University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center

Core Faculty

 

Jo Fairbanks, Ph.D., has a doctorate in Community Health Education, and has more than 20 years of experience as a public health practitioner in New Mexico. She is also the Director of the Public Health Outreach Education Program (PHOEP), which provides off-campus education in the basics of public health agencies and communities throughout the Southwest. Dr. Fairbanks is very active in community based projects including efforts to build local public health capacity through grants in education and training. She provides courses in Rural Health Issues, Public Health Program Planning and Proposal Writing, US/ Mexico Border Health, and the Final Integrative Experience course to the university, agencies, etc. She co-authored two public health books: The Public Health Primer and Case Studies in Community Health, and has authored several articles on health professional shortages and health care utilization on the border. She developed a web based course in the fundamentals of public health for MCH students that can be accessed through the University of Utah.

 

Alexis Handal, M.P.H., Ph.D, joined the MPH program in January 2008 as an Assistant Professor. Dr. Handal received her M.P.H. and Ph.D. in Epidemiology from the University of Michigan. Her research interests include developing a research program in the field of epidemiology and environmental health with a focus on maternal and child health (MCH) that examines the intersection of MCH and worker health considered from an ecosystem perspective. Dr. Handal’s interests include examining environmental toxic exposure through a larger lens, focusing not only on the specific individual exposure to environmental contaminants, but also on the community-level impacts and how these impacts influence how individuals within a community or population become exposed. Such impacts include the pollution sources and exposure pathways unique to a community, the existing health conditions of the population, the community infrastructure and social capital, and the social, cultural, political, and economic structure of the population, all of which play a role in why individuals become exposed and who is the most vulnerable to the health effects of the toxic exposure. Dr. Handal’s research focuses on populations that are traditionally underrepresented in research, including Latino and Indigenous populations both here in New Mexico and in Latin America and those who are most exposed to environmental toxins such as farm-workers and day laborers, with a particular focus on women and their children.

 

Celia Iriart, Sociologist, M.P.H., Ph.D. is Assistant Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, Masters of Public Health Program at UNM. She is teaching Health Care Systems during spring semesters and Public Health Community Health Assessment during fall semesters, both courses are every two years. She received her Ph.D. in Collective Health from the School of Medicine, University of Campinas, Brazil and her M.P.H. with concentration in Epidemiology from the School of Medicine, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her first degrade is in Sociology from the National University of Mar del Plata, Argentina. She conducted two innovative participatory research studies in the Southeast Heights’ area in Albuquerque to develop a collaborative service model that bridges an underserved community and its UNM community clinic. She involved family practice residents, as well as, other providers from the clinic, community organizations, community leaders, and academic researchers in both experiences. She coordinates the research "Enhanced Access for Latin American Social Medicine" that developed a Web site and database facilitating access to important Latin American publications in this field. Currently she is coordinating a UNM project to continue building the database and website in collaboration with the University of Guadalajara in Mexico. Also, Dr. Iriart was co-investigator in the projects Global Trade and U.S. Health Policies, and Mental Health Services and Global Trade conducted by Howard Waitzkin. She is working with the University of Buenos Aires (Argentina), the Federal University in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), and the Institute of Public Health in Barcelona (Spain) to create educational and research exchange possibilities for faculties and students. She collaborates with the Practicum Director in facilitating the MPH students to accomplish this part of the Program requirement. For more than twenty years, Dr. Iriart has worked on research projects, consulting, and teaching in public health and social medicine in several countries in Latin America. Also, she participated in consulting and research projects with several United Nations agencies. Her specialties are health policies, health care systems, and health care service organization involving health providers and communities. Often, she offers consultation services to worker and professional unions, and advocacy groups in the U.S. and in Latin America. She was the Principal Investigator of the research project, "Managed Care in Latin America: It's Role in the Health System Reform". Teams from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, and the United States took part in this research. She had published a book, and numerous articles and chapter books in the USA, Latin America and Europe, about health policies and health care system reforms and public health education with special focus in Latin America. NIH Biosketch

 

Andy Rowland, PhD teaches epidemiologic data analysis and occupational/ environmental epidemiology. He also coordinates the epidemiology seminar. His research interests include attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and children’s mental health, the effects of environmental exposures like pesticides or metals on reproductive or neurological functions, and measurement of exposure in epidemiologic studies. Andy is a member of the advisory board of the New Mexico Department of Health worker’s health surveillance project. A recent publication is “Prevalence of Medication treatment for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) among elementary school children, Johnston County NC”. NIH Biosketch

