SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments:
Michael K. Ong, 46, of Santa Monica, has been reappointed to the Tobacco Education and Research Oversight Committee, where he has served since 2007. Ong has been a professor in residence at the University of California, Los Angeles since 2005 and a staff physician at the Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System since 2013. He was a staff physician at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Healthcare System from 2003 to 2005. Ong is a member of California Medical Association, Society of Hospital Medicine, Society of General Internal Medicine, American College of Physicians and AcademyHealth. He earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in health services and policy analysis from the University of California, Berkeley. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Ong is a Democrat.
Patricia Spratlen Etem, 62, of Long Beach, has been reappointed to the Tobacco Education and Research Oversight Committee, where she has served since 2010. Etem has been a consultant at CIVIC Communications Consulting since 2002. She was director of research, policy and planning at BREATHE California, formerly the American Lung Association of Los Angeles County, from 2005 to 2009. Etem was a regional tobacco control program director for Public Health Foundation Enterprises from 1993 to 2002. She earned a Master of Public Health degree in behavioral sciences from the University of California, Berkeley. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Etem is a Democrat.
Robert Lee Oldham, 41, of Roseville, has been reappointed to the Tobacco Education and Research Oversight Committee, where he has served since 2015. Oldham has been health officer, public health director and medical director at the Placer County Department of Health and Human Services since 2014. He was interim health officer at the Fresno County Department of Public Health from 2013 to 2014 and medical director at the Fresno County Department of Behavioral Health from 2011 to 2014. Oldham is president of the California Conference of Local Health Officers and co-chair of its Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention Committee. He is vice-chair of the California Medical Association’s Council on Science and Public Health. Oldham earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Alabama School of Medicine and a Master of Science degree in health administration from Virginia Commonwealth University. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Oldham is registered without party preference.
Mariaelena Gonzalez, 43, of Redwood City, has been appointed to the Tobacco Education and Research Oversight Committee. Gonzalez has been an assistant professor in public health at the University of California, Merced since 2013. She was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, San Francisco from 2009 to 2013. Gonzalez earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in sociology from Stanford University and a Master of Theological Studies degree from Harvard Divinity School. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Gonzalez is a Democrat.
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