PhD Students
April Ansari
MPH, 2022 Cohort
Advisor: Dr. Eva Moya
April is interested in human rights violations through the lens of sexual violence, trauma, forced labor, and gender inequality. She contextualizes the impact of structural factors, such as armed conflicts and state capacities, on the health of women and children throughout the borderland.
Curriculum Vitae
Jehu Apaflo
MS in Biology, 2021 Cohort
Advisor: Dr. Sudip Bajpeyi
Jehu is interested in understanding the effects of a high fat diet and physical activity on the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes mellitus. His study aims to elucidate the benefits of exercise, electromyostimulation and dietary interventions in preventing and mitigating the metabolic defects associated with type 2 diabetes and obesity.
Curriculum Vitae
Dave Arellano
MPH, 2022 Cohort
Advisor: Dr. Gabriel Ibarra-Mejia
Dave is interested in educating and empowering individuals on many preventable illnesses in terms of primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention. He seeks to improve the overall health status of his community and most importantly, help bridge the gap in regards to access to medical services, resources, health information, and linkages to care.
Curriculum Vitae
Abdulahi Ayanwale
MD, MPH, 2022 Cohort
Advisor: Dr. Gabriel Ibarra-Mejia
Abdulahi is interested in the emerging infectious fungal disease called Valley Fever/Coccidioidomycosis, which is endemic along the US-Mexico border region among construction and agricultural workers. His study aims to investigate the infection rate and hospitalization among these populations because they are highly exposed to the organism due to the nature of their job.
Curriculum Vitae
Rosa Castellanos Vargas
MS in Gerontology, 2022 Cohort
Advisor: Dr. Bruce Friedman
Rosa is interested in mental health and the cognitive aging process of the general population and older people. She is also interested in performing interventions through cognitive activities, as well as promoting active aging to prevent cognitive decline and dementia.
Curriculum Vitae
Denise Chacon-Portillo
MPH, CHES, 2022 Cohort
Advisor: Dr. Jeannie Concha
Denise is interested in the use of person-first language and strength-based language in diabetes care and research. Additional interests include mental health, LGBTQ+ health, and policy.
Curriculum Vitae
Emily Chavez
MS in Kinesiology, PhD(c), 2020 Cohort
Advisor: Dr. Jeffrey Eggleston
Emily is interested in lower extremity motor control in individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders in comparison to individuals with neurotypical development during locomotor activities. Specifically, in examining gait adaptations/responses between over ground and treadmill-based walking.
Curriculum Vitae
Judith Chavira-Mendoza
MA, MS, DTR, 2019 Cohort
Advisor: Dr. Eva Moya
Judith is interested in the effect of food insecurity on diabetes mellitus management among Hispanics in El Paso, Texas.
Curriculum Vitae
Katelyn Conroy
MS in Kinesiology and Nutrition Sciences, 2022 Cohort
Advisor: Dr. Jeffrey Eggleston
Katelyn’s research interests include investigating lower extremity biomechanical variables related to various topics such as sports performance, rehabilitation, and daily living.
Curriculum Vitae
Rosa Escalante Lopez
MSW, 2023 Cohort
Advisor: Dr. Jason Mallonee
Rosa’s research interests include mental health accessibility, removing stigma and education in the Hispanic community. She is also interested in developing interventions for people with a physical disability to navigate mental health impacts after life-changing situations. Additional interests include health accessibility in rural areas, OUD, SUD, and food security.
Curriculum Vitae
Athena Fester
MS, 2019 Cohort
Advisor: Dr. Eva Moya
Athena's research interests include the phenomenological experiences of pregnant teens, and biases and preconceived assumptions about their situation. She is also interested in their resiliency to overcome this challenge and how it impacts their life choices; particularly, continuing their education.
Curriculum Vitae
Maria Fuentes
MD, MPH, 2018 Cohort
Advisor: Dr. Gabriel Ibarra-Mejia
Maria is studying social determinants of health associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among vulnerable populations in rural areas of El Paso, Texas.
