally, Dr. Magaña is Co-Lead of the UCSF Latinx Center of Excellence Aspiring Physicians Program at San Francisco State University. His work with youth has been featured on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, NBC Bay Area News, the San Francisco Chronicle, and in People Magazine.
Dr. Magaña is an Assistant Professor/Medical Director in the Masters Physician Assistant Department at Samuel Merritt University and an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco. He is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, a Commissioner of First 5 Alameda County, and has served on several regional and national advisory boards focusing on pediatric health issues, healthcare workforce development, and medical education. He also has served on the Boards of several non-profit organizations.
Dr. Magaña is a first-generation college graduate and has dedicated much of his career to supporting underserved communities. He has a passion for programs that foster youth leadership, wellness, mentorship, and professional development.
Partners
-
CITRIS and the Banatao Institute
The Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society and the Banatao Institute (CITRIS) create information technology solutions for society’s most pressing challenges.
The Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society and the Banatao Institute (CITRIS) leverage the research strengths of the University of California campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Merced and Santa Cruz, and operate within the greater ecosystem of the University and the innovative and entrepreneurial spirit of Silicon Valley. We strengthen bridges between world-class laboratory research, state and national policymakers, and companies and startups creating new applications and reshaping entire industries. CITRIS and the Banatao Institute facilitate interdisciplinary work among hundreds of University of California faculty members, students, corporate partners, and international institutions. Together with these public and private partners, we are shaping the future of technology in ways that cross traditional boundaries.
-
Public Health Institue
For 60 years, PHI has accelerated the impact of public health.
PHI and its programs improve health, equity and wellness by discovering new research, strengthening key partnerships and programs, and advancing sound public health policies. Our hundreds of programs have impacted millions of people, creating an architecture that will continue to impact communities for generations to come.
PHI’s curated portfolio focuses on the ideas, programs and individuals positioned to transform health. We build the capacity of diverse public health and healthcare leaders, in the U.S. and globally. Tackle emerging diseases. Use tech to speed healthcare delivery. Amplify local leaders. No idea is too small—or too big—to succeed.
PHI strengthens the work of public health and builds community power through three key roles: as a fiscal sponsor, as a thought leader and as a partner.