 

Victoria Sánchez, Dr.P.H., joined the Department’s MPH program as Assistant Professor in August 2007. She coordinates the Community Health Concentration track and teaches the program planning and social/cultural theory courses. Dr. Sánchez earned her M.P.H. at the University of California at Berkeley and her Doctorate in Public Health in Health Behavior and Health Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has over 20 years of research and practice experience with public health agencies and university research projects in New Mexico, Texas, California and North Carolina. Her research interests span substance abuse prevention, community capacity building, coalition effectiveness, participatory planning and evaluation processes with public health departments, and qualitative methodologies to understand community change. Dr. Sánchez has a long-standing interest in understanding health behaviors within the broader contexts of family, cultural, community, and societal norms.

 

Kristine Tollestrup, Ph.D., is the Acting Director of the Masters in Public Health Program and directs the Concentration in Epidemiology. She has been with the MPH Program in the department since its first year in 1994. She also teaches Epidemiologic Methods I, one of the core courses in the MPH Program and oversees the web-based self-study course on introductory epidemiologic methods for medical students, residents, fellows, and clinicians. Her research interests focus on the health effects of arsenic, the public health impacts of onsite well-water and sewer systems, and the evaluation of community health worker programs in New Mexico.

 

Lily Dow Velarde, Ph.D. is the Vice Chair for Integration of Public Health and Medicine, the MPH Co-Director and MPH Practicum Director. Dr. Velarde Chairs and facilitates the process to create the Public Health Certificate for all medical students; works on curriculum to integrate public health and medicine; and works with MPH students to acquire and complete their MPH practicum course requirement. Dr. Velarde is also acting as Co-Director of the MPH Program. Her primary responsibility is to work on staff and student related issues. She also teaches and co-teaches courses for the MPH; medical students; Bachelor of Arts/Medical Degree students; and residents. Her research interests lie in health and diversity, adolescent health, and access to health services. She is developing a WebCT component to the Public Health Management course. She also works with the Rocky Mountain Public Health Education Consortium (RMPHEC) which is a collaborative to increase training opportunities among Maternal Child Health practitioners in New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado. Lastly, Dr. Velarde is an active member of the Network: Towards Unity for Health, an international organization seeking to address health issues in developing and developed nations.

 

Nina Wallerstein, Dr. P.H., is Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, and was the founding Director of the Masters in Public Health Program at the University of New Mexico until 2007. She currently is the Director of the Center for Participatory Research, Institute for Public Health, Department of Family and Community Medicine; and the Director of the developing Community Engagement and Research component of the Clinical Translational Science Center. She received her DrPH and MPH in Community Health Education at the School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley. For over 25 years, she has been involved in empowerment/popular education, and participatory research with youth, women, tribes, and community building efforts. She is the co-editor of Community Based Participatory Research for Health, 2nd edition, 2008 (with Meredith Minkler); co-author of Problem-Posing at Work: Popular Educator's Guide; and author of several health and adult education books and over 100 articles and book chapters on participatory intervention research, adolescent health promotion, alcohol and addictions prevention research, empowerment theory, and popular health education. Her current research interests focus on community capacity and health development in tribal communities, culturally appropriate translational intervention research, participatory evaluation, and community based participatory research processes and outcomes. NIH Biosketch

 

William H. Wiese, MD, M.P.H.,  is Professor and a former chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine. He worked with Dr. Nina Wallerstein as a co-founder of the MPH Program. Clinical interests have included clinical prevention. (He was a member of the original U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.) He left UNM in 1996 and worked with the State of New Mexico as consultant. In 1997, he was appointed Director of the Public Health Division in the NM Department of Health. He worked with Dr. Jo Fairbanks to co-author The Public Health Primer. He rejoined the full-time faculty in 2002, to establish the Institute for Public Health. In 2007 he was additionally appointed Interim Associate Director of the Robert Wood Johnson Center for Health Policy at UNM. His current interests include the social determinants of health, the impact of health policy on health status, and public health practice. He teaches Principles of Public Health with Dr. Wallerstein.

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