Professor
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My areas of expertise are health promotion, behavioral epidemiology, community health, and health disparities.
My research interests range from HIV prevention to tobacco control, cancer screening, health literacy, and obesity prevention. My work has focused on underserved and vulnerable populations, particularly Latino immigrants. I apply a social ecological framework to the analysis of determinants of health-related behaviors and the development and evaluation of community-based interventions for disease prevention and health promotion.
Some of my ongoing research work focuses on 1) examining the negative impact of current immigration and deportation policies on the children of immigrant families; 2) understanding syndemics among Latino immigrants, with emphasis on four syndemic factors: substance use, violence, HIV/AIDS, and mental health (SAVAME); and 3) developing community-based responses to the SAVAME and COVID-19 syndemics by promoting leadership and resilience in the Latino immigrant community.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, I have been serving as founder and director of the Latino Health Collective. The LHC is a coalition of Latino-serving professionals in the non-profit, government, private, and academic sector who meet regularly and work together to identify and respond to the most pressing health and social needs of Latino communities in Philadelphia. If you are interested in joining this collective, please, reach out to me.
My research interests range from HIV prevention to tobacco control, cancer screening, health literacy, and obesity prevention. My work has focused on underserved and vulnerable populations, particularly Latino immigrants. I apply a social ecological framework to the analysis of determinants of health-related behaviors and the development and evaluation of community-based interventions for disease prevention and health promotion.
Some of my ongoing research work focuses on 1) examining the negative impact of current immigration and deportation policies on the children of immigrant families; 2) understanding syndemics among Latino immigrants, with emphasis on four syndemic factors: substance use, violence, HIV/AIDS, and mental health (SAVAME); and 3) developing community-based responses to the SAVAME and COVID-19 syndemics by promoting leadership and resilience in the Latino immigrant community.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, I have been serving as founder and director of the Latino Health Collective. The LHC is a coalition of Latino-serving professionals in the non-profit, government, private, and academic sector who meet regularly and work together to identify and respond to the most pressing health and social needs of Latino communities in Philadelphia. If you are interested in joining this collective, please, reach out to me.