Curriculum Vitae
Samantha Gaytan
MS in Kinesiology, 2021 Cohort
Advisor: Dr. Md Nurunnabi
Samantha’s research aims to develop a nanoparticle-based system to deliver an anti-fibrotic drug, aiming to shield the heart from development of fibrosis caused by chemotherapy and gastric cancer.
Curriculum Vitae
Uchenna Gbugu
PharmD, MPH, BCACP, 2021 Cohort
Advisor: Dr. Gabriel Frietze
Uchenna’s research interests include studying health disparities experienced by racial/ethnic minority populations, especially in diseases and genetic conditions where minorities are predisposed.
Curriculum Vitae
Amir Hernandez
MPH, 2020 Cohort
Advisor: Dr. Gabriel Frietze
Amir's primary research interests include cancer prevention in Hispanic border populations by reducing disparities in screenings and vaccination. Additional interests include clinical and biomedical informatics research as well as global health and population health topics.
Curriculum Vitae
Jasmin Jenkins
MS in Kinesiology, PhD(c), 2020 Cohort
Advisor: Dr. Jeffrey Eggleston
Jasmin's research interests include altitude effects, fatigue, human physiology, tactical strength and conditioning, and naval aerospace medical research.
Curriculum Vitae
Robbie Kennebrew
MPH, 2023 Cohort
Advisor: Dr. Gregory Schober
Robbie's research interests include the politics of food systems, food autonomy, food sovereignty, agroecology, and the intersectionality of economic power and food apartheid.
Curriculum Vitae
Joshua Labadah
MPhil, Molecular Cell Biology, 2021 Cohort
Advisor: Dr. Sudip Bajpeyi
Joshua is interested in investigating the immune modulations associated with metabolic diseases such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. He aims to identify immune markers to enhance diagnosis, assessing treatment efficacy and as potential therapeutic targets.
Curriculum Vitae
Alyssa Martinez
MPH, CHES, 2022 Cohort
Advisor: Dr. Gabriel Frietze
Alyssa’s research interests include Hispanic health disparities, infectious diseases and epidemiology. Specifically, Alyssa investigates health topics that Hispanics may be impacted by, such as cancer, human papillomavirus, and COVID-19.
Curriculum Vitae
Angel Melendez
MHL, MSRC, RRT, NPS, 2023 Cohort
Advisor: Dr. Alvaro Gurovich
Angel is a healthcare professional and researcher with a focus on clinical applied physiology, respiratory care, and exercise stress testing. Their research aims to improve patient outcomes by addressing health disparities in the Hispanic patient population and enhancing patient education. They advocate for interdisciplinary collaboration, especially between respiratory care and physical therapy.
Curriculum Vitae
Md Mohsin
MS in Applied Statistics, 2021 Cohort
Advisor: Dr. Thenral Mangadu
Mohsin's primary research interest is maternal and child health disparities related to substance use disorder. He is also interested in child malnutrition, specifically in developing/least developed countries.
Curriculum Vitae
Donyeill Mozer
MPA, 2020 Cohort
Advisor: Dr. Jeannie Concha
Don's research revolves around the effects of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in military veterans and marginalized communities. He seeks to destigmatize ACE and create programs that will build resiliency within these populations and help improve long-term health outcomes.
Josette Pelatan
MEd, PhD(c), 2022 Cohort
Advisor: Dr. Jeffrey Eggleston
Josette's research interests include neurological research for brain-rewiring, post-traumatic growth, phenomenological experiences of homeless students, health disparities, mental health biases linked to socio-economic factors, adverse childhood experiences, resiliency and the use of education as a major healing tool.
