Center for Translational Biomedical Research

Principal Investigators and Mentors: Knight Campus Faculty Fellows - Professor Leslie Leve, Prevention Science Institute/College of Education and Professor William Cresko, Institute of Evolution and Ecology/Biology Department

External Funding: NIH P50 Supplement to Leve, Cresko and DeGarmo

Candidate: Veronica Michelle Oro

There is an urgent need to reach Oregon’s Latinx community with public health and prevention messages that are culturally-relevant, address community concerns, and are delivered through appropriate information channels in order to increase testing rates and ultimately, reduce the spread of infection and mortality rates. In Oregon, people identifying as Latinx now represent approximately 24% of COVID-19 cases, while representing only about 13% of the state’s population. The overall goal of this effort is to implement a culturally-tailored community outreach and testing program to increase the reach, access, uptake, and impact of testing and to understand and reduce vaccine hesitancy in Latinx communities in Oregon.

Principal Investigators and Mentors:

Candidate:

 

Veronica Michelle Oro

Veronica Michelle Oro is completing her doctorate at Arizona State University where she is using twin data to examine shared genetic and environmental liabilities underlying chronic pain and mental health in middle childhood across diverse cultural contexts. She is particularly interested in examining the extent to which these mechanisms underlie intergenerational transmission, with the ultimate goal of subverting generational cycles of health disparities in historically underserved populations. As part of this fellowship, she will work closely with Knight Campus Faculty Fellows and UO professors Leslie Leve, of the Prevention Science Institute and College of Education and William Cresko, Institute of Evolution and Ecology and Department of Biology. View full CV.