Dr. Adriana Maldonado is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Promotion Sciences at the University of Arizona (UArizona) Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health. Dr. Maldonado is committed to research that identifies and addresses the root causes of health inequities faced by the U.S. Latino population. Her research is shaped by her multidisciplinary background – from masters-level training in experimental psychology at California State University San Marcos, doctoral training in community engaged research at the University of Iowa, and post-doctoral training in cancer prevention and control.
Dr. Maldonado’s recent work is focused on understanding the influence of social, contextual, and environmental factors on chronic diseases in U.S. Latinos. During her doctoral training, she utilized a mixed-methods approach to understand how social and environmental determinants of cardiovascular health influence hypertension management in Latinos in established vs. new Latino destination states. In 2022, Dr. Maldonado joined “Nosotros Comprometidos a Su Salud – Committed to your Health”, a UArizona public health program that aims to reduce health disparities faced by the Latino community in the Southern Arizona region. As an investigator of “Nosotros Comprometidos a Su Salud”, Dr. Maldonado is leading a community-based participatory research (CBPR) project that aims to understand how the built and social context as well as allostatic load impact migrant and seasonal farmworkers’ risk for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Her areas of focus include place-based health disparities, psychosocial determinants of health, stress, chronic diseases, cardiovascular disease, and cancer control and prevention.