Adela de la Torre, an agricultural economist, is a professor in
the Chicana/o Studies Department and director of the Center for
Transnational Health at UC Davis. Dr. de la Torre’s publications
and research primarily focus on social determinants of
Chicano/Latino health issues, including border and binational
health. In addition, her recent NIH funded work includes
targeting English Language Learning student science educational
disparities and developing university- and school-based
partnerships to tackle this growing educational divide.
Lisceth Brazil-Cruz holds a doctoral degree in School
Organization and Educational Policy from the University of
California, Davis. Her research interests include educational and
pipeline issues affecting disenfranchised, underserved and
vulnerable student populations as well as issues of equity among
communities of color. Her dissertation focused on understanding
parental practices of Latino first generation college students as
they transition from high school to college.
Mary Lou de Leon Siantz is a professor at the Betty Irene Moore
School of Nursing at UC Davis. She is nationally recognized for
her interdisciplinary efforts to prepare health professionals for
leadership and policy, and internationally respected for her
research in migrant health.
Laura Grindstaff is a Professor of Sociology, Director of the UC
Davis Consortium for Women and Research, and a Co-Investigator on
the NSF ADVANCE-IT grant. As Consortium director, Dr. Grindstaff
is charged with creating professional development opportunities
for women faculty and graduate students across the various
colleges of the university and with promoting research efforts
focused on issues of gender and gender inequality.
Dr. Karen McDonald is a Co-Principal Investigator of the UC Davis
ADVANCE Program and Professor in the Department of Chemical
Engineering and served as Associate Dean for Research and
Graduate Studies in the College of Engineering at UC Davis for 13
years prior to joining the UC Davis ADVANCE program. In addition,
Dr.
