Mentoring Underrepresented Students

For over a decade, Dr. Nuño has been involved in teaching and mentoring students from diverse backgrounds and underserved groups. She has been a consistent mentor for the Undergraduate Public Health Scholars Program (UPHS) since its inception, in which students from disadvantaged backgrounds or historically excluded racial or ethnic minorities gain hands-on experience in public health sciences research. Her mentee’s have gone on to pursue graduate education, publish manuscripts, win awards at several national conferences, and be accepted into several coveted internships positions at companies such as Genentech and MedTronic. Outside of UPHS, she acts as a panelist in Dr. David Rizzo’s GDB90 course to students in the Global Disease Biology (GDB) major, where she introduces them on how to advance their academic and professional careers in public health and biostatistics. By openly sharing her own experience and struggles in academia, she motivates and validates students to continue with research and higher education.

Dr. Nuño, not only advances disadvantaged students through her mentorship, but also is directly involved in developing strategies to improve student, faculty, and staff recruitment and retention and advocates for incoming students with underrepresented backgrounds. She serves in the Vice Chancellor's Faculty Excellence in Diversity (FED) committee to address the professional and development needs of underrepresented minority faculty by facilitating the dissemination of knowledge, skills and resources necessary to achieve successful careers in academic medicine. Prior public service includes participation in the Annual Cesar Chavez Leadership Pipeline program, led by UC Davis alumni, to inspire more Latinx/Chicanx high school students to consider higher-level education. Throughout her career, she also participated in various seminars regarding her research and professional path in the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS).

Mentoring of Undergraduate Public health Scholars

Joan Ashby

Geographic Pandemic Preparedness of COVID-19 in Nursing Homes in the United States

Winner, ABRCMS Presentation Awards in Social and Behavioral Sciences and Public Health 2020. Joan is currently pursuing a master’s program in epidemiology at UC Davis.

Earl Morales

Disparities in Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome in the United States

Winner, ABRCMS Presentation Awards in Social and Behavioral Sciences and Public Health 2019. Earl is a research data analyst at CalPERS.

Ricky Rios

Disparities in Developmental Screening of Young Children in the US

Veronica Zepeda Pontifes

Long-term impact of abusive head trauma in young children. Nuño M, Ugiliweneza B, Zepeda V, Anderson JE, Coulter K, Magana JN, Drazin D, Boakye M. Child Abuse Negl. 2018 Nov; 85:39-46.

Veronica is currently an assistant for the Child and Youth Program at Travis Air Force.

Mentoring of Undergraduates in Global Disease Biology

Dr. Nuño mentors numerous students through the UC Davis Global Disease Biology program and supports students to pursue a practicum project to advance their technical and professional skills. Through this experience, students have the opportunity to learn to conduct and publish their research, and most importantly, they become motivated to pursue a higher education.

Mentoring of Graduate Students in Public Health Sciences

Dr. Nuño enjoys providing mentorship to graduate students in public health sciences.

Collaboration with underserved communities

As a statistician, mathematical epidemiologist, and public health advocate, Dr. Nuño routinely pursues interdisciplinary collaborations in health disparities research. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Nuño’s involvement with community-based organizations and stakeholders has been instrumental in the development of solutions to reduce health disparities in racial/ethnic minorities.

Her participation in the HDT, ÓRALE COVID-19!, and MOVE IT UP programs works directly with grassroots community organizations, providing real-time insight into critical knowledge to improve testing and vaccination efforts. Recently, as part of her commitment to research health disparities, Dr. Nuño submitted a $1.2 million proposal entitled Community-driven approaches to address social, ethical, structural, and behavioral barriers to COVID-19 testing in a racially and ethnically diverse Northern California county.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Efforts

Throughout her career, Dr. Nuño utilizes Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) efforts in her leadership and professional career. As the current IDARE chair for Public Health Sciences, she participated in OHEDI's three-day Anti-racism and Cultural humility (ARC) training. Currently, Dr. Nuño is engaged in numerous activities to promote and improve DEI efforts in her department.