Scientific Advisory Panel

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Nilsa Burgos

Dr. Burgos is a full professor and researcher, retired from the Graduate School of Social Work, University of Puerto Rico (1983-2014). She is also a member of the Scientific Advisory Panel at the Latino Research Institute, University of Texas at Austin. Faculty Affiliate of the Consortium on Race, Gender and Ethnicity at the University of Maryland. With a PhD in research from Columbia University and a MSW from the University of Puerto Rico, Dr. Burgos Ortiz is a visiting professor at the following universities: George Mason University, The State University of New Jersey Rutgers, Catholic University Dominican Republic, University of Brasilia and University of Costa Rica. She belongs to several editorial boards in Latin America and in Puerto Rico. In 2018 she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Puerto Rican Association of Social Workers. She has also presented papers, individually and in panels, in many Latin American universities, Puerto Rico, the United States, and countries such as Spain, South Korea, Croatia and Ireland. She is the author of two books, co-author of four, editor of five, has chapters in eleven books, and multiple articles in peer review journals of different countries. Served as president of the Latin American Association of Schools of Social Work from 2015 thru 2018.

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Rogelio Sáenz

Dr. Rogelio Sáenz is a sociologist and demographer at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), where he is professor in the Department of Demography. He has written extensively in the areas of demography, Latina/os, race, inequality, immigration, COVID-19, health disparities, aging, public policy, and social justice. Sáenz is co-author of Latinos in the United States: Diversity and Change and co-editor of the International Handbook of the Demography of Race and Ethnicity. He regularly writes op-ed essays and research briefs for a variety of media and academic outlets throughout the country. Sáenz recently received the 2020 Saber es Poder Academic Excellence Award from the University of Arizona’s Department of Mexican American Studies, the 2021 Cox-Johnson-Frazier Award from the American Sociological Association (ASA), the 2022 Julian Samora Distinguished Career Award from the ASA Section on Latina/o Sociology, and was recently elected as the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences’ 2023 Ernest Burgess Fellow. He was also inducted to the UTSA Academy of Distinguished Researchers in 2021.

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Victor Saenz

Victor B. Sáenz, Ph.D. is the L. D. Haskew Centennial Professor in Public School Administration and the Chair of the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy at University of Texas at Austin. He is also the Associate Dean for Student Success, Community Engagement, and Administration for the College of Education. Dr. Saenz holds courtesy faculty appointments with the LBJ School of Public Affairs, the Center for Mexican American Studies, and various other research centers across the University. His current work advances research-informed best practices and policy solutions that improve educational outcomes for underserved students in education, with a special emphasis on boys and young men of color. In 2010 Sáenz co-founded an award-winning mentoring initiative at UT-Austin called Project MALES, a multi-pronged effort focused on advancing educational outcomes for male students of color (based within the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement). Dr. Sáenz earned his Ph.D. in Higher Education and Organizational Change in 2005 from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he also completed a Master's in Education in 2002. He also earned a Master's degree in Public Affairs (1999, LBJ School of Public Affairs) and a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics (1996, College of Natural Sciences) from UT-Austin.

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Nelly Salgado de Snyder

Dr. V. Nelly Salgado de Snyder holds a Doctorate in Social Welfare from the University of California Los Angeles and a B.A. and Master's Degree in Psychology from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Her research has focused on the interface of health sciences and social and behavioral sciences in the study of vulnerable populations in contexts of social inequality. Global health and social determinants of health have been central themes in her research work in recent years. Dr. Salgado de Snyder maintains international collaborations with colleagues in various parts of the world and has more than 150 publications in scientific journals, book chapters and books. She is a consultant to many national and international organizations and has received numerous funding from various sources for her research and teaching projects. She has taught more over 120 undergraduate and graduate courses, and graduated more than 40 undergraduate, master and doctoral students. She is a member of the Mexican Academy of Sciences; Academy of Sciences of Morelos; Fellow of the American Psychological Association; Fulbright Fellow; Fulbright New Century Scholar in Global Health; and Balzan Fellow on Social Determinants of Health, among other distinctions. Dr. Salgado de Snyder is an emeritus member of the prestigious Sistema Nacional de Investigadores de Mexico. She recently retired from the National Institute of Public Health of Mexico (INSP), where she was a professor and senior researcher in medical sciences for over 30 years. Currently she is a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Latino Research Institute of the University of Texas at Austin.

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Rachel Shelton

Rachel Shelton, ScD, MPH is a social and behavioral scientist with training in cancer and social epidemiology, and expertise in implementation science, sustainability, health equity, and community-based participatory research. She is an Associate Professor of Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, where she is Co-Director of the Community Engagement Core Resource at the Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (CTSA) and Director of a university-wide Implementation Science Initiative. Dr. Shelton has taught a course in implementation science in public health for over 10 years and has been an invited speaker and mentor for implementation science programs and trainings globally, including NIH’s Training Institute for Dissemination & Implementation Research in Cancer (TIDIRC), the Institute for Implementation Science Scholars (IS-2), and implementation science training programs in Australia, Nigeria, Ireland, Mozambique, and Thailand. Dr. Shelton has 15 years of experience conducting and leading mixed-methods, community-engaged research on advancing the science of implementation and sustainability of evidence-based interventions in community and clinical settings to address health inequities, particularly in the context of cancer prevention/control. Her research program is supported by several NIH institutions and foundations, including NIA, NCI, NIMHD, NCATs, and the American Cancer Society.

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Ruth Zambrana

Dr. Zambrana is a Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland Department of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Director of the Consortium on Race, Gender and Ethnicity and has a secondary appointment as Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, School of Medicine. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM). Her scholarship applies a critical intersectional lens to structural inequality and racial, Hispanic ethnicity, and gender inequities in population health and higher education trajectories. Dr. Zambrana has published widely on health and racial inequity in her major field concentrations: women’s health, maternal and child health, socioeconomic health disparities and life course impacts on health and mental well-being of traditionally and historically underrepresented minorities. Her most recent book is Toxic Ivory Tower: The Consequences of Work Stress on the Health of Underrepresented Minority Faculty(2018). She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2011 Julian Samora Distinguished Career Award by the American Sociological Association, Sociology of Latinos/as Section for her contributions to the sociology of Latinos and immigrant studies, teaching and mentoring, and the 2013 American Public Health Association (APHA) Latino Caucus, Founding Member Award for Vision and Leadership, and the 2021 APHA Lyndon Haviland Public Health Mentoring Award.

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Luis Zayas

Luis H. Zayas is the former dean of the Steve Hicks School of Social Work and the Robert Lee Sutherland Chair in Mental Health and Social Policy. Dean Zayas is the sixth dean in the history of Steve Hicks School of Social Work. He also holds an appointment as professor of psychiatry at the Dell Medical School of The University of Texas at Austin. In his role as a national leader in social work, Dean Zayas is currently president of the Society for Social Work and Research, the largest social work research organization in the world. Previously, he served two terms (2016-2018; 2018-2020) as president of St. Louis Group for Excellence in Social Work Education and Research, which represents the leading research schools of social work. In 2012, he was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare. In 2017, he was elected to the Executive Board of the Academy and served until 2019. Prior to these positions, Dean Zayas held the position of member-at-large of the executive committee of the National Association of Deans and Directors of schools and programs in social work. Along with Professors Catherine Cubbin and Cynthia Franklin, he was identified in a 2019 report (Journal of Social Service Research ) as one of the most influential contemporary social work scholars.