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The CARESTAR Foundation Announces Appointment of Dr. Shani Buggs to Board of Directors


BERKELEY, Calif., Dec. 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The CARESTAR Foundation announces the appointment of public health injury and violence prevention researcher Shani A. L. Buggs, PhD., MPH to its board of directors, effective immediately.


"We are so pleased to welcome Dr. Shani Buggs to our board of directors," said Tanir Ami, chief executive officer of the CARESTAR Foundation. "The depth of her knowledge about communities that have experienced trauma, her commitment to lift up community voices in finding solutions, and her extensive experience in working with state and local agencies will add tremendous value to our board as we continue our work to bring equity, unity, and compassion to emergency and prehospital care in California."


Dr. Buggs, PhD, MPH, is an Assistant Professor in Emergency Medicine at the University of California, Davis. As core faculty with the Violence Prevention Research Program and the California Firearm Violence Research Center at UC Davis, her expertise includes community-level gun violence prevention programs and policies and comprehensive approaches to reducing violence through policies and programs at all levels of government. Prior to joining UC Davis, Dr. Buggs worked for years with the Mayor's Office, Police Department, and other agencies and leaders in Baltimore, MD, to help coordinate efforts and provide technical assistance to enhance the city's violence prevention strategies. Dr. Buggs has secured federal and private funding to lead research projects that center the experiences of individuals most impacted by community violence to inform policies that reduce health inequities and promote safety and well-being for families and communities. She completed her bachelor's degree in psychology at Stanford University and her master's in public health and doctorate in health and public policy at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.


About the CARESTAR Foundation

The CARESTAR Foundation was founded in 2017 as a result of the sale of CALSTAR (California Shock Trauma Air Rescue), an air ambulance company, and honors CALSTAR'S legacy and lifesaving work in the field of emergency and trauma transport and care. CARESTAR's mission is to improve health outcomes for all Californians, by applying a racial equity lens to fund and advocate for improvements to emergency and prehospital care. www.carestarfoundation.org

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