Khemara Has

Khemara Has is an analyst in the Vaccine Preventable Disease Control Program with Public Health. Her position entails conducting infectious disease surveillance and managing outbreak protocols through Los Angeles County.

Prior to joining public health, she was a cognitive psychology instructor at California State University, Fullerton with 7 years of experience. She has guest lectured at Mount St. Mary’s University and Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. Her background in cognitive psychology included investigating the effects of language comprehension, working memory and real-time decision making with appetitive food choices. Ms. Has has presented her research at conferences for the American Psychological Association and the Western Psychological Association. In 2008, she joined the Prevention and Early Intervention taskforce of the Department of Mental Health in Riverside County. Through this work, high risk populations were evaluated in their need for improved mental health services access in vulnerable regions.

As a native of Long Beach, California, Ms. Has is on the steering committee of Long Beach United and is a community organizer within the Don’t Waste Long Beach Coalition. Her work in social justice has led her to advocate for renters’ rights, equity in mental health as well as racial equality. She completed the People’s Planning School through Building Healthy Communities (“BHC”) where a new neighborhood association was proposed to address a city planning issue of equity.

Ms. Has holds an M.A. in Applied Cognitive Psychology from Claremont Graduate University and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of California, Riverside.