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 — 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.