People
Leadership
Nancy Rodriguez
Director; Professor
Dr. Nancy Rodriguez in the Director of the Latino Research Institute and Professor of Mexican American and Latina/o Studies. A key theme of Dr. Rodriguez's work focuses on Latinos in the criminal justice system. Her research has centered on criminal justice policy, particularly the disparities for justice-involved persons created or compounded by such policies, focusing on how actors’ decisions and discretion combine to produce varied justice outcomes across subgroups within local and state justice systems. Dr. Rodriguez is trained in quantitative and qualitative methods and regularly uses mixed-methods in my research, which falls in two complementary areas: 1) racial and ethnic disparities in the justice system and 2) harms of mass incarceration.
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Laura Esparza
Assistant Director
Laura Esparza, MS is the Assistant Director of the Latino Research Institute, where she provides strategic leadership across research initiatives, programs, and partnerships while ensuring alignment with the Institute's strategic priorities. Drawing from over 30 years of business and project management experience, including 15 years in public health research using participatory methods with communities, Ms. Esparza works closely with LRI leadership to oversee unit and research operations and maximize the impact of the Institute's efforts.
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Krissia Plascencia
Senior Academic Program Coordinator
Dr. Krissia Plascencia is a researcher, writer, and educator. Her research examines educational and health inequities through the experiences of children and young people who translate and explain language and culture for health-related needs. Dr. Plascencia has been published in the Journal of Leadership, Equity, and Research, International Migration, and Talking Points. Dr. Plascencia has taught at UC Irvine, UCLA, and Occidental College and was a Provost's Early Career Postdoctoral Fellow at the College of Education at UT Austin. She holds a Ph.D. from the UCLA Graduate School of Education in Urban Schooling and a BA from UC Santa Cruz in Latin American and Latina/o/x Studies.
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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.
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