Biography
I am a medical anthropologist and Associate Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of New Mexico. My efforts are concentrated in the areas of scholarship, teaching/education and service.
Areas of Specialty
Scholarship: I have expertise in qualitative and mixed method research, formative assessment and process evaluation. My research has concentrated on cancer care delivery research, patient-provider communication, clinical decision making, health service delivery, community-based participatory research and health disparities in primary care and community settings. I have received institutional and extramural funding (RWJ Health Policy Center, CTSC, AHRQ, NIH) to conduct research on a broad range of topics including cancer prevention, obesity/diabetes, substance use, and complementary and alternative medicine. My research involves colleagues throughout the Health Sciences Center and with collaborators at other institutions. Within the Health Sciences Center, I have worked with faculty and staff in the Prevention Research Center, College of Nursing, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Department of Surgery, College of Pharmacy, UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center, Internal Medicine, Department of Sociology and Department of Psychology. I have served as the Director of RIOS Net, a primary care practice-based research in the Department of Family and Community Medicine. At the UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center, I have served as the Founding Director of the Behavioral Measurement and Population Science Shared Resource since 2013 and in late 2018, I was appointed as Associate Director, Office of Community Outreach and Engagement in the UNM Cancer Center.
Education
Teaching/Education: I have been an instructor in the Master of Science in Biomedical Science Program since 2008. I am the Course Director for Qualitative Measurement through which I teach a class and serve on Master’s Committees for doctoral-level students. In this role, I have provided mentorship and research guidance to dozens of trainees. Within the Family Medicine Department, I have a formal role working with the Residency Program to work with Residents toward the completion of the scholarly requirements. In addition to these structured positions, I work informally with colleagues and faculty throughout the Health Sciences to provide mentorship and consultation on scientific studies, many of which utilize qualitative methods.
Certifications
Service: Over the past several years, I have provided service to the UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center on faculty hiring committees and on the Population Science Clinical Working Group. Additionally, I have previously served on the Medical Student Research Committee reviewing medical student proposals. I also serve on the Master of Science of Clinical Research Steering Committee where I provide programmatic leadership and review applications to the Program. I also work within the Department of Family Medicine to provide ongoing evaluation to the Physician Assistant Program and have taken on other Service roles including evaluation of the Advancing Institutional Mentoring Excellence Program through the Office for Diversity.