Biography
Dr. Diaz Fuentes’ work focuses in health and family economics. Her research addresses, among other topics, multilevel factors of resource distribution in and between households, and risk behaviors and preferences among minority group for multiple outcomes (e.g., alcohol use, cancer and occupational safety). In her more recent research projects, Dr. Diaz Fuentes has studied health information disparities and their relationship to health behaviors using experimental data designs. From an outcomes and populations perspective, Dr. Diaz Fuentes’ work includes mental health outcomes, alcohol and substance use, and occupational safety among Latino and Latina immigrants. She has also studied health and health care access determinants for New Mexico women using large public health and population data files using an intersectionality approach. Her most recent work focuses on health care utilization and health insurance choices for those insured under the Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces. Dr. Diaz Fuentes also serves as Director of the UNM Evaluation Lab. The Lab harnesses the analytical skills of academia for the service of community organizations in New Mexico through a variety of student and community training programs and collaborative program evaluation projects. In her teaching capacity, her record includes, among others, Evaluation Methods, Microeconomics, Econometrics, and Health Economics.
Areas of Specialty
- Health Economics and Policy, Program Evaluation
Education
- BA Economics, Universidad Centroamericana, El Salvador.
- MA Economics, Vanderbilt University
- MPhil Policy Analysis, Pardee RAND Graduate School
- PhD Policy Analysis, Pardee RAND Graduate School