Given the public health impact of substance use disorders during pregnancy, it is critical to investigate the mechanisms that underpin alterations in fetal development resulting in adverse perinatal outcomes.
Experienced researchers making an impact on health outcomes. Our faculty bring experience and expertise that is passed on to our students.
Associate Professor
Dr. Couig has expertise in public health emergency preparedness, health & public health policy and registered nurse transition-to-practice residency programs. Prior to joining the faculty at the College of Nursing in July 2019, she worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs, managing the national RN Transition-to-Practice Residency Program. She collaborated with the VA’s Office of Emergency Management on education and training issues. She also worked with the Veteran’s Emergency Management Evaluation Center (VEMEC) and is currently collaborating with VEMEC on a research study of nurses who have cared for patients with COVID-19. Additionally, she is the PI on a research study with Sandia National Laboratories to use artificial intelligence to support national COVID-19 response. Dr. Couig completed a career in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. Her assignments while she was on active duty included the Indian Health Service, the Food and Drug Administration and the Office of the Surgeon General.
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Professor
Dr. Damron is currently senior advisor to the dean and a professor in the College of Nursing. She previously served as the Chief Government Relations Officer for The University of New Mexico for all federal, state, tribal, county, and city government relations for UNM Health Sciences Center, main and branch campuses. Her current research focuses on higher education policy. Prior to her government work, Dr. Damron was funded by the National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society, the Oncology Nursing Society, and other national foundations. Her research at that time focused on cancer health disparities, biospecimen collection, and health policy. Dr. Damron conducted her research while serving as a research member of the UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center. She has had over 20 years of clinical experience as an Oncology Clinical Nurse Specialist and as a hospital executive. She is the former Cabinet Secretary for Higher Education and former State Higher Education Executive Officer (SHEEO) for the State of New Mexico.
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Associate Professor
Dr. Hernandez’s research has primarily focused on military service members. He has examined perceptions of stigma and barriers to accessing mental health services, as well as resilience and stress. Dr. Hernandez is currently researching the effectiveness of an intervention on increasing resilience in U.S. Air Force Health care personnel and has also completed research focused on gaining a deeper understanding of hemodialysis patients’ quality of life. His areas of clinical experience include intensive care, medical/surgical, trauma, and telemetry nursing.
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Assistant Professor
Dr. Kivlighan is interested in how clinical and physiological processes around the time of childbirth can influence lactation initiation and duration. She is also interested the physiological processes underlying the many observed health benefits of breastfeeding for both mother and child. Her current work focuses on the effect of common childbirth practices, such as synthetic oxytocin exposure and epidural use on lactation outcomes. She has also been funded to investigate the role of endogenous oxytocin and its receptor in the onset of lactation and early milk yield. Future work will extend these findings to populations at risk for early lactation cessation.
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Professor
Dr. Lavin’s current research focuses on addressing critical topics in disaster, human services and public health emergency preparedness, with focuses on implications for policy related to the profession of nursing and treatment of chronic conditions during disaster. She began her career as a U.S. Public Health Service Officer at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in an acute care psychiatric admission unit for people experiencing homelessness. During the course of her career, she cared for federal prisoners, immigration detainees - including leading a team to address a mass migration in Guatemala - served as the Director of the Secretary's Command Center after 9/11 and the anthrax attacks, and had the opportunity to create the Disaster Case Management program to meet the needs of the poor and underserved after a disaster. She entered academia in 2010 at a small Catholic University.
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Associate Professor
Dr. Lee focuses her research on Asian American women's health and prevention-seeking behaviors. She is particularly interested in research aimed to reduce disparities in breast and cervical cancer among Korean and/or Vietnamese American women. Primarily to develop culturally appropriate community-based interventions that meet the needs of these populations. Her research interest has also focused on the development and psychometric evaluations of instruments.
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Associate Professor
Dr. Lehan Mackin is an associate professor and researcher focusing on issues of sexual and reproductive health for disadvantaged populations. This has included a women’s health focus looking at how rural and college-attending women in Iowa navigate sexual risk and pregnancy prevention. Most recently, her and her team have examined how Black women’s experience of racism during clinical encounters impacts how they seek reproductive health care. Mackin has also developed a comprehensive measure of sexual health knowledge (TASK) for youth with and without developmental disabilities. Her current research is also seeking to examine health education and relationship curriculum for persons with developmental disabilities for effectiveness at increasing knowledge and skills to develop relationships, and decreasing risk of adverse outcomes such as domestic violence or unintended pregnancy.
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Associate Professor
Dr. Ruyak’s research focuses on the biobehavioral mechanisms of adverse pregnancy and infant outcomes, especially in disadvantaged populations including mothers and infants affected by substance use disorders. Currently funded research projects examine the intersection of maternal diverse forms of early life psychobiological stress and trauma across the lifespan and prenatal substance use as it relates to placenta function and neurobehavioral development of the fetus and infant.
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Professor
Dr. Tigges has research interests in mentoring interventions; Measurement: institutional mentoring climate, collaborations and community engagement; Evaluation of research centers; Recruitment strategies for community based studies; Adolescent sexual risk behaviors and psychosocial determinants of health behavior.
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Professor
Dr. Yu has a multidisciplinary academic background in Public Health and Toxicology, specifically in Environmental and Occupational Health sciences. His area of expertise focuses on developing advanced biomedical technologies such as advanced omics, tissue culture engineering, exposure assessment, and Systems Biology to explore the relationship between environmental exposures and human health.
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