Dr. Flor Avellaneda’s professional practice and research experience informs her commitment to help address the intersectional barriers faced by women and girls. She is currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate at The University of Texas at Austin Steve Hicks School of Social Work, working under the leadership of Dr. Danielle Parrish, Dr. Mary Velasquez, and Dr. Kirk Von Sternberg with the Health Behavior Research and Training Institute. Dr. Avellaneda obtained her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work from the Baylor University Diana R. Garland School of Social Work in Waco, TX, and her Ph.D. in Social Work from the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work. Prior to her doctoral studies she worked in Waco, TX, as a middle school Program Manager for Communities In Schools (CIS), an organization that empowers students to stay in school. Dr. Avellaneda also served as the Executive Director of AVANCE-Waco, a parent-child education program, and worked as an advocate for victims of domestic violence at the Family Abuse Center.
During her doctoral studies, Dr. Avellaneda completed a research internship at The University of Texas Medical Branch Obstetrics and Gynecology Department in Galveston, TX, where she helped examine risk factors associated with dating violence by examining longitudinal data using the Dating it Safe: A longitudinal study on teen dating violence data set, collected as part of a NIJ-funded project. She received competitive dissertation funding from the Research Program on Migration and Health of the Health Initiative of the Americas at UC Berkeley. Her binational (U.S. & Mexico) dissertation focused on the relationship between intimate partner violence, physical health, mental health, and substance use among Mexican women.
In 2023, Dr. Avellaneda received a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Diversity Supplement as a part the NIH funded Choices-Teen R01 study with the University of Texas Health Behavior Research and Training Institute (HBRT). Research that informs prevention interventions and that promotes the health and well-being of women and girls who face sexual health disparities and intimate partner violence is vitally important to Dr. Avellaneda’s work. Through her Diversity Supplement funding she will study interpersonal violence among young women at risk of substance-exposed pregnancy. Upon completing her postdoctoral training, Dr. Avellaneda plans to pursue a tenure-track faculty position at a research-intensive university to continue building her research agenda focused on developing culturally informed interventions that improve the quality of life for Latina women and girls.
