Justice, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Committee Members

Rupali Das, MD, MPH, FACOEM
Committee Co-Chair

Dr. Rupali Das is 2022 President of WOEMA and Co-Chair of the JEDI Committee. She is also Senior Vice President and Medical Director at Zenith Insurance Company and Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Dr. Das was in clinical practice in Occupational Medicine at the Palo Alto Medical Clinic. She has held various leadership roles in occupational and environmental health at the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and the California Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). At CDPH she led “Biomonitoring California,” which measures levels of chemicals in peoples’ bodies, directed programs to track and reduce pesticide illness and infectious diseases in underserved populations such as farm workers, as well as other workers, and guided emergency preparedness. She received her MD degree from the University of Illinois, completed a residency in Internal Medicine at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago, and a fellowship in Occupational and Environmental Medicine at UCSF. During her fellowship, she earned a Master’s degree in Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley. She is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Preventive Medicine/Occupational Medicine and is a Fellow of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. She is a member of the ACOEM Racism Workgroup, a Trustee for Cal Performances, and mentors students from underserved communities as part of the Thrive Scholars Program. She has served as chair of the legislative and educational committees as well as WOHC 2012 Chair. 

Erik J. Won, DO, MPH, MBA, FACOEM
Committee Co-Chair

Dr. Won is President and CEO of Newport Brain Research Laboratory. He is Board Certified in Occupational and Environmental Medicine, and completed his residency at the Harvard Occupational and Environmental Medicine residency program. He received his MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health and MBA from the University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business. He previously served as a US Navy Flight Surgeon, and as Chief Regional Physician and Chief Technology Officer (Health Services) for the Boeing Company. Dr. Won has served as WOEMA Education Committee Chair, has been a member of WOHC Planning Committees and currently serves as a WOEMA Director.

Rahmat Balogun, DO MS MPH

Dr. Rahmat Balogun currently serves as the Clinical Lead at the University of California Berkeley Occupational Health Clinic and Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at University of California San Francisco (UCSF) in the Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Her interest in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging and Anti-Racist work is rooted in her experiences as a woman of color in the field of medicine and higher education. Her interest in this work has led her to work on various committees, including at UC Berkeley at the Departmental and Divisional Levels and as well as part of UC Berkeley's Center for Occupational and Environmental Health (COEH) as a member of the Diversity Working Group. She received her Medical Degree at New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine. She is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

Robert L. Goldberg, MD, FACOEM

Dr. Robert Goldberg, Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of Healthesystems, is responsible for providing strategic direction and oversight for all medical aspects of the company, including both the Pharmacy and Ancillary Benefits Management programs. Dr. Goldberg is actively involved in the development of new product offerings and services and works directly with clients to better understand their clinical needs and in turn deliver clinical excellence. He chairs the Healthesystems Pharmacy and Therapeutics committee and leads the team that developed and continually updates the ACOEM Guidelines-based formulary for Reed MDGuidelines and the California Division of Workers Compensation. A Jefferson Medical College graduate and Board-certified in Occupational Medicine, he was a fulltime Professor of Medicine and Occupational Medicine Residency Program Director at the University of California, San Francisco. He has over 25 years of medical management experience and over 20 years of experience treating injured workers in private practice.  Dr. Goldberg served as President of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) and WOEMA, and as Vice-Chair, Occupational Medicine of the American Board of Preventive. He is a Fellow of ACOEM and an Honorary Fellow of the Faculty of Occupational Medicine (Ireland) of the Royal College of Medicine.

Alya Khan, MD, MS

Dr. Alya Khan is the Occupational Medicine Residency Director and Assistant Clinical Professor at University of California, Irvine. Dr. Khan completed her residency training in Internal Medicine from Mountainside Hospital in Montclair, NJ and a fellowship in Occupational and Environmental Medicine from UC Irvine and holds dual board certifications from ABIM and ABPM. She also received a Master's degree in Environmental Toxicology from UC Irvine. Dr. Khan's clinical work is at the Center for Occupational and Environmental Health that provides clinical and preventive services to local and regional employers, conduct worksite surveillance programs, as well as provide toxicology consultations. She is the chair of the UCI-COEH annual symposium and a member of M-POWER committee (Medical Professionalism and Optimal Wellness Education and Resource) at UC Irvine. Dr. Khan has been the co-chair for the education committee at WOEMA where her passion and focus is on providing up to date, valuable educational offerings for the OEM community. 

Walter S. Newman Jr, MD

Dr. Walt Newman is a past WOEMA President and Board Chair and is proud to have served on every WOEMA Committee. He Is a graduate of Stanford University and the UCSF School of Medicine. Walt practices Family medicine and Occupational/ Environmental Medicine in Silicon Valley. He brings 30 years of experience in agricultural health and currently serves as medical director of the United Farm Workers. Walt is honored to be a part of the JEDI force.

Karega Y. Paisley, MD, MPH

Dr. Karega Y. Paisley MD, MPH is the Medical Director of Occupational Health Services and an Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of California, Davis. He also serves in the U.S Air National Guard as a Flight Surgeon, Chief of Aerospace Medicine and the Installation’s Occupational Environmental Medical Consultant.

Dr. Paisley has extensive experience in Public Health, Occupational, Environmental, Preventative, and Aerospace Medicine. He specializes in developing prevention programs and disaster management protocols and conducting health hazard evaluations for national and international/global organizations. He also has experience working with and treating opportunistic diseases in indigent populations around the world.

Deborah Smith, MD, MBA

Dr. Deborah Smith is CEO, Founder and Medical Director of BodyPrime Wellness which is a new venture launching in 2020 to deliver Lifestyle Medicine-based self-education and Masterminds to guide individuals in working collaboratively with their Medical Providers to prevent and reverse disease utilizing Lifestyle Medicine approaches.  Dr. Smith is also Co-Executive Director of Corporate Lifestyle Health, a Texas-based nonprofit established to bring Lifestyle Medicine-based Wellness to Businesses and NGOs. Dr. Smith's prior experience includes supporting Boeing as a Senior Manager in Health Services.  While at Boeing Dr. Smith led the development and implementation of the Boeing Industrial Athlete Program. Prior academic experience includes faculty appointments at the University of Kansas School of Medicine. Dr. Smith has completed a Master's of Business Administration in Healthcare from George Washington University and is Board Certified in Lifestyle Medicine and Internal Medicine.

Ramon J. Terrazas MD, MPH, QME, FACOEM

Dr. Ramon J. Terrazas, MD, MPH, is board certified in occupational medicine and currently serves as Medical Director for Encompass Health Solutions, a provider of workers’ compensation services including nurse triage.  He also serves as Medical Consultant to the City of Oakland’s Police Department, Alternative Dispute Resolution (COA OPD ADR) Program.  Previously he served for over a decade as the Fire Surgeon for the San Francisco Fire Department. He also currently provides services through his consultancy, Integral Physicians Occupational Medicine, and performs medical evaluations as a Qualified Medical Evaluator for the State of California’s workers’ compensation system. He is a fellow of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine and has served for over a decade on WOEMA’s Board of Directors and is a member of ACOEM’s Public safety Section. Dr. Terrazas serves as Vice-President of the Board of Directors for La Clinica de la Raza, northern California’s largest Federally Qualified Health Center.