Top row left to right: Becky Berry, RN, Pauline Beggs, RN, Lauren Jones, RN
Bottom row left to right: Jenille Rimando, RN, Christa Sundberg, Souri Khounnoraj, RN
Mercedes Rose, NP
Mercedes Rose is a nurse practitioner who cares for women with gynecologic malignancies, including cervical, endometrial, ovarian, and vulvar cancers. She collaborates with a multidisciplinary team to provide personalized, comprehensive care to patients during all stages of treatment, including diagnosis, surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.
Mercedes earned her bachelor's degree in nursing from UCSF and her master's degree in nursing from the University of California, Los Angeles. She is a member of the Oncology Nursing Society. She has more than 20 years of nursing experience and has worked at UCSF since 2008.
Brigid Sullivan Barlesi, NP
Brigid Sullivan Barlesi is a Family Nurse Practitioner who specializes in oncology care since 1997. She has worked in a wide variety of oncology specialties including breast oncology, genitourinary oncology and gynecologic oncology. Currently Brigid cares for women with gynecologic malignancies including cervical, endometrial, ovarian, and vulvar cancers. She collaborates with a multidisciplinary team to provide personalized, comprehensive care to patients during all stages of treatment, including diagnosis, surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.
Brigid went to Dominican College in San Rafael earning her BSN in 1997 and then UCSF for her Master's degree in 2003.
Natalia DeMatteo, NP
Natalia DeMatteo is an Advanced Oncology Certified Nurse Practitioner with the Gynecologic Oncology department. Natalia worked as a Nurse in Hematology/Oncology for many years at Massachusetts General Hospital before obtaining her Master’s in Nursing at the University of Massachusetts. She then completed an Oncology fellowship for Advanced Practice Providers at Stanford Hospital. She has been at UCSF for 3 years and works at Mission Bay providing patient centered care for those with gynecologic malignancies including ovarian, cervical, endometrial, and vulvar cancers. In her free time she enjoys traveling to visit her nephews and niece, and spending time by the ocean.
Natalie Asborno, NP
Natalie Asborno is an Adult Geriatric Acute Care Nurse Practitioner with the Gynecologic Oncology department. She works inpatient and in clinic to provide care for women with gynecologic malignancies including cervical, endometrial, ovarian, and vulvar cancers. She collaborates with a multidisciplinary team to provide personalized, comprehensive care to patients during all stages of treatment, including diagnosis, surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.
Natalie is a SF bay area native who went to Santa Clara University for her undergraduate degree. She continued her studies at Columbia University for her second Bachelor’s and Master’s of Nursing with oncology subspecialty. Natalie’s background includes working as a Hospitalist Nurse Practitioner and Kidney Transplant Nurse Practitioner before joining the UCSF Gynecologic Oncology team.
Souriphone Khounnoraj, NP
Souriphone joined gynecology surgical oncology clinic as a practice nurse in 2022 at UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. She has years of experience working inpatient medical oncology and Hematology/BMT/Oncology at UCSF Medical Center. Souriphone holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from California State University of Sacramento and a Master’s of Science in Nursing from University California of San Francisco. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her longtime partner, their son, cat Simon, and staying active outdoors.
Pauline Beggs, RN
Pauline Beggs is a registered nurse in gynecologic oncology at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, where her patients have valued her clinical expertise and warm demeanor for more than 10 years. Additionally, she is highly regarded for the calm, confident way that she works with her newly diagnosed patients and their families. Pauline also skillfully cares for her patients as they progress through treatment and she works with them to mitigate side effects. These skills and her 30 years of nursing experience have helped make her an integral member of the UCSF gynecologic oncology practice. Pauline received her nursing education in the United Kingdom and went on to complete postgraduate training in stress management.
She is the recipient of the prestigious 2011 Ernest H. Rosenbaum, MD Symptom Management Service Commitment to Patient Care Award for her passionate devotion to providing exceptionally high-quality patient care. Additionally, she is a member of the American Holistic Nurses Association, which emphasizes treating the whole person and viewing healing as a partnership between a patient and their practitioner. She is also active in Imagery International and she has lectured around the country on the health and wellness benefits of guided imagery and stress management. Another one of Pauline’s interests is patient education. Each year, she organizes and moderates the “Living with Gynecologic Cancer” events at UCSF. These popular programs raise awareness and bring support to her patients and the community. In addition, Pauline Beggs is one of the honorees of the prestigious the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses in 2016.
