Underserved Populations:

Maria E. Fernandez, Ph.D., assistant professor of health promotion and behavioral sciences,
School of Public Health

Preventing and controlling cancer among low –income and minority populations is a goal of Fernandez’s research.

Maria E. Fernandez, Ph.D.

Working in the School of Public Health’s Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research, she has conducted research spanning the field of health promotion – from studies to better understand and measure health behaviors to the development and evaluation of community-based interventions for Hispanic and other underserved populations.

Fernandez is principal investigator (PI) on a large study funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to develop and evaluate a computer-based multimedia educational intervention to increase utilization of colorectal cancer screening among Hispanic men and women living in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.

She is also the PI on a CDC-funded project called LINCC – Latinos in a Network for Cancer Control, one of eight cancer prevention and control research networks funded across the country. This network focuses on eliminating cancer-related health disparities among Hispanics/Latinos through community-based intervention. The project has resulted in development of strong collaborations with the state health department, community organizations and other research institutions in Texas and surrounding states.

The director of diversity programs for the School of Public Health, Fernandez works with her colleagues in the Office of Student Affairs to enhance recruitment and retention of minority students and faculty. She also is heavily involved in research related to the reduction of health disparities and was recognized with an award from the UT M. D. Anderson Cancer Center’s Center for Research on Minority Health for her contributions to health disparities research.

During undergraduate training in human physiology, she was attracted to health promotion and behavioral sciences because the field “incorporates knowledge and skills from many disciplines, including psychology, anthropology, medicine, sociology and public health,” she said. “I enjoy working as a member of multidisciplinary teams that bring varied expertise together to address a public health problem.

“As a Hispanic individual,” she said, “I was also drawn to the opportunity to work with Hispanic/Latino populations to help reduce health disparities through better understanding of health behaviors and environmental conditions that influence health and the development of effective interventions that ultimately lead to improved health and quality of life.