Health Education & Promotion
HEP Staff

Michelle Johnston, MPH

Michelle supervises Student Health Services’ Health Education and Promotion program. In this position, she is responsible for efforts to improve student health in the areas of alcohol, tobacco, other drugs, sexual health, physical activity, nutrition and wellness (stress management, sleep, etc.). She facilitates campus community coalitions and leads other collaborative efforts to change the campus environment. Prior to working at UC Davis, Michelle was the Assistant Director of the Center for Civic Partnerships in Sacramento. Michelle led programs to provide technical support to enhance the capacity of organizations and collaboratives to develop, implement and sustain community health improvement efforts. She directed the Center's earned income and business development activities and conducted training on sustainability with organizations and community groups nationwide. Michelle also served as the community organizer for a four-campus project to lower alcohol-impaired driving in the San Diego region. She earned an MPH Degree from San Diego State University, with an emphasis in Health Promotion and a BA in Psychology from the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Polly Paulson, MPH, MA

Polly Paulson is the sexual health educator at Health Education and Promotion. Polly manages HEP’s anonymous rapid HIV testing program, our sexual health intern program and our condom access project, including the Love Lab. Prior to joining Health Education and Promotion at UC Davis, Polly was an academic fellow at the Injury Control Branch, California Department of Health Services. In this position, she addressed issues of violence against women. Polly also previously worked for the University of Michigan as a sexual health educator. Polly has an MPH from the University of Michigan School of Public Health with an emphasis on Health Behavior/Health Education and Environmental Health and an MA in Marriage and Family Therapy from Michigan State University with an emphasis on couples counseling and sex therapy. Polly is an American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists certified sex educator and a certified HIV Prevention Counselor with the Office of AIDS, California Department of Public Health. Polly is also an Associate Volunteer Clinical Faculty with the School of Medicine at UC Davis. She also serves on the Sexual Health Advisory Group for Yolo County.

Lisa Reyes

Lisa Reyes is the Health Promotion Assistant at HEP. In this position, she serves as the first point of contact for all who call or visit our department. She is also the receptionist for our anonymous HIV testing program. Lisa provides administrative support to HEP staff and student interns. She is the note taker for a number of committees and manages the paperwork related to our intern program. Prior to this position, Lisa worked as a program representative at the UC Davis School of Medicine and as a workers compensation coordinator with Employee Health at the UC Davis Health System.

Laura Rubin, MPH

Laura Rubin is the wellness health educator at Health Education and Promotion. Her efforts focus primarily on stress, sleep, nutrition and physical activity. She supervises the wellness intern team, promotes healthy napping and co-manages the East Quad Farmers Market. She also serves on the Mind Body Wellness Group and the Association for Body Image and Disordered Eating. Laura received her undergraduate degree from UC Davis and her MPH from Boston University School of Public Health. While at Boston University, Laura was an assistant health educator in the Wellness and Residential Education program where she implemented health promotion efforts on campus. Prior to joining Health Education and Promotion, she was the school health specialist at the California Department of Public Health, working on a Center for Disease Control funded coordinated school health grant. Laura is happy to be back at UC Davis as the Wellness Health Educator.

Cindy V. Valencia, MPH

Cindy Valencia, is our health educator working on comprehensive risk reduction efforts related to high risk drinking. Cindy manages our Safe Party Initiative and the alcohol, tobacco and other drugs intern team. Cindy works closely with other campus departments and student affairs units, representative groups from the Davis community and local law enforcement agencies to help students lower their risk of negative consequences related to alcohol. She also participates in local coalitions and neighborhood community building activities, as well as marketing efforts to increase the visibility of alcohol-related enforcement and promote safer party hosting practices. Prior to joining HEP, Cindy worked at UC Merced and also interned with the California Department of Public Health’s Tobacco Control Section. Cindy is an Aggie alum, having received both of her degrees from UC Davis. Cindy has an MPH degree, with a nutrition emphasis and a BAS, with dual majors in psychology biology and Chicano/Latino Studies.

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