Theresa H. Cruz, PhD, is an epidemiologist and research associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of New Mexico, and serves as Deputy Director of the UNM Prevention Research Center. Her expertise includes community-engaged research for the primary prevention of injury and violence. Her current work includes studying prevention strategies at multiple levels of the social ecology and their effects on sexual violence. She focuses her work on ways to address inequities in marginalized communities including Hispanic, Native American, rural and LGBTQ populations. She completed her doctoral studies at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill.