Meet the Team
Abdullah Alibrahim combines healthcare expertise, data analytics, and human-centered design to reimagine user and provider experiences. He holds a BSc, MSc, and PhD in engineering-related fields, culminating in a robust multidisciplinary approach that has prepared him to harness advanced data-driven models. Dr. Alibrahim’s work thrives at the crossroads of insight-driven analytics, operational efficiency, and the design of user experience—enabling him to unpack and elevate product development and service system effectiveness. He collaborates with top global industry leaders, contributes to peer-reviewed journals, and shares his vision at prestigious conferences and workshops. Dr. Alibrahim is also affiliated with leading local centers of excellence, including the Dasman Diabetes Institute, and world-renowned institutions such as the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government and the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Veronica Serret received her B.S in Clinical Psychology from the University of La Verne and her Master’s in Social Work from the University of Southern California. Veronica has over 13 years of experience working in community mental health, quality assurance and public administration. Over the past 7 years, Veronica has focused on strategic outreach and user engagement, UX qualitative research including key informant interviews and focus group methods and data management and analysis.
Veronica Serret's Expertise in UX Research
Tenie Khachikian received her Ph.D. in Psychology at the University of California, Merced, in 2018. She has her M.S.W. in Social Work from the University of Southern California, and a B.A. in Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Khachikian has experience in examining substance use and addiction health services research and applying this knowledge to manage, analyze, and report on large-scale data in substance use disorders and treatment. She has worked on several federally funded national studies collecting data across the country by leading national survey studies with more than 500 organizations. Dr. Khachikian is an expert on UX survey methods, team coordination, and engagement of hard to reach groups. Her work has helped organizations improve functioning and product/service development.
Khachikian, T., Amaro, H., Guerrero, E., Kong, Y., & Marsh, J. C. (2022). Disparities in opioid treatment access and retention among women based on pregnancy status from 2006 to 2017. Drug and alcohol dependence reports, 2, 100030. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dadr.2022.100030 Guerrero, E. G., Kong, Y., Frimpong, J. A., Khachikian, T., Wang, S., D’Aunno, T., & Howard, D. L. (2022). Workforce Diversity and disparities in wait time and retention among opioid treatment programs. Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy, 17(1), 74. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13011-022-00500-3
Juan Martinez is a UX-focused media professional with a background in political science and film, television, and digital media. His experience includes directing, writing, and producing various projects, demonstrating a strong understanding of user engagement through visual storytelling. While at UCLA, Juan applied his understanding of audience behavior to create compelling content for soap operas and an award-winning news show, indicating early application of user-centered design principles in media production. His extensive work in media production highlights his ability to translate user needs and expectations into impactful visual experiences. The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Grant further enabled him to develop SPARK, a film recognized with a US Student BAFTA Award nomination, a Director’s Guild of America award for Best Student Latino Director, and national distribution by HBO. This success underscores his capacity to create user-validated and widely accessible content. Currently, Juan supports the CommerciUS team by contributing his expertise in audio/visuals, web design, and media content. His work directly supports the evaluation of UX measures, interventions, and test outcomes, demonstrating his practical application of media production skills in a UX research context.
Yinfei Kong is a Professor at California State University, Fullerton’s College of Business and Economics. He earned his Ph.D. in Biostatistics from the University of Southern California and is a data scientist specializing in the intersection of big data, user experience, and social impact. His research focuses on human-centered analytics, equity-driven UX design, and the use of machine learning to inform actionable UX interventions in healthcare and digital ecosystems. Dr. Kong has led multiple NIH-funded projects that integrate user behavior modeling and predictive analytics to optimize user engagement and improve outcomes, particularly among underserved populations. He collaborates with multidisciplinary teams to design systems that are inclusive, interpretable, and aligned with users’ needs and lived experiences. He has published more than 50 papers in top journals including Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Annals of Statistics, Journal of Business and Economic Statistics, Journal of Machine Learning Research, and Health Services Research.
E. Baruch Guerrero is a senior UX-organizational researcher. He received his Ph.D. in 2009 from the School of Social Service Administration at University of Chicago. Dr. Guerrero completed his doctoral training in organizations science at Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He is the CEO at CommerciUS and Director of Research at the I-LEAD Institute, a research firm located in Silicon Beach. Dr. Guerrero is recognized for his federally funded research on implementaion and user-driven research. His UX research is informed by implementation science and advanced mixed methods. He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed manuscript and two seminal books in evidence-based organizational, leadership and management practices. Dr. Guerrero leads international consortia to improve user-driven outcomes across different service industries.