Curriculum Vitae
Jaime Perales
MS in Kinesiology, 2022 Cohort
Advisor: Dr. Kisuk Min
Jaime is interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in exercise on cardiac and skeletal muscle. He seeks to understand how the MAPK pathway and phosphatases can promote significant changes in how the body responds to exercise and how exercise can prevent and treat the development of metabolic diseases.
Curriculum Vitae
Richard Petri
MD, 2023 Cohort
Advisor: Dr. Gabriel Ibarra-Mejia
Richard is interested in holistic medicine and Integrative Health and Healing. His study proposes using cultural paradigms of health, such as Traditional Chinese Medicine, to understand Western diagnoses and failed treatments, specifically in pain management, to obtain improved outcomes, better targeted and appropriate therapies, and have a significant impact on societal health and satisfaction.
Curriculum Vitae
Katherine Reyes-Brooks
PT, DPT, 2021 Cohort
Advisor: Dr. Alvaro Gurovich
Katherine is interested in possible connections between vascular health, neurological health and boxing as a form of exercise intervention for people with Parkinson’s disease.
Curriculum Vitae
Kendra Rosales
MS, CCC-SLP, 2023 Cohort
Advisor: Dr. Vannesa Mueller
Kendra is interested in pediatric feeding and swallowing disorders. Her research will focus on developing treatment interventions that are efficacious and accessible to all disciplines. The intervention will aim to desensitize aversions to food at the level of sight, allowing children to successfully increase the number of foods accepted across categories and decrease the risk of developing comorbidities related to nutritional deficiencies
Curriculum Vitae
Silvia Salinas-Lopez
MD, MPH, PhD(c), 2016 Cohort
Advisor: Dr. Maria Duarte
Silvia is interested in studying the role of traditional and emerging risk factors in non-communicable diseases among Hispanic-American adolescents.
Curriculum Vitae
Michael Sanchez
MS, PhD(c), 2020 Cohort
Advisor: Dr. Gabriel Ibarra-Mejia
Michael is interested in understanding the metabolic defects with obesity and type 2 diabetes. He is specifically interested in understanding the effectiveness of rapid fat reduction through means of surgical approaches such as liposuction on the lipid profile and energy metabolism.
Curriculum Vitae
Nicolas Silva
MSW, LMSW, 2023 Cohort
Advisor: Dr. Jason Mallonee
Nico’s research and practice areas investigate the implications of the arts in health, medicine and society. He is deeply invested in expressive arts therapy and ultra endurance performance, from multi-day ultrarunning and walking, to durational art and Broadway/theatre performance. He has a lifelong commitment to diversifying STEAMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics, Medicine), implementation science, clinical trials, and the professoriate.
Curriculum Vitae
Leonardo Vinicius Thome Teixeira da Silva
PT, MPT, 2023 Cohort
Advisor: Dr. Camila Torriani-Pasin
Leonardo's research interests center on investigating the factors influencing stroke survivors' engagement in physical activity and reduction of sedentary behavior, ultimately fostering increased community participation. By delving into the interplay of factors such as physical features, self-motivation, and environment barriers and facilitators, Leonardo aspires to identify key determinants that can positively impact stroke survivors' community roles. Leonardo's research seeks to contribute valuable insights that inform tailored interventions and enhance the overall quality of life of stroke survivors.
Curriculum Vitae
Heather Vanderhoof
MS in Kinesiology, PhD(c), 2020 Cohort
Advisor: Dr. Jeffrey Eggleston
Heather's research interests include biomechanical functionality related to the advancing stages of pregnancy, with a special interest in balance, stair kinematics, and gait.
Curriculum Vitae
Donald Williams-Gutiérrez
MPH, CHES, 2017 Cohort
Advisor: Dr. Jeannie Concha
Donald's broader research interests are health disparities in cardiovascular disease risk along the U.S.-Mexico Border. He will be investigating specific CVD issues within this area. Donald is also interested in holistic approaches to addressing border community health and wellness in order to improve health outcomes and reduce health disparities.
Curriculum Vitae
