Leslie is the lab lead for the Castellon-Lopez Lab, where she manages lab operations and supports the development of community-informed, culturally responsive health interventions. She earned a BA in psychology from UCLA, where she gained experience in mental health and early intervention research. At Cedars-Sinai, she’s interned in pediatrics, and psychiatric and behavioral neuroscience research, and worked at the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center, where she advanced from CRA to CRC. She is passionate about research that addresses health disparities and promotes patient and community wellbeing.

Michael is a clinical research coordinator in the Castellon-Lopez Lab. He joined Cedars-Sinai in 2022, starting in the Cancer Research Center for Health Equity and now also collaborating with the Center for Virtual Medicine and Health System Transformation. His prior experience includes public health interventions in underserved communities, serving as communications manager at UCLA’s Center for Health Policy Research on a CDC-funded smoke exposure reduction project, and overseeing community programs and communications at FAME Corporations. Michael holds a bachelor’s degree from Temple University and is pursuing a master of science in health systems at Cedars-Sinai.

Iris is a postdoctoral scientist at Cedars-Sinai's Cancer Research Center for Health Equity within the Castellon-Lopez Lab and holds a PhD in community health sciences from UCLA's Fielding School of Public Health. Before joining Cedars-Sinai, Iris was a college academic mentor, where she provided academic support and skill development for undergraduate students. Additionally, she served as a graduate student researcher on the Research on Immigrant Health and State Policy (RIGHTS) project at UCLA. Her research focuses on health disparities, particularly how social determinants of health affect individual and community wellbeing.

Gael graduated from UCLA with a BS in human biology and society. Since December 2023, he has worked in the Castellon-Lopez Lab focusing on preventive, collaborative community interventions and qualitative studies related to Latino/a/x health. He aspires to attend medical school in the near future.

Alia is currently pursuing a BS in molecular, cell and developmental biology at UCLA. She is passionate about understanding disease mechanisms and pathways, improving prevention and treatment strategies and addressing health disparities. She joined the Castellon-Lopez Lab to assist their efforts in understanding obesity-related cancers and dismantling barriers in the prevention of diabetes within the Latino community. Alia helps the Castellon-Lopez Lab by contributing to data analysis, program development and literature review.