Magdalena M. Avila

Magdalena M. Avila, Dr.P.H., MPH, MSW is an original member of the core administrative research team for the Transdisciplinary Research Center for Equity and Engagement (TREE) Center from 2017-2025. She was co-director of the CEDC until her retirement as emeritus faculty in Dec 2020. As UNM retired emeritus faculty she is still fully involved with TREE as part of the CEDC team partnering with community research partners on community engagement and community based participatory research (CBPR). Dr. Avila identifies as a public health researcher and scholar activist dedicated to Social, Health, Economic and Environmental Justice. She has worked her entire professional career of over 35-40 years in partnering with frontline communities in addressing public health challenges and creating sustainable community-based cultural interventions. All of Dr. Avila's graduate work and degrees are from the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Avila's research trajectory has always been focused on advancing the science of community engagement and CBPR. Integrating high caliber research practices into collaborative partnerships for research in combination with the latest qualitative research methodology are part of her priority community engagement/CBPR research missions and aims. 

She is also a key member of the Equity Policy Group/Institute. Dr. Avila strongly believes that the academy must advance with the communities it serves and not advance in a vacuum and the TREE manifests that academic vision. Dr. Avila has always worked with frontline communities in acknowledging traditional and spiritual ways of healing and building capacity as part of community engagement and empowerment. Training and partnering with community stewards and building collaborative engagement by integrating indigenous methodology to build capacity is also an area of her expertise (traditional knowledge and holistic ways of healing).