Professional Title:
Professor, Department of Public Health
Email:
Bio:
My work has addressed disparities in chronic disease management, specifically diabetes and cancer, among immigrants for over 20 years. I have collaborated on research on navigational aspects of health literacy related to mammography decision-making, cancer clinical trial participation among immigrants, and on the development of culturally and literacy appropriate materials to enhance cancer survivorship among linguistically- and ethnically diverse medically underserved breast cancer patients. My research program focuses broadly on addressing health disparities among underserved populations through improving health literacy, increasing access to and use of preventive screening, addressing cancer information disparities and clinical trial participation, addressing survivorship needs, and understanding and improving patient self-management strategies in low resource settings. To achieve these goals, I have utilized my anthropological training to bring an ethnographic perspective to health disparities and chronic disease research. Most recently, my work has focused on understanding oral health literacy among Mexican immigrants in urban California.
