Dora Valencia is a first-year Ph.D. student in the Clinical Translational Sciences program and a second-year graduate student in the Master of French program at the University of Arizona. She obtained her Master of Public Health (MPH) in Global Health from the University of Arizona in 2019. Dora completed her undergraduate career in 2017, obtaining her BSHS in Physiology, BA in French and Francophone Studies and a minor in Biochemistry from the University of Arizona.
During her time as a Master of Public Health student, Dora interned at the National Institute of Argentina with funding from the Cancer Epidemiology Education in Special Populations (CEESP) fellowship and the University of Arizona. While in Argentina, Dora contributed to a survey research project designed to better understand how breast cancer patients navigate the country’s healthcare system and to identify barriers to care. She also created an online education module to train NCI surveyors, located in various parts of Argentina, in surveying best practices and survey implementation strategies.
Her experience in science, public health and humanities studies have led her to pursue a career in Clinical Translational Sciences because she wishes to be a part of the generation of researchers that improve clinical treatment practice, that promote disease prevention, that advance the equitability of the health care system and lead medicine to be more patient-centered and focused on the whole person.
Dora’s research interests include breast cancer prevention and biology, improving health outcomes of underserved populations by creating treatment and care that is more equitable and patient centered, and utilizing the human experience as portrayed in literature and in spoken language to strengthen clinical research and clinical practices.
In her free time, Dora dances ballet, lyrical and contemporary styles, she practices Vinyasa yoga and enjoys painting with acrylics. She enjoys reading fiction and non-fiction novels and watching series on Netflix and Hulu.
Dora’s ultimate career goal would be to work as a cancer researcher for the Early Detection and Prevention group of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon, France.