Biography

Dr. Barbara Baquero is an Assistant Professor at the University of Iowa, College of Public Health, Department of Community and Behavioral Health. She has a bachelor's degree in Psychology from her native country, Venezuela, and holds a MPH in Health Promotion from San Diego State University and a doctorate in Public Health (Health Behavior) at San Diego State University jointly with University of California, San Diego. During her graduate training Dr. Baquero worked at the Institute for Behavioral and Community Health (IBACH) at San Diego State University, where she was involved in the development, implementation and evaluation of 5 large intervention trials, focused on cancer and obesity prevention. Her dissertation study was an examination of social-ecological influences on obesity among Mexican immigrants and Mexican Americans living on or around the border region of Southern California. After graduation, she completed the Kellogg Health Scholar Post-doctorate training at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Community-Based Participatory Research. For two years, she worked with Latino and African American stakeholders and community based organizations to conduct formative research to explore ways to create collaborations among stakeholders and agencies and academic institutions and explore social, cultural and physical factors associated with obesity and chronic disease prevention and control among Latinos in NC. Now at the University of Iowa, she continues her efforts to understand the social, cultural and physical correlates of health among Latinos, and the implications for intervention development and implementation, all through the application of Community-Based Participatory Research methods and academic-community partnerships with Latino stakeholders and community members.