Founders
Vi Thuy Nguyen, MD, FAAP
Vi Thuy Nguyen, MD, FAAP is a Fellow of Environmental Health as part of the American Academy of Pediatrics and serves as Co-Chair of San Diego’s AAP Climate Change and Health Committee, Chair of AAP California State Government Affairs Expert Committee on Environmental Health and Climate Change. She is Co-Founder of San Diego Pediatricians for Clean Air, a loose coalition of concerned pediatricians who advocate for pediatric asthmatic patients. She also now serves as Co-Chair of the Public Health Advisory Council for Climate Actions Campaign in San Diego. She originally earned her MD at Harvard Medical School and trained in general pediatrics and pediatric endocrinology at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She completed her 5-year-term as Assistant Chief of Pediatrics at Kaiser Permanente San Diego. In her professional life, she managed over 90 outpatient general pediatricians with special oversight on the South County. She was responsible for Pediatric Quality measures with special emphasis on pediatric asthma health and vaccine measures. After a numerically successful but personally grueling time in middle management and experiencing burn-out, Vi has pivoted her extra-curricular physician time to being an advocate for physician wellness and joy and climate work. She is a proud trained Climate Reality Leader and Co-Lead of Kaiser San Diego’s Sustainability/Green Team. She actively blogs and Instagrams as an alternate eco-avatar plogger (jogger and beach cleaner) in the Pacific Beach area. She is currently laser focused on decarbonization and building electrification. She was able to successful orchestrate H3SD San Diego’s Heat and Human Health Summit.
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Sabrina Perrino, MD, FAAP
Dr. Sabrina Perrino is a local board-certified pediatrician, co-founder of the San Diego Pediatricians for Clean Air, and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National and Chapter 3 Fellow. She is also an AAP Fellow with the Section on Minority Health, Equity, and Inclusion (SOMHEI) and Council on Environmental Health (COEH). She is passionate about environmental justice and is dedicated to advocating for the children and families experiencing health inequities in San Diego. She currently serves on the AAP-CA3 Board of Directors as Chapter Secretary.
Student Director
Wayne Mai
Wayne Mai is a Human Biology major at UCSD aiming to be a pediatric physician in the future. Their efforts toward sustainability largely started from their Gold Award project, where they educated preschoolers about sustainability, healthy eating, and gardening, as well as set up a garden at the school. Currently, they lead the Anatomy of Ink organization within UCSD’s American Medical Student Association, which focuses on giving pre-med students a way to express themselves creatively in tandem with their busy schedules. They aim to promote a more sustainable future for the younger generation, and a greater understanding and empathy toward the climate advocacy effort through creativity.
Member Pediatricians
Anne Marie Birkbeck-Garcia, MD, FAAP
Dr. Anne Marie Birkbeck-Garcia is a Pediatric Hospitalist at Kaiser San Diego, and a partner physician. She cares for our most critically ill pediatric patients when they require hospitalization. Prior to transitioning to the hospitalist service, Dr. Birkbeck-Garcia was a pediatric outpatient doctor at Kaiser Otay Mesa caring for our South Bay children and also worked in the neonatal ICU. She is Chair of the Bioethics Committee. She is part of the AAP-CA3 Climate Change and Health Committee, and a Fellow on the Council of Environmental Health. She is a qualifying member of the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health. Dr. Anne-Marie was raised in the South Bay and maintains family and cultural connections to the EJ communities especially National City as a proud graduate of Morse High School.
Naomi Lawrence-Reid, MD
Dr. Naomi Lawrence-Reid is a Boston-area transplant grateful to be living the good life in sunny San Diego. She is a board-certified pediatrician working with several practices throughout Southern California. She received her medical degree from the University of Massachusetts Medical School and completed residency at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore/Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. Her professional experience includes pediatric emergency medicine, pediatric primary and urgent care, and aesthetics. She is CEO of NLR Med Aesthetics and Medical Director of Natural Wonders Healthcare Nutritional IV Infusion Treatment Program. She is committed to mitigating racial disparities in healthcare and advocating for the comprehensive support of physicians both in and outside of careers in medicine. She is excited to join the efforts of San Diego Pediatricians for Clean Air to protect our precious environment for the health and safety of all future generations.
