Shaina Santa Cruz

Shaina Sta. Cruz is a PhD student in the Public Health graduate program at the University of California, Merced. In her undergraduate program at California State University, Fullerton, she had the opportunity to collaborate with professors in Communicative Disorders, Higher Education, Cognitive Science, and Health Science, all of whom have helped develop her passion for improving population health through statistics. As a health educator, chair of health-based organizations, and researcher, she developed her knowledge of community health issues through program evaluation work and hand-on service-learning experiences. With a focus on the social inequalities that factor into health outcomes, she aims to assess community needs on a population scale and facilitate data-driven solutions, such as effective program interventions, to improve their quality of life. Under the guidance of her advisor, Dr. Irene Yen, she plans to utilize results derived from big data in influencing policy and decision-making in the affected communities. Ultimately, she aims to earn a faculty position in a Public Health or Epidemiology department at a state university and establish an undergraduate research center to mentor the next generation of researchers.