Marisa S. Torres-Ruiz is a doctoral student in the Joint Doctoral Program (JDP) in Public Health at San Diego State University (SDSU) and the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Her program emphasis is health behavior and her research interests include psychosocial factors related to chronic disease, mental health outcomes in children and adolescents, social determinants of health, and improving health outcomes among Latinx communities and other vulnerable populations. Marisa completed her undergraduate degrees in Biological Sciences and
Chicana/o Studies at Bakersfield Community College and the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Marisa Torres-Ruiz
She earned her graduate degree in Public Health with an emphasis in Health Policy from the Milken Institute, School of Public Health at the George Washington University. Prior to commencing her doctoral studies, Marisa worked at the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) for the Healthcare Delivery and Disparities Research Program as a Senior Program Associate where she supported a national portfolio of comparative effectiveness research trials aimed at addressing health and healthcare disparities for vulnerable populations.
Marisa is an affiliate of the Institute for Behavioral and Community Health at SDSU, where she contributes to a variety of projects and systematic literature reviews. She serves in the role of Evaluation and Data Coordinator for the mother-daughter research program Conmigo and is leading a qualitative study on the influence of COVID-19 on health behaviors and emotional well-being for Latinas in San Diego County.
Marisa has received research awards for her work at the 2020 and 2021 Student Research Symposia at SDSU for Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice Research and Library Research. Marisa serves as an active board member for UCSD’s Center for Life Course and Vulnerable Population Research and is a continuing fellow through the UCSD Hispanic Center of Excellence.