About Us: Research and Program Staff

Nelson Travis Saldaña, MPH
Senior Research Associate

Nelson Travis Saldaña is a senior research associate for the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS). He assists with questionnaire development, implementation, analysis, and dissemination of data. In addition, he also provides research support for CHIS-related projects within the Center.

Prior to coming to the Center, Saldaña worked at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, reviewing proposals and funding research for The Experimental Therapeutics Center. He also worked as a data analyst for Columbia University's Alice! Health Promotion Department and as a graduate research assistant examining the food environment in New York City.

Saldaña received his MPH from Columbia University in the Urbanism and the Built Environment track, focusing on the intersections between public health and urban planning. He has a BS in microbiology, immunology, and molecular genetics with a minor in English from UCLA. His personal research interests include the effects of physical disorganization on health outcomes, neighborhood level health determinants, geographic information systems, and social epidemiology.