About Open Oximetry

Michael Lipnick is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anesthesia at UCSF and based clinically at San Francisco General Hospital. He is an investigator in the UCSF Hypoxia Lab and co-Director of the UCSF Center for Health Equity in Surgery and Anesthesia. His research interests include health disparities, ARDS and hypoxia tolerance. His recent funding has supported investigations of performance of inexpensive pulse oximeters as well development of novel in vitro oximeter performance validation devices.

Fekir Negussie oversees the implementation of multiple programs at the UCSF Center for Health Equity in Surgery and Anesthesia, including the Open Oximetry Project. Fekir is a Global Health professional with experience supporting programs in the U.S and overseas. Her background includes quantitative and qualitative research, project management and capacity building.

Phil Bickler is Professor of Anesthesia at UCSF and Director of the UCSF Hypoxia Lab. Dr. Bickler joined Dr. Severinghaus as a research fellow in 1986 and has directed the laboratory since Dr. Severinghaus’ retirement in the early 1990’s. In addition to the Hypoxia Lab, Dr. Bickler directs a basic science laboratory that is involved in studying how neurons adapt to oxygen deprivation. He also oversees high altitude protocols, clinical projects investigating regional and cerebral oximetry during neurosurgery, and a pilot study examining the effects of acute hypoxia and pre-conditioning on cognition. He has published over 80 peer reviewed studies.

John Feiner if Professor of Anesthesiology at UCSF and a co-investigator in the UCSF Hypoxia Lab. Dr. Feiner joined Dr. Severinghaus in the Hypoxia Lab in 1992 and has been participating in the study of pulse oximeters since that time. He is responsible for data acquisition, programming, and data analysis. He provides expertise in mathematical modeling, data acquisition programming, human studies, and respiratory physiology.

I am a pediatric anesthesiologist whose interests include Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Global Health, as well as Education. As a UCSF Teachers Scholar in 2020, I started a diversity curriculum for anesthesia and surgery residents, and I have held a teaching position as a UCSF Bridges coach from 2017 to 2021 for the School of Medicine thus providing a foundation in the Differences Matter Initiative. I joined the UC Berkeley / UCSF Joint Medical Program in 2021 as the Head of Clinical Skills Curriculum.

After graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, I completed my anesthesia residency program at New York University Langone Medical Center. I later completed my pediatric anesthesia fellowship at Stanford Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital where I focused on Global Health Education in Vietnam. Not only do I currently serve as the site co-director in Vietnam for the Health Volunteer Overseas / Society of Education in Anesthesia (SEA-HVO) Travel Fellowship, but I also serve as Designee Chair of the SEA Global Health Outreach Committee. I am currently the Chair for the California Society of Anesthesiologists Committee of Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, and I am the Vice Chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion within the Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care.

Bunmi Okunlola is a Clinical Instructor of Anesthesia at NYU and member of the UCSF Hypoxia Lab research team. After completing her medical training and anesthesia residency at Mount Sinai in New York, Bunmi joined the CHESA team in 2020 as a Global Health Equity Fellow. During her Fellowship year she was based at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, and her projects included development of a Health Equity Curriculum for residents in multiple perioperative departments. Bunmi also led a research project focusing on equity in pulse oximetry.

Jenna Lester is a dermatologist and faculty member at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Lester founded the UCSF Skin of Color Clinic, where she is the director. The clinic looks to address health disparities by providing dermatological care to people of color.

Bob is a dual licensed clinician, Registered Nurse and Respiratory Therapist, with advanced degrees in bioengineering, clinical care and physiology from UC San Diego and the Emory University. I am a currently employed by Edwards Lifesciences as a Director of Clinical Affairs for R&D Critical Care team. While Edwards does not manufacture a pulse oximeter, my prior industry employers included 4 pulse oximeter manufacturers. Regarding ISO, I am the Co-convener for the ISO standards related to Oximetry devices (with responsibility for three 80601-2 oximeter standards) and remain busy advising AAMI, IEC and ISO on blood pressure, critical care and ventilatory support devices as well as issues of cybersecurity. Owing to recognition for improving clinical care and medical devices, I was inducted into the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing (ΣΘΤ) and the AARC inducted him as a fellow (FAARC), as did the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMIF).

