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Dr. Avila received her Doctor of Nursing Practice from the University of South Alabama. She is currently serving on the board of directors for New Mexico Alliance for School Based Health Care. She is a Clinician Educator for the Family Nurse Practitioner and Pediatric Nurse Practitioner programs. Her primary focus for clinical practice and research has on the wellbeing of adolescents’ health. She has given multiple presentations on the topic of adolescent health and published work regarding adolescents in the scope of mindfulness and mental health. Additionally, she is currently a PI working on a randomized control trial that will focus on Hispanic adolescent mental behavioral health (MBH) needs. They are expanding current services of UNM ADOBE Program, which is a model of integrated, multidisciplinary, sustainable, whole-family approach for primary care, psychiatric care, and navigation support.
Dr. Dickson has a secondary appointment with the UNM College of Population Health. She has over 20 years of public health nursing experience, including work with the Indian Health Service and the New Mexico Department of Health. Dr. Dickson’s experience providing direct public health services and education to adolescent populations in school base health settings in both urban and rural communities has informed her scholarship focus on adolescent health, school health, and community based participatory research (CBPR). Her current funded research explores youth perspectives of sexual health education in school settings, and experiences of school nurses during the COVID 19 pandemic. As faculty with the UNM Center for Participatory Research, Dr. Dickson collaborates with multidisciplinary research teams exploring the use of CBPR practices in academic and community partnerships. She also serves on local and state advisory boards related to adolescent health and school health services, and is a board member for the New Mexico Alliance for School Based Health Care.
Director of Alumni Relations
Marlena Bermel, MBA
College of Nursing
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1 University of New Mexico