Project Description
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The CONNECT/CONECTADOS Project, led by researchers from UC Merced, UC Santa Cruz, and UC San Francisco, is a community-engaged research initiative. This project is dedicated to investigating the advantages of Indigenous social networks, specifically emphasizing cross-tribal and cross-border connections, in promoting health and well-being within Indigenous communities. One of the project's main focal points is testing health communication interventions to improve health equity.
California is home to the largest population of Indigenous peoples, from tribes and communities from Northern, Central and South America. California's Indigenous communities have strong and interconnected social networks, spanning state, tribal/community, and international borders, which may play a significant role in health-related perceptions and behaviors. To gain a clearer understanding of the role of social networks and vaccine-related decision making among these communities, we are working with a Community Advisory Board (I-CAB) comprising representatives from diverse Indigenous communities of Northern, Central and South America now residing in California. Guided by the I-CAB, our project researchers are working with I-CAB members to develop, implement, and evaluate a health communication intervention aimed at increasing vaccine confidence. Our team includes researchers from multiple university campuses (e.g., UCSF, UCSC, and UCM) and includes a training component for both undergraduate and graduate students interested in community-engaged health research, with a strong focus on Indigenous and Latinx students. Through these partnerships, our multifaceted approach seeks to enhance health outcomes by fostering an inclusive and capacity-building research community.
Additional Background
Indigenous communities have long relied on social networks for various aspects of their lives, including sharing cultural knowledge, providing emotional support, and accessing resources. These networks often extend beyond tribal and national borders, forming connections that contribute significantly to the resilience and strength of Indigenous communities. The Connect/Conectados Project seeks to understand how these social connections can play an important role in enhancing health outcomes.
We are Grateful for the Guidance of
We are Grateful for the Guidance of
The California Rural Indian Health Board IRB
The California Rural Indian Health Board IRB
and our Community Advisory Board Members:
and our Community Advisory Board Members:
Odilia Romero
María Conchita Pozar
Kathleen Jack
Carolyn Pumares
Martha Sanchez
Julisa Lopez
Fe Silva Robles
Luis López Resendiz
Project Updates:
Winter 2025: Targeted outreach for online survey.
Fall 2024: Hosted 2nd Annual Convening at UC Santa Cruz and began intervention development
Summer 2024: Completed focus groups with Indigenous communities across California
Winter 2024: Launched the online survey
Fall 2023: Launched our Facebook page and finalized the online survey!
Meet Our Investigator Team:
About the project PI, Anna Epperson
Dr. Anna Epperson (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma) is an Assistant Professