California Teachers Study

Christine (Chris) Duffy has been working with the California Teachers Study as a Senior Program Manager since 1999! As part of her work with the CTS, she has managed many sub-studies that have had in-person field work, collecting multiple types of biospecimens (from saliva to stool samples), as well as been involved in the validation of nutritional data and developing better ways to improve communication,  involvement and the overall experience of study participants.  

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Chris has spent most of her career working to help many different investigators on the CTS and other researchers on other studies in addressing lifestyle, genetic and environmental risk factors for cancers of the breast, endometrium, thyroid, liver, lung, NHL and prostate. Chris received her Master’s in Public Health (MPH) in Nutrition at the University of California, Berkeley and her BS in Biology and Community Health Sciences from the University of Nevada. She is also an experienced licensed phlebotomist. 

 

In her free time, Chris stays very busy with her husband and 5 teen/young adult children (16-25 yrs).  She is an avid San Francisco Giants and 49ers fan.  She is a committed runner, (even though her ankle and hip say otherwise these days), but also enjoys gourmet cooking, engaging in political banter with her very ‘blended’ family, and is always looking for creative ways to get everyone off their ‘screens’ and outdoors/staying active. 

Kristen Savage joined the California Teachers Study team in December 2015. Kristen earned a Master's Degree in Public Health (MPH) from the University of Washington with a focus on community-oriented public health and has a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in International Development Studies from UCLA. Her passion for community outreach has led her to manage public health projects in Los Angeles, India, and Ethiopia. As a Study Administrator, she leads participant engagement efforts and focuses on creating new, sustainable ways for CTS researchers and CTS participants to communicate with one another.

 

When she's not working, Kristen can be found globetrotting or trying new dairy-free cookie recipes.

Emma Spielfogel first became involved with the California Teachers Study as an intern directly after completing her Bachelor of Arts with double majors in Biology and French Studies at Occidental College. She spent a year teaching English at a high school in France and then joined the CTS full-time in October 2018. As a Data Analyst, Emma manages the CTS data environment and provides technical and analytic support to everyone who conducts research on CTS data. Emma also leads the CTS’s data visualization work, developing creative materials to help users navigate CTS data.

In her free time, Emma enjoys traveling, exploring LA via metro and meeting new dogs.