She also holds a joint appointment in sociology from the Dornsife School of Letters, Arts, and Sciences and a courtesy appointment at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. She has devoted her career to increasing the understanding of the important role of culture in health behaviors with the goal of correcting health inequities. She works with various population groups though the emphasis is on Hispanic health. She conducts community-based participatory research in cancer control in the areas of women's cancers, tobacco prevention, and youth empowerment to eliminate obesity at the community level. She has received multiple awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and is a nationally and internationally known expert on health disparities.