Sally Kaufman, MD, FAAP
Sally Kaufman, MD is an Internal Medicine and Pediatrics physician working with multiple medical groups in San Diego. She completed her medical school training in her home state of Ohio at The Ohio State College of Medicine and her Internal Medicine/Pediatrics residency at UCSD. She serves as Co-Chair of San Diego’s American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Climate Change and Health Committee and is a Fellow of Environmental Health as part of the American Academy of Pediatrics. She is passionate about educating patients, colleagues and the community about the impacts of climate change on health. She serves on the Board of the San Diego Audubon Society.
Dan Spencer, MD, FAAP
Dr. Dan Spencer is on our Public Policy Committee for San Diego Pediatricians for Clean Air. He was appointed as the Physician Member to the San Diego Air Pollution Control District, Hearing Committee. One of our original members, Dr. Spencer has been a long-time advocate for children’s respiratory health and has been an institutional leader in pediatric asthma quality work since 2007. Dr. Spencer is currently serving as Assistant Chief of Pediatrics at Kaiser San Diego and the lead for Pediatric After Hours Clinic where he cares for the most acutely ill pediatric asthma patients in the east and south counties. Dr. Dan Spencer was raised in Los Angeles, and a proud graduate of UC Berkeley undergraduate and earned his MD from Emory University School of Medicine. He completed his pediatric residency at Emory. Dr. Spencer brings a long history of leadership to our organization, as he was Managing Director in a large private practice medical group and then Chair of Pediatrics at Del E. Webb Memorial Hospital before becoming a proud San Diego transplant in 2016.
Benjamin Shleifer, MD, FAAP
Benjamin Shleifer, MD is a pediatric physician. He completed his medical school training at Albany Medical College and his pediatrics residency at the University of Utah. Ben is a self proclaimed geology and earth science nerd and is passionate about lending his voice to making a difference in climate change and helping reduce the impact it will have on the planet and kids’ health. Dr. Shleifer serves as SDPCA’s wetlands liason in our collaboration with Rewild Mission Bay https://rewildmissionbay.org/, and is focusing his advocacy on the health benefits to children of wetland restoration. He is a general pediatrician at Scripps Healthcare.
Peony Liu, MD, FAAP
Dr. Peony Liu specializes in Pediatric Hospital Medicine, and at her work she is the Pediatric Inpatient Medicine Clerkship Director for the Family Practice Residents. Most of her career is focused on medical student and resident teaching. She also co-leads her hopsital’s youth anti-smoking and anti-vaping efforts. A proud graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles for her undergraduate studies, a graduate of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and also having remained at UCLA for her pediatric resdiency training – Dr. Liu and her entire family are proud Bruins. Here she is pictured with her two children, proving that working mothers can do advocacy work as well. SDPCA is honored to have Dr. Liu with the support of her family, lead our anti-vaping and anti-tobacco product efforts. She is also an active member of the American Academy of Pediatrics, San Diego chapter.
Bruce Devon Ball, Jr., MD
Dr. Devon Ball is a recent graduate of UCSD Rady’s Children’s Hospital. He is a graduate of the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). Fun fact about Dr. Ball is that during his undergraduate years at the University of the South, he played as a two-year starting forward for their Varsity Soccer team, NCAA Division III. His career goals include working toward improved children’s respiratory health and is currently applying to Allergy and Immunology fellowships. He has an interest in the effects of extreme heat and increase in atopic diseases.
Melissa Campbell, DO, MPH
Dr. Melissa Campbell is a Southern California native and a current pediatric resident at UC San Diego and Rady’s Children’s Hospital. Dr. Campbell completed her undergraduate studies with a BS in Cell Molecular Biology and Physiology at California State University, Long Beach. She traveled across the country to Pennsylvania, where she received her medical degree and master of public health degree at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine. Dr. Campbell focused some of her research during her MPH program on the health effects of vaping in the Pennsylvania adolescent population and proposed solutions about how this issue may be addressed.
Rachel Ireland, MD
Rachel Ireland is a pediatrician because she had to follow her passion in caring for children. She completed her education with a BA in English at the University of San Diego before a foray in the Midwest at St. Louis University for medical school. Returning to California, she completed her Pediatrics internship & residency at Stanford’s Packard Children’s Hospital. Finally looping back to San Diego, she completed an innovative one-year fellowship at UCSD in Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics. Rachel has practiced at Kaiser since 2007, splitting her practice between General and Developmental Pediatrics, and serving in various leadership roles including her current post as the regional leader for Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics in SCPMG.
