Public health equity researcher.
I am an Assistant Professor (tenure-track) in the Department of Health Behavior at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.
My interest in interdisciplinary and collaborative work to address societal issues was evident from my time at my undergraduate institution where I earned a Bachelors in Environmental Science and Policy at Duke University. This continued during my graduate education in public health, where I earned a MSPH and a PhD in the Department of Health Behavior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). Throughout my training and now I enjoy working at the intersection of health sciences, social sciences, and the humanities to not only highlight health disparities, but to also critically examine how these disparities and inequities came about. Understanding how these inequities occurred and reoccur improves our ability to develop contextually appropriate programs to improve the quality of life of our most vulnerable.
To learn more about my work on chronic disease prevention and management in the Americas, re-imagining “race” and racialization among Latines to improve public health programs, as well as my mentoring philosophy, check out the rest of my website.
Centering communities.
Working with historically (and presently) excluded communities is the underlying motivation for all the work I do. Within my work in Latin America and for Latina/o/x/e (Latine) populations in the United States, I focus on Afro-descendent populations across the Americas to center their experiences within public health research and practice.
Health equity approaches.
Chronic condition prevention and management require multi-level interventions. In my work I target clinic, community, and policy-level levers to improve the quality of life of people living with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular conditions.
Measurement and measures.
How we measure health-related constructs and even demographic variables are important for how we appropriately interpret the data we have. My work includes scale development and also developing innovative ways to measure “race” as a construct withing public health research.
Research is important, but more important is effective mentorship.
Contact
Feel free to contact me with any questions.