Lauren Jones, RN
Lauren Jones is a registered nurse in the gynecologic surgical oncology clinic beginning in October of 2022. She previously worked as an inpatient nurse in medical oncology/Infusion at Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Oklahoma. Lauren holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Oral Roberts University. Lauren loves connecting with her patients and being able to help them navigate through the challenges that come with their cancer diagnoses.
Jenille Rimando, RN
Jenille Rimando is a registered nurse in gynecologic surgical oncology clinic. She has been an oncology nurse for over eight years in the inpatient setting but is grateful for the opportunity to carve out the newly-created nurse navigator role in gynecology oncology. Jenille works closely with new patients referred to UCSF helping them navigate the health system from first call to their first appointment. Jenille holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in American Studies and a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from Samuel Merritt University.
Becky Berry, BSN
Becky Berry is a registered nurse and joined the gynecologic surgical oncology clinic in December 2021. Previously she had worked inpatient for 15 years primarily in hematology/oncology/bone marrow transplant here at UCSF and at Maine Medical Center in Portland, ME. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Criminology and Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Southern Maine. Becky is grateful to make the transition from inpatient to outpatient nursing and to continue to work with oncology.
Golda Hernandez, LCSW, MPH
Golda joined the Gynecologic Oncology team as a Clinical Social Worker in 2022. As part of the multidisciplinary team, she provides emotional and practical support to patients and their families while they navigate treatment. Golda assists with patient advocacy, resources, and referrals. Prior to joining the Gyn Onc team, she worked as a social worker at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Intensive Care Nursery and Birth Center. Golda earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and both Master’s degrees in Social Welfare and Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley. Golda previously worked at Homeless Prenatal Program and Asian Pacific Fund, and volunteered at a UCSF student-run clinic, Mabuhay Health Center.
Nathalie Halley, BS
Nathalie joined the Gynecologic Oncology team as a Clinical Research Coordinator in 2021. Prior to working with UCSF, she completed her studies at San Francisco State University in 2018, obtaining her B.S. in Biology with an emphasis in Human Physiology. She has a diverse background in healthcare with experience working as a Medical Scribe in Obstetrics and Gynecology and Breast Oncology. She most recently worked in Case Management supporting families with Autistic children and young adults in need of behavioral intervention and additional support systems. Nathalie is driven by her passion for patient advocacy and is excited to be working in Women’s Health Clinical Research.
Chetna Nangia, MPH
Chetna joined the Gynecologic Oncology team as a Clinical Research Coordinator in 2023. Chetna has 3+ years of experience working at UCSF as a Research Data Analyst and has worked at UCSF IRB. Chetna assisted on clinical trials in therapeutic areas including Transplant and Allergy. Chetna completed her Master of Public Health degree from New York University in Community Health Sciences and Practice where she was able to conduct research in Palliative Care and assess disparities among marginalized communities e.g. POC, low-income individuals, the disabled. Social Justice, Equity, Empowerment and Resiliency- the four terms Chetna stands by!
Crystal Lee, BA
Crystal joined the Gynecologic Oncology team as a Clinical Research Coordinator in 2024. She completed her undergraduate at San Francisco State University and received a Bachelor of Arts in Biology, summa cum laude. Prior to working at UCSF, Crystal worked as a medical assistant at a pediatric urgent care for over 2 years. She has also volunteered at the Richard H. Fine People’s Clinic (RFPC) at ZSFGH focusing on diabetes care, management, and outreach. Crystal is elated to transition into the field of women’s health and oncology!
Patricia Glenn, BA
Pat has worked for the Gyn Onc Tissue Bank since 1997. She has worked extensively with tissue and blood collection, preservation and microscope evaluation. She is skilled at microtome and cryostat cutting and, in a former capacity, electron microscopy. Pat believes every piece of tissue graciously donated by participant to research are the most precious items and cares for them as if they are the patient. She works on Gynecology and Breast cancer projects. Pat is passionate about working on women’s health issues. Over the years, Pat has worked in a variety of labs including research in physiology, biochemistry and R&D Chemistry. Pat’s path started in Baltimore, graduating from Notre Dame of MD followed by research at Johns Hopkins University until the move to SF where her work at UCSF began.