Danni joined the Hypoxia Lab in October 2023 and her background focuses on biostatistics and data science. She is excited to explore how her background may contribute to global health and health equity.

David is a statistician in the Department of Anesthesia at UCSF where he collaborates with investigators on a wide variety of research projects. He received his doctoral degree in Biostatistics from UC Berkeley in 2023 for work on causal inference and targeted statistical estimation in clinical trials with time-to-event outcomes. Outside of work, David enjoys spending time outdoors with his wife, watching and/or participating in combat sports, and exploring the Bay Area wine scene.

Kelvin Moore Jr. is a UCSF Medical Student and Research Assistant in the Hypoxia Lab. With career interests in anesthesiology and an overarching passion for implementing health equity, he believes that working on OpenOximetry is an excellent opportunity to propel his interests as well as contribute to a canon of work that highlights and addresses the disparate medical conditions seen domestically and globally. Prior to his appointment with the Hypoxia Lab, he served as a Clinical Research Coordinator at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. He holds two Bachelor of Arts in Public Health and Biology from Brown University.

Dr. Hendrickson is a pulmonary and critical care medicine subspecialist with an expertise and research focus in acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), the most common life-threatening manifestation of COVID-19 disease. She is the medical director of the Medical Intensive Care Unit at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. During the first two years of the pandemic, this safety-net hospital for our county cared for approximately half of all ICU patients with COVID-19 disease in San Francisco and Dr. Hendrickson served as the physician lead to establish and run the COVID ICU. She is currently the site PI for the Open Oximetry EquiOx Study for the FDA.

Mr. Batchelder attended the University Of Chicago Pritzker School Of Medicine Respiratory Therapy Program and is currently Chief Clinical Officer of Clinimark. From 1991 to 2005 he was the Head of Clinical Research for Datex-Ohmeda and GE Healthcare, where he established and directed the Louisville laboratories and managed medical affairs.
He is a member of the University of Colorado Medical School, Division of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine Research Board. He is also a member of the ASTM Pulse Oximetry Working Group where he functioned as Designated United States Expert and representative to the International Standards Organization. He was actively involved in the development of the current International Standard for Pulse Oximetry (9919).

Mike Bernstein is an engineer with extensive experience in pulse oximeter device development and validation. For nearly 40 years he has worked for leading oximeter manufacturers to develop and improve pulse oximeter technologies. He is the collaborating lead engineer for the UCSF Hypoxia Lab and has also served as a collaborator and advisor for Lifebox.

Isabella is a senior medical student at the University of California San Francisco with interests in anesthesia and global health equity. Isabella has been a key contributor to building the oximetry database and FAQs. She is also a research associate in the Hypoxia Lab where she has been actively studying the performance of inexpensive oximeters.

Christine Kuo is an anesthesia resident at the UCSF Anesthesia Residency Program. Dr. Kuo is interested in the intersection between technology and health equity and has been an active collaborator in the Hypoxia Lab and the UCSF Center for Health Equity in Surgery and Anesthesia. Dr. Kuo is currently developing protocols for in vitro oximeter validation and new protocols for in vivo skin pigment quantification for oximeter performance studies.

Seif worked in the Hypoxia and Kornblith Lab where he oversaw patient enrollment, data collection and management for the EquiOx project and many of the trauma and ICU-related projects at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. He is now an incoming medical student at UCSF!

Seif graduated with honors from UC Davis in 2022 where he studied Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior, and also played on the division one men’s water polo team. In his free time, he loves watching the Los Angeles Lakers, surfing, and spending time with his family and friends.

His research interests include: race/ethnicity in comparative perspective, colorism, health, race/ethnicity & technology (e.g., artificial intelligence, machine learning, and computer vision), sociology of the body, social psychology, and theory. He is a recent recipient of an NIH Director's New Innovator Award, which will support research on race, skin tone, and pulse oximetry.

