I am currently a first-year PhD student in the Health Psychology area of the Psychological Sciences Department at UC Merced being advised by Dr. Matthew Zawadzki and Dr. Martin Hagger. I am a Eugene Cota-Robles Fellowship recipient for the 2023-2024 and 2025-2026 academic years. My research interest is in stress and health behaviors with a focus on the role of culture (i.e., norms, values, practices), intervention design (i.e., identification of underlying mechanisms and development of culturally-appropriate interventions), and intervention implementation among historically underserved populations.
One of my current projects is in collaboration with Dr. Rosa Manzo and Camarena Health in Madera, CA, and involves learning about perspectives on mental health and the use of mindfulness meditation among Latinx individuals in the San Joaquin Valley through conducting interviews and focus groups behavioral health case managers, Promotoras (community health workers), and community members. I am also assisting on the development of focus group materials for the California Collaborative for Pandemic Recovery and Readiness Research (CPR3) Project, which is also in collaboration with Camarena Health and focused on investigating vaccination attitudes, intention, and promotion among Latinx individuals in the Central Valley.
