Ada Wilkinson-Lee, Ph.D.

Dr. Ada M. Wilkinson-Lee is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mexican American Studies at the University of Arizona. She is the Co-Principal Investigator of the Arizona Prevention Research Center (AzPRC) UArizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health. The AzPRC is part of a network of 26 CDC-funded academic prevention research centers in the United States that study how people and their communities can avoid or counter the risks for chronic illnesses. Her research, teaching and service are centered on addressing Latine health from a community-based participatory research (CBPR) perspective. Her interest in Latine health has stemmed from growing up in a border community and seeing firsthand the challenges that her family and community have to overcome in order to receive adequate health care. Current and future research endeavors consist of a continuation of addressing Latine health disparities from a social-ecological perspective utilizing mixed methods and innovative methodology.

In addition to her role in the AzPRC she is a Co-Principal Investigator and Evaluation lead for the Pima REACH (Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health) grant and the Pima REACH COVID Supplement grant which focuses on community policy level efforts to reduce health inequities among Pima County Native American and Latine communities. She is the Co-Principal Investigator of the Hijos Project funded by the National Science Foundation that is examining the experiences of Latine parents and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic focusing on sociocultural and environmental factors including ethnic-racial discrimination, microaggressions, experiences with law enforcement, and political climate. Additionally, she is part of the Arizona State University’s Office of Community Health, Engagement, and Resiliency leadership team. As a leadership team, they are working on two projects that center around Community Health Workers. Our Center for Community Health Resiliency: Trauma-Informed Training Resources, and Technical Assistance for Community Health Worker is a five-year SAMSHA training grant.  And the CDC 2109 grant that oversees evaluating the CDC’s national evaluation of the 2109 Community Health Workers for COVID Response and Resilient Communities grants which includes 68 sites across the United States and US territories.