Amy Westermann joined ACTRI in October 2021 as a project and grant manager, where she supports and advises on several key research projects including the HEALthy4You study with the Center for Community Health. Amy has a background in public health, in particular in health education, patient advocacy, and developing novel ways to bridge the gap between clinical research and community members.Most recently she came from the non-profit ClinWiki, where she was the first Executive Director and co-founder. At ClinWiki, she led the creation of an accessible user interface and the creation of disease-specific community sites in order to help those with catastrophic illnesses understand their clinical trial options. Through over a decade of non-profit,research and patient advocacy experience, she came to understand the many hurdles patients and families face when trying to navigate healthcare and understand treatment options, especially clinical trials. This awareness was crystallized when helping one of her close family friends find and enroll in a clinical trial that likely extended his life. This experience catalyzed her passion for improving clinical trials and information about research for all patients and communities. She is particularly interested in improving health literacy by leveraging accessible technology and the intersection with mixed methodology data collection.Amy received her undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley in molecular and cell biology. She also holds a master’s degree in public health from UCLA. Amy is thrilled to join the Center for Community Health and support the continued expansion into research on trauma-informed care, adverse childhood experiences, and childhood obesity.