Assistant Professor, Department of Community Health and Prevention
Phone: 215.762.6513
Email: av28@drexel.edu
Dr. Villanueva is an Assistant Professor and Director of the Department of Community Health & Prevention’s Master of Public Health (MPH) curriculum at Drexel University’s School of Public Health. She earned her doctorate in medical sociology from The University of Texas at Austin, and completed postdoctoral training in health policy studies at the University of California, San Francisco. Her research focuses on community public health and health policy. Her areas of interest include the health status of vulnerable populations; the role of race, culture, and ethnicity on health outcomes; and the use of qualitative methodologies in community-based research.
Currently, Dr. Villanueva is serving as a member of the evaluation team of the Pennsylvania Cancer Education Network (PCEN), where she provides guidance about designing & evaluating health behavior interventions with Latino populations statewide. Funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Department of Health, PCEN is designed to reduce risk factors, promote healthy behaviors, & increase screening for all Pennsylvanians, with phased-in implementation of a culturally competent evidence-based statewide plan. Working in partnership with Planned Parenthood Southeastern Pennsylvania, Dr. Villanueva is also evaluating a sexual health education initiative for incarcerated women and girls designed to enhance their knowledge of reproductive anatomy, HIV prevention, and negotiation skills. In collaboration with Dr. Marcia Polansky, Dr. Villanueva is also preparing two manuscripts derived from earlier research work with truant, delinquent and State-dependent youths in Philadelphia.
As a member of the School's Department of Community Health and Prevention, she also directs and teaches a course on community health assessment for first year MPH students that incorporates a 120-hour community-based practicum. This practicum aims to respond to concrete community needs, and is implemented in collaboration with a number of the School’s community-based partner agencies. She also teaches courses on multicultural competence in community health & prevention as well as in community-based participatory research. Dr. Villanueva serves on several national technical review committees sponsored by the U. S. Public Health Service as well as on the board of two local community-based organizations.
Research Interests: Role of race, culture, and ethnicity on health status/outcomes; community-based participatory research; immigrant communities and health; academic service-learning; HIV/AIDS; adjudicated and delinquent adolescents.
:: Curriculum Vitae (PDF)
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