Erika Marquez

Assistant Professor, School of Public Health
Expertise: Health disparities, Child development, Diversity in health communication, Environmental health

Biography

UNLV School of Public Health professor Erika Marquez is an expert on health disparities, children's health, improving diversity in health communication, and finding ways to creatively dispense health information to underserved populations. She also serves as co-director of Health Equity Research and Training for the Nevada Minority Health & Equity Coalition — a partnership of academic, civic, private and community organizations that aim to address health disparities and inequities in Nevada by building capacity, informing policy, and conducting research â€” which is housed within the School of Public Health.

Marquez has devoted the last decade of her career to working on local issues focused on housing quality, housing-related health concerns, and housing equity. Her research uses data and research to inform programs, policies, and practices, as well as to advance the field of public health.

Specifically, she has examined the impact of lead in children, as well as used surveillance data to inform public health decisions and engage community partners to improve housing conditions and increase blood lead testing in young children. More recently, Marquez has led #OneCommunity, a COVID-19 prevention and vaccine awareness outreach campaign that aims to educate and reach at-risk populations (including the Hispanic, Latinx, Asian American Pacific Islander, LGBTQ, African American, Deaf and Blind, and Native American communities) via the development of culturally responsive content and media, translated materials, billboards, digital advertising, and more.

Prior to her current roles, Marquez was a research associate at UNLV's Nevada Institute for Children's Research and Policy.

Education

  • Ph.D., Social Behavioral Health, UNLV
  • M.P.H., Epidemiology & Biostatistics, UNLV
  • Psychology, San Francisco State University
  • A.A., Psychology, Skyline College

Erika Marquez In The News

Las Vegas Sun
Early in the COVID-19 vaccination drive, socioeconomic barriers — access to health care providers, online-only scheduling, and skepticism — hampered the efforts of Las Vegas health officials to get more minorities vaccinated.
K.L.A.S. T.V. 8 News Now
‘The Pandemic Stops with Me’ webinar covered the importance of the COVID-19 vaccine, why minority communities are hesitant to get vaccinated, and how the community can do its part to stop the spread of the virus.
Salud America!
Everyone deserves an equal chance to get a COVID-19 vaccine. But some communities, like Latinos, don’t have as much access or information about the vaccine or are hesitant to get vaccinated.
capradio
Washoe County Health District shared demographic data with CapRadio News about who has received the COVID-19 vaccine so far.

Articles Featuring Erika Marquez

nurse administers shot to woman
Campus News | December 29, 2021

A collection of news stories from 2021 highlighting UNLV’s continuing response to COVID-19 and faculty experts who have helped make sense of the pandemic and its impact to daily life. 

Student playing Jenga
Campus News | September 7, 2021

A collection of news stories highlighting community and perseverance at UNLV.

Person viewing monitors
Campus News | March 11, 2021

A collection of news stories highlighting the experts and events at UNLV.