I am an Associate Professor at the Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. I trained at Tufts University, where I obtained an MPH and a PhD in Nutritional Biochemistry. My research interests are on diet, genes, and psychosocial factors that contribute to chronic disease among minority populations. I am particularly interested in Latinos, and specifically, in Puerto Rican's health. Besides research, I work diligently towards the inclusion and advancement of under-represented groups in epidemiologic and community studies, of minority students in public health education, and of women and minorities in science and academia.
Project Info:
Through multiple funding awards, my research team is studying the genetic, lifestyle (especially traditional diet), and sociocultural determinants of cardiometabolic diseases and allostatic load in racial and ethnic groups, particularly Latinos in the U.S. and Latin America, as a framework to explain health disparities. We also develop culturally-tailored dietary interventions and nutritional programs to prevent diabetes and obesity in Puerto Rico and among Latinos living in Boston. We collaborate with various population-based observational studies of diverse Latino ethnicities, and our work extends to several Latin American countries.