Leo Shmuylovich is an Assistant Professor of Medicine, Radiology, Physics, and Biomedical Engineering in the Division of Dermatology at Washington University of Saint Louis. His research interests include developing low-cost optical imaging devices that are globally accessible, developing methods to quantify skin mechanical and optical properties, and interrogating disease with thermal and short wave infrared imaging. He was a 2021 recipient of the NIH Director's Early Independence Award, which supports his work to develop novel infrared imaging modalities that objectively assess skin disease at both large and small scales and across diverse skin types

René Vargas Zamora carries out clinical operations at the UCSF Hypoxia Lab for the EquiOx Study; having obtained a program certificate in clinical trials management from the University of Delaware and a Good Clinical Practice certificate from NIDA Clinical Trials Network. Holding a master’s degree in Agricultural Economics from National Taiwan University and a strong background working in poverty alleviation – Vargas Zamora seeks to transition into a new career in clinical research that focuses on health equity.

Lily Ortiz (she/her) is a recent graduate from the UCSF Global Health master's program. For her master's capstone project, she analyzed data from snakebite patients treated at private hospitals in Tamil Nadu, India to assess the accuracy of coagulation parameters in diagnosing venomous snakebites. During her time as a graduate student, Lily worked as the Administrative Assistant for CHESA and supported the OpenCriticalCare and OpenOximetry projects. Starting in August, she will be continuing her work with CHESA and joining the EquiOx Study and Hypoxia Lab as a Clinical Research Coordinator. In her new role, she will oversee data collection and data management for these studies as well as support the management of the Open Oximetry website.

Jana Lyn first joined the lab in October 2022 as an SF BUILD NIH Funded Scholar. She assisted with data collection and study participant feedback/ recruitment projects. Now, she is pursuing her Master’s in Chemical Engineering at UC Berkeley. Jana Lyn graduated in May 2023 at San Francisco State University. She got her Bachelor’s in Science degree in Chemistry. Her ultimate goal is to practice medicine.

Ashlee Osborne is a UC Berkeley undergraduate student studying Molecular and Cellular Biology with a concentration in Cell Biology, Development, and Physiology. She joined the Open Oximetry team during the Summer of 2023 and works on the Diversity Toolkit, a guide that can be used by researchers conducting ethnically diverse research. Ashlee has curated a Top 10 resources list and FAQ guides for the Diversity Toolkit alongside working on outreach and recruitment for the Open Oximetry project. In the near future, Ashlee will be pursuing medicine and hopes to practice in either Cosmetic Dermatology, Reconstructive and Cosmetic Plastic Surgery, or Pediatric Orthopedic Surgery.

Few sentence description about your global health/ professional background, time in the Hypoxia Lab, professional/ personal interests that you'd like to share, etc.
Daryl is a UCSF medical student and research assistant in the Hypoxia Lab. He is interested in a career in anesthesiology or surgery and has developed a growing passion for medical education, contributing to the lab’s goal of health equity. Currently, Daryl is leading a write-up to explain and clarify the regulatory framework for pulse oximeters marketed in the U.S., Europe, and globally. He is also collaborating with the OpenOximetry Education subgroup to draft an infographic and develop a CME course that seeks to highlight the limitations and biases of pulse oximeters, aiming to improve clinical decision-making around their use.

Daryl received his undergraduate degree in Physiology and Neuroscience from UC San Diego in 2021. During his gap years before entering medical school, he worked as a 911 EMT in San Diego and Stanislaus counties for two years and as an ED Tech at Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego. A fun fact about Daryl is that he recently became certified in scuba diving!

Koyinsola Oyefeso is a UCSF Intern in the Hypoxia Lab. She is in her fourth year at the University of San Francisco majoring in Psychology with a double minor in Biology and French Studies. She has career interests in pediatric medicine and is currently finishing her undergraduate thesis aiming to further understand the impact of age of ASD diagnosis through an intersectional lens. Koyinsola is excited to further develop her passion for healthcare equity and community advocacy during her time with UCSF. Outside of work she loves to read, create gauche based art, and try new pastry shops.

Alex is an undergraduate intern at the UCSF Hypoxia Lab with experience in two research labs at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. As a Pre-Med student, he is dedicated to exploring health equity. Alex has a strong interest in anesthesia and a particular passion for airway management. In his spare time he enjoys sports, spending time with pets, and trying new foods.

Caroline is a medical student at Saint Louis University School of Medicine. Before medical school, Caroline worked as a clinical research coordinator with the Hypoxia Lab, and she is excited to return as a research assistant to continue contributing to the lab's health equity work. Caroline holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Comparative Studies with minors in Neuroscience and Chemistry from Duke University. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, backpacking, and live music.