Alejandro Diaz, MD
Dr. Alejandro Diaz is a native San Diegan having grown up in the Allied Gardens area of San Diego. He is a proud graduate of UCSD School of Medicine, and completed his pediatric training at UCLA-Harbour. He serves as the Physician Member for the Portside Air Quality Steering Committee. He is grateful to lend a pediatric voice to air pollution issues, and empowered to try to help the broader San Diego community by bringing a sense of community and collegialty as our shared community works together to improve the environmental health of our children. Dr. Diaz prior to joining Kaiser, worked at La Maestra Community Health Centers serving a diverse and bilingual population. He now practices general pediatrics in the central San Diego region, and is a long time member of the Pediatric Asthma Committee.
Priyanka Patel, MD
Dr. Priyanka Patel is a graduate from UC San Diego Rady’s residency program. She was Chief Resident for 2022-2023, and is currently in her first year at USC for neonatology fellowship. Dr. Patel is a proud graduate of UC San Diego undergraduate and UC San Diego School of Medicine. She earned a masters degree from Georgetown University in public policy, and spent a year exploring health care policy in various government and non-profit offices in our nation’s capital. She will primarily be working with Dr. Vi Thuy Nguyen as a voice for pediatric trainees on the AAP California State Government Affairs Committee on Environmental Health and Climate Change.
Sally Kandah, MD
Dr. Sally Kandah was born in Palestine and grew up there until her parents decided to move to Upland for a better future 17 years ago. She went to high school and undergrad locally and then ventured to St. George’s University in Grenada for medical school, which is where she met her husband. They completed their residencies in Philadelphia and are now living in San Diego as her husband completes his training in hematology/oncology.
Dr. Kandah is passionate about sustainability and climate change because to her, taking care of the earth that we are passing on to our children is an important part of being a pediatrician.
Premed Interns
Ashley Calderon
Ashley Calderon, an intern at San Diego Pediatricians for Clean Air, is an graduate of University of California Berkeley where she earned a degree in Public Health. She also serves in the United States Army Reserves and is the Vice President of the Women’s Weightlifting Club at Berkeley. Beyond her involvement in the community and in the service, she advocates for continued improvement of the child welfare system across America through her research and data analysis at Spark Learning for Organizations. Through SDPCA, she has been working on reduction of single-use plastics and the health benefits of building electrification. She is a proud resident of Escondido, California.
Laisha Felix
Laisha Felix is a junior at UC San Diego studying Psychology and a premedical student. She is passionate about raising awareness to mental health issues and addiction. Her goal is to educate others about the effects climate has on the human body, and encourage change. In the future, Laisha hopes to become a surgeon.
Riley Gilbertson
Riley Gilbertson is currently a 1st year student at Vanderbilt School of Medicine. He was one of our premed interns at the San Diego Pediatricians for Clean Air. He graduated from UCLA in June of 2021 with an economics major. As an undergraduate, he undertook multiple leadership roles and pursued volunteering experiences to serve the LA community. He is especially interested in utilizing the intersection between economics and healthcare to diminish health disparities. Riley grew up in San Diego and attended Patrick Henry High School where he served as ASB class president and ASB school president for 3 years. Riley’s current projects includes local advocacy efforts to reduce leaded air pollution from avGas (aviation fuel) from the environmental justice areas surrounding the Montgomery Gibbs Executive Airport. He remains active in raising awareness regarding dangers of leaded aviation fuel.
Charlene Hoang
Charlene Hoang, a senior at the University of California, Berkeley, is an intern for San Diego Pediatricians for Clean Air. As an undergraduate, she is pursuing a degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology, as well as Gender and Women’s Studies. Currently, she is the Vice President of External Affairs for the American Medical Student Association on her campus. Her involvement in this club has driven her motivation for advocating for underserved communities in the medical field, and this passion is translated into her work with the SDPCA. Through SDPCA and alongside a coalition of pediatricians in California and Oregon, she has had the opportunity to coordinate for Children’s Environmental Health Day — an event that works to bring a healthier environment to children in local communities through advocacy in legislation. It is her hope that as she continues to work with this team, she will learn more about the effects of climate change and later tie that into her work with children.
