Connecting with and engaging Californians for public health

/ California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM)

By Holly Alyssa MacCormick

If you or someone you love is living with a chronic disease, you know that navigating uncertainty and getting answers can be one of the hardest parts of the journey. That’s why Aditi Desai’s work matters.

As the community outreach manager for the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), Desai focuses on connecting with communities disproportionately impacted by disease.

A conference setting featuring an informational booth with banners about rare disease research. A man in a suit engages with a woman at the booth, while brochures and promotional materials are displayed on a table.
Photo: E. M. Pio Roda

Community outreach and education

Many Californians live with diseases with no cure or few treatment options, but few know that the state, through CIRM, funds research and clinical trials to develop new treatments. That’s where Desai comes in.

Desai visits neighborhoods across California to talk with people one-on-one about the health issues that matter most to them. She also works with students enrolled in the CIRM-funded SPARK, Bridges, COMPASS, and Scholars educational programs. These programs support students from high school through graduate school and can help pave the way for careers in regenerative medicine. 

“In the last 6 months, I’ve gone to events for people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s, and vision impairment,” said Desai. “They’re at wit’s end, and they don’t know what options exist for them. The sheer fact that I am there listening to them and can respond, ‘Have you heard about this resource or this potential opportunity?’ That gives them so much hope.”

For many Californians newly diagnosed with a disease, the information Desai shares about CIRM-funded clinical trials and patient programs can be a lifeline. 

“There are so many times I’ve met patients who just had no idea that California was funding this kind of research,” said Desai. “That stands out as the most important reason why I keep doing this. The most important reason for CIRM to exist is to keep building that hope for people who could be hopeless.”

From Peace Corps to public health

A portrait of a smiling woman with curly hair, wearing glasses and a green floral dress, accessorized with gold jewelry, against a gray background.

Desai’s lifelong interest in helping others inspired her to earn a B.S. in psychology from Georgia’s Mercer University in 2009. She planned to attend medical school to become a psychiatrist, but her MCAT scores didn’t go as planned. To “beef up” her resume, Desai pursued a two-year Master of Public Health in global health practice and epidemiology at the University of South Florida. The program also offered an optional two-year Peace Corps service.

“After the first semester, I immediately fell in love and decided this is what I want to do; I can’t imagine doing anything else,” said Desai.  

In the Peace Corps in Uganda, Desai gained experience educating communities on the public health issues that affected them most, including infectious disease prevention, Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH), and reproductive health. As she established community programs in these areas, she also learned the importance of including community members in the conversation.

“That experience was immeasurably pivotal in my career and who I am as a person,” said Desai. Because of my Peace Corps experience, “I always strive to listen first and understand, not to respond. I think those things have made me a better human being and have helped me go far in my career. Working in this field without humanity, without empathy, you’re not going to get anywhere.” 

After returning from her Peace Corps service in 2013, Desai looked for international positions. Instead, she accepted a job in Tampa, Florida, as an outreach specialist for the Drug Abuse Comprehensive Coordinating Office, working on HIV and hepatitis C prevention and case management. Within one year, she was promoted to senior outreach specialist. The experience was a turning point. 

“Through that job, I realized I didn’t have to go to a country in Africa to help people,” said Desai.  

In 2016, Desai moved to California, serving as a health educator for Tri-City Health Centers, and then a director for The Art of Yoga Project in 2019. In 2022, she became a program manager for Richard Health and Associates before joining CIRM in 2023.

Community outreach at CIRM

One of Desai’s biggest contributions to CIRM is expanding where and how the organization engages with Californians.  

A speaker presenting at an event, with a slide in the background that reads 'Cures don’t happen by chance. They are choices.' and shows a close-up of a laboratory experiment.

Desai led efforts to ensure CIRM was actively involved at community gatherings, including Oakland’s Black Joy Parade, which drew nearly 40K attendees in 2026; California Rotary clubs and farmers’ markets; and STEM fairs such as Kits Cubed. 

“Community engagement and education is fundamentally about bringing people together,” said Desai.  

Desai also works to connect scientists with patient advocates and organizations to help ensure they include community members when developing and implementing CIRM-funded research, clinical trials, and programs. In recognition of her efforts, the University of South Florida’s College of Public Health awarded Desai the 2026 Outstanding Alumni Award. The award recognizes alumni who demonstrate significant impact through leadership, research, teaching, mentorship, and service to their communities locally and globally. 

“I find that rather than building something, testing it, getting feedback, and changing it, creating it together with the people it is intended for is more powerful,” said Desai. “We’re building their feedback and insights in every step of the way, and I think that’s something CIRM has done well.” 

Desai is already working to build on CIRM’s successes and expand her team’s reach by hiring two new outreach coordinators who will work in the Inland Empire, San Bernardino County, and Butte County in Northern California. 

“I’m excited to expand not only general awareness about CIRM, but also to be able to reach patient communities and develop relationships with patient advocates who may never have heard of CIRM before,” said Desai.