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BIOGRAPHY

Mildred M. Maldonado-Molina, Ph.D. joined the Department of Health Education in Behavior in July 2019 as Professor and Chair. Dr. Maldonado-Molina joins the College of Health and Human Performance from the UF College of Medicine where she was an Associate Professor and Director of the Family Data Center. She is also an affiliate faculty member with the UF Institute of Child Health Policy, the UF Anita Zucker Center for Early Childhood Studies, and The Methodology Center at Penn State. She received the Distinguished Alumni Award for significant scientific contributions from the Methodology Center at Penn State University in 2013 and recognized for outstanding teacher accomplishments by the UF College of Medicine on three different occasions.

Dr. Maldonado-Molina’s research program centers around reducing health disparities in child and adolescent health, in alcohol use and alcohol-related consequences in particular, with a focus on vulnerable populations. Her work is characterized by the application of innovative statistical methods in prevention-oriented studies of youth, with an area of expertise in cultural processes associated with substance use in Latinx youth.

Dr. Maldonado-Molina work focuses on the application of innovative statistical techniques to study the effects of context and structural interventions on behavioral and mortality outcomes. A recent research project, Adelante Boricua, awarded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, is entitled “Post Maria Puerto Rican Families Relocated to Florida: A Multisite Study of Alcohol Misuse and Mental Health Problems”. The objective of this project is two-fold: (1) examine migration and cultural stressors, alcohol misuse, and mental health problems in Puerto Rican families who migrated after Hurricane Maria; and (2) examine prospective relationships to test cultural stress theory across distinct resettlement contexts.

Adelante Boricua Project Website

RESEARCH INTERESTS

• Reducing health disparities in alcohol use and alcohol-related consequences
• Improving the health of minority children and adolescents
• Reducing risk factors associated with drug use and violence
• Understanding the role of acculturation among Latinx families
• Examining the role of context (e.g. neighborhood, access to alcohol, high poverty) on alcohol-related outcomes among urban youth
• Child and maternal health, including early childhood education

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Jennings, W.G., Maldonado-Molina, M.M., Fenimore, D., Piquero, A.R., Bird, H., & Canino, G. (In press).  The linkage between mental health, delinquency, and trajectories of delinquency: Results from the Boricua Youth Study. Journal of Criminal Justice. 

Hall, J.M., Cho, H.D., Guo, Y., Maldonado-Molina, M.M., Thompson, L.A., Shenkman, E.A., Salloum, R.G. (In press). Smoking During Pregnancy and Changes in Corporate Tobacco Sales Policies by CVS and National Dollar Store Chains. JAMA Pediatrics. 

Leadbeater, B.J., Dishion, T., Sandler, I., Bradshaw, C.P., Dodge, K., Gottfredson, D., Graham, P.W., Lindstrom Johnson, S., Maldonado-Molina, M.M., Mauricio, A.M., Smith, E.P. (2018). Ethical Challenges in Promoting the Implementation of Preventive Interventions: Report of the SPR Task Force. Prevention Science, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-018-0912-7. 

Delcher*, C., Livingston, M., Wang, Y., Mowitz*, M., Maldonado-Molina, M.M. and Goldberger, B.A. (2017). Supply-Side Disruption in Cocaine Production Associated with Cocaine-Related Maternal and Child Health Outcomes in the United States. American Journal of Public Health, 107, no. 5: pp. 812-814. PMID: 28323460.

Komro, K.A., Livingston, M.D., Wagenaar, A.C., Kominsky, T.K., Pettigrew, D.W., Garrett, B.A., and the Cherokee Nation Prevention Trial Team (2017). Multi-level Prevention Trial of Alcohol Use among High School Students in the Cherokee Nation.  Cherokee Nation Prevention Trial Team members in alphabetical order include: Misty L. Boyd, Billy J. Boyd, Bethany J. Livingston, Sarah D. Lynne-Landsman, Mildred Maldonado Molina, Lisa J. Merlo, and Amy L. Tobler. American Journal of Public Health, Mar;107(3):453-459. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2016.303603.