Lauren Trinh
Lauren Trinh is a second year student at UC San Diego pursuing a degree in Human Biology. She aspires to be a pediatric physician. She currently volunteers in the Pediatrics/PICU Department at Kaiser Permanente, where she assists doctors and nurses, provides the pediatric patients company, and takes care of newborns. In her time volunteering at Kaiser Permanente, Lauren has worked with over 1000 patients in different departments. She most enjoys patient interactions, always lending them a listening ear and entertaining them through conversations, games, or singing and playing instruments for them. She aims to learn more about the effects of environmental factors in promotion of protecting the health and welfare of children and families. Lauren’s current projects include integrating premedical student leadership in H3SD San Diego’s Heat and Human Health Summit, and facilitating the collaboration between H3SD and Scripps Oceanographic Institute and building the web interface.
Kian Chou
Kian Chou is a first year undergraduate at UC Berkeley studying Molecular Environmental Biology. He was the president of the environmental club at Walnut High School, and will continue his passion of environmental justice. He previously spearheaded the implementation of recycling bins across WHS. He is planning on entering medical school in the future after a gap year.
Chelsea Lim
Chelsea Lim is a junior at Manhasset High School and hopes to become a premedical student in the future. Through projects such as H3SD San Diego’s Heat and Health Summit, she intends to help communities in San Diego, New York, and other areas to collaborate and make change. Combined with her passion for environmental engineering, she aims to inspire high school students and other youth to become more involved in their community and make a positive difference in the environment.
Alyson Paik
Alyson Paik is a third-year undergraduate pre-medical student at UC San Diego. Her long-term goal is to become a pediatrician or a physician in family medicine and is highly looking forward to providing compassionate and comprehensive care to children, families, and individuals. Alyson is immensely grateful to be a part of the H3SD Summit Leadership Team and is excited to further explore her interest and passion in the medical field.
Aaron Bautista
Aaron Bautista is currently a third-year osteopathic medical student enrolled at Western University of Health Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific, situated in Pomona, California. In late 2023, he enthusiastically joined SDPCA as an intern, driven by his desire to apply his extensive advocacy and leadership skills in a meaningful capacity.
Amid the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, Aaron has taken on the role of class president at his medical school. In this capacity, he oversees a cohort of 200+ students, actively leading and representing the university at national osteopathic conferences. His commitment to advancing the osteopathic profession is evident in his participation in D.O. Day on the Hill, a significant advocacy event that took place in Washington D.C. during the spring of 2023. There, Aaron passionately lobbied on Capitol Hill, further cementing his dedication to promoting the interests of the osteopathic community.
With a profound interest in addressing health disparities faced by children and their families, Aaron has chosen to channel his efforts through SDPCA. His goal is to draw attention to these inequalities and contribute to the development of innovative solutions. As a San Diego native, Aaron is particularly excited to be a part of SDPCA, considering the organization’s alignment with his roots. As he contemplates his future path, Aaron is considering specializing in either family medicine or internal medicine-pediatrics, driven by a genuine passion for making a positive impact on the lives of others.
Emily Nguyen
Emily Nguyen is a second-year undergraduate student at UCLA pursuing a B.S. degree in Environmental Science and a minor in Environmental Health. She was an inaugural youth member of the Green Ribbon Environmental Committee under Irvine City Council, collaborating with UCI professors to assess city-wide energy goals and promote environmental literacy through community-wide programs like the Irvine Cool City Challenge. She loves to take direct action towards environmental policy from talking to representatives to educating peers on carbon pricing, especially as a past presenter and co-lead of the Youth Action Team under the Citizens’ Climate OC Central Chapter. In between classes, she spends her time in a research lab conducting weekly protein activity assays to assess the level of inhibition woodsmoke particles have on cardiopulmonary functions. She aspires to be a physician that promotes leadership in environmental advocacy. As an executive member of a health justice organization, the California Health Professional Student Alliance at UCLA (CaHPSA), she organizes events concerning grassroots climate advocacy basics to introduce pre-medical students to environmental health topics.
Administrator
Shogo Suzuki
Shogo Suzuki is the website administrator for the San Diego Pediatricians for Clean Air and a volunteer intern of San Diego’s regional chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics Climate Change and Health Committee. During his undergraduate studies in mechanical engineering, he put great focus on sustainability while working for the university’s electric racing team. He is currently pursuing a career where he can continue demonstrating his strong commitment to sustainability and passion in climate justice.