I am bee. My parents immigrated to the United States in the early 1970's from Mexico. I was born and raised in California and identify as a Mexican- American, cisgender, heterosexual woman. As a child, I studied in Guadalajara, Mexico for five years. I am fluent in Spanish and consider English my second language. I am working on perfecting my Haitian Creole. I love animals. I am married and have one dog (Camelo) and one cat (Kitty). In my free time, I enjoy nature, biking, reading and photography (the images in these pages are my work!).
I completed my undergraduate education at California State University Northridge, where I attained baccalaureate degrees in psychology and child development and a minor in human sexuality. I completed my Master's degree in experimental psychology in the research methods and statistics track at the University of Cincinnati. For the past 13 years, I have supported physician and medical student research. Currently, I support local non-profits with business strategies, grant writing and program evaluations. I was a non-traditional college student and before becoming an academic I was a business and healthcare management leader.
Broadly, my own research focus and interests are in the training of medical professionals, socialization of medical students, health access and social inequalities in health and medicine. My scholarship explores how systems of inequality shape experiences of victimization, resilience, and well-being, with a particular focus on marginalized and underserved populations. I employs both quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate health disparities, and the experiences of transgender and gender-diverse communities in the healthcare system.
“At the end of the day, we can endure much more than we think we can.” -Frida Khalo