Dr. Damesyn serves as chief of the Chronic Disease Surveillance and Research Branch within the Center for Healthy Communities (California Department of Public Health) where he leads the California Cancer Registry, the California Parkinson’s Disease Registry, the California Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Study and the California Comprehensive Cancer Control Program. Under Dr. Damesyn’s leadership, programs in the branch are pursuing innovative approaches to advance their respective missions.
Innovation domains include policy, information technology, research and partnership building. 

Dr. Damesyn holds a DrPH in epidemiology (UCLA, 2002) and has worked in epidemiology and health information technology since 1994, holding positions in academia (UCLA, Charles R. Drew University), epidemiologic consulting Westat Inc., Rockville, MD), the World Health Organization, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Damesyn has worked as a research supervisor and manager for California Department of Public Health since 2008.