I have a background in public health, specifically in the areas of health services and community-based chronic disease prevention/health promotion interventions.  My main research interests and achievements have been in the characterization of individual, inter-personal, organizational/community, and societal risk factors leading to disparities in health and in access to and utilization of preventive services. I have been involved in the design, implementation, evaluation, and dissemination oftheoretically guided community-based prevention and control interventions to reduce disparities in risk factors and enhance health and well-being. For these research studies, I have incorporated mixed methods (quantitative survey methods, and qualitative focus groups and semi-structured interviews). Further, my research has provided descriptive and research-tested inferential evidence for chronic disease prevention interventions. The research has utilized the socio-ecological and social determinants frameworks for health and has been conducted in collaboration with members of diverse ethnic/racial populations (i.e., Hispanics and African Americans) and with indigenous populations (i.e., American Samoans), those residing in rural communities, and hard-to-reach populations (i.e., migrant farm workers) in the United States and internationally. More recently, I conducted two comprehensive systematic reviews (and meta-analyses) of the literature documenting the effects of exercise interventions on health-related quality of life among cancer survivors undergoing active treatment and in the post-treatment phase.  My research has incorporated strategies to inform policy makers and stakeholders about the public health basis for policies that promote chronic disease prevention and the creation of social environments that promote social norms for health promoting behaviors. I am Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Family and Community Medicine. I am co-Leader of the Community Engagement and Research Component of the UNM Clinical and Translational Science Center (CTSC). I am also the Director of the Masters of Science in Clinical Research degree program and am the Course Director for the “Research Design” course.