Research Team
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Laura Delfausse
Health Educator
Laura Delfausse is the Health Educator for several research studies at The University of Texas at Austin. She has experience in community nutrition, medical nutrition therapy and clinical research. She holds a M.S. from Georgia State University in Atlanta, GA and a B.A. from Flagler College in St. Augustine, FL. Her graduate school research focused on childhood obesity and she just completed a dairy and blood pressure research project in the Kinesiology and Health Education Department at The University of Texas at Austin. Laura is a registered and licensed dietitian, and believes that a balanced lifestyle is the key to achieving lifelong health.
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Vanessa Errisuriz
Research Associate
Vanessa Errisuriz is a Research Associate with the Latino Research Institute at The University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Errisuriz’s research focuses on using a socioecological-based approach to identify significant contributors to child obesity, rural health disparities, and program implementation. She has extensive training in the assessment of physical activity and dietary behaviors as well as a broad background in psychology, with knowledge to assess theoretically-related constructs associated with health behaviors and program implementation. Currently, Dr. Errisuriz serves as project coordinator for two, NIH-funded R01s entitled. “Healthy Frio: A Rural Partnership to Advance Latino Obesity Research” and “¡Miranos! Look at Us, We are Healthy”, both of which focus on providing theoretically-based, culturally competent health interventions to Latino families. She received her Ph.D. in Health Behavior and Health Education from The University of Texas at Austin, a M.A. in Health Psychology from Texas State University - San Marcos, and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Texas at San Antonio.
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Jaime Fuentes
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Dr. Jaime Fuentes-Balderrama is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Steve Hicks School of Social Work with The University of Texas at Austin where he acts as project manager and senior data analyst for two projects funded by the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Fuentes joins the university with six years of teaching experience at both undergraduate and graduate levels, and over ten years of clinical experience. He approaches his work through a strengths-based perspective and his research interests intersect with parenting, Latinx youth mental health; cultural adaptation and therapeutic efficacy of parenting programs, as well as educational attainment in underprivileged groups. Jaime is a graduate of the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City where he attained a Bachelor's in Psychology, a Master's in Community Counseling, and a Ph.D. in Psychological Research.
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Eva González Villanueva
Social Science/Humanities Research Associate II
Eva González Villanueva is a bilingual Research Associate at the Latino Research Institute with over five years of experience in data collection and project management. Eva has clinical experience in school and pediatric inpatient settings and is committed to working with underserved populations using a socio-ecological framework. Her research interests intersect with child and adolescent mental health, sleep health; cultural adaptation of evidence-based interventions (with an emphasis on immigrant and Latino populations), and health communication. Eva holds an M.S. in Social Work from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master's of Public Health from UTHealth Science Center School of Public Health at Houston. Eva also holds a B.A. in Psychology from The University of Texas at Austin.
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Christina Leal
Social Science/Humanities Research Associate II, Healthy Rural TX
Christina Leal is the Social Science/Humanities Research Associate II for the Healthy Rural Texas project at The University of Texas at Austin. She is a first-generation graduate, earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Social Work at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Her educational background centers on direct practice with Latino populations. Her interests include increasing mental health education, awareness, and resources to those in her community. Specifically, those who are survivors of trauma and narcissistic abuse. Previously, she was a part of implementing a newly launched project in the Rio Grande Valley that aimed at providing mental health psychoeducation, processing, and mindfulness to students and families in rural areas. Further, she has experience in individual, family, and group therapy in social service agencies and in academic settings. She was formerly a Research Associate in the Entre Familia project, which aims to increase HPV vaccination among Hispanic adolescents and young adults.
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Renata Morfin
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Assistant I
Renata Morfin is a trilingual Social Sciences and Humanities Research Assistant I at the Latino Research Institute (LRI). She supports a variety of activities related to extramurally funded research, such as recruitment. She also supports the planning and implementation of other research initiatives. Renata obtained her BSA in Neuroscience at The University of Texas at Austin and is passionate about empowering individuals to pursue healthy lifestyles and achieve a better quality of life. Renata has lived in three different counties and enjoys engaging people from various ethnic and cultural backgrounds to work together to achieve a common goal.
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Minyu Zhang
Database Coordinator
Minyu Zhang is Database Coordinator at the Latino Research Institute. In addition to her extensive data management experience, she has rigorous training in advanced statistics using primary and secondary datasets. Dr. Zhang earned a PhD in Human Development and Family Sciences and completed a yearlong postdoctoral training program at the Population Research Center at The University of Texas at Austin. Trained as a quantitative social scientist, she believes that maintaining organized datasets and preserving research data throughout the lifecycle are critical elements in conducting ethical, quality research. She is the LRI’s point of contact for preparing and interpreting database structure and facilitating the efficient use of data for research projects internal and external to the Latino Research Institute.
