People
Leadership
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Michael Roy Hames García
Interim Director; Professor
Dr. Michael Roy Hames-García is the Interim Director of the Latino Research Institute and Professor of Mexican American and Latina/o Studies. Dr. Hames-García studies and teaches about inequalities of race, class, gender, sexuality and disability in the criminal justice system from policing and criminal courts to incarceration and reentry. He joined the Department of Mexican American and Latina/o Studies at the University of Texas at Austin in fall of 2021. He previously worked for 15 years in the Department of Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies at the University of Oregon and for 8 years in the Department of English at the State University of New York at Binghamton. From 2019 until 2022, he served as a member of the City of Eugene's Civilian Review Board, and served on the Eugene Police Commission in 2022.
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Laura Esparza
Assistant Director
Laura Esparza is the Assistant Director of the Latino Research Institute. Ms. Esparza has more than 30 years’ experience in business and project management, including 15 years in public health research. Her research experience uses participatory methods to design, implement, and evaluate community interventions to promote healthy lifestyles for women, youth, and families in underserved communities. Ms. Esparza has a master’s degree in kinesiology and health promotion from The University of Texas at San Antonio and maintains two professional certifications: Physical Activity and Public Health Specialist and Master Certified Health Education Specialist.
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Erin Rodriguez
Area Director for Research
Dr. Erin Rodríguez is an associate professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at UT Austin. In partnership with schools, clinics, and community organizations, Dr. Rodríguez studies family, sociocultural, and contextual influences on children’s development and health outcomes, with a focus on understanding and reducing health disparities that impact Latinx youth. She also teaches courses in child social/emotional assessment and pediatric psychology & health disparities in the College of Education.
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Nelly Salgado de Snyder
Senior Research Scientist
Dr. Nelly Salgado de Snyder earned her Doctorate in Social Welfare from UCLA and a M.A. and B.A. in Psychology from UNAM. She specializes in researching social inequities that create environments of vulnerability and risk, which directly impact health and behavior. She is an emeritus member of the prestigious Sistema Nacional de Investigadores de Mexico and recently retired from the Mexican National Institute of Public Health (INSP) where she was a professor and researcher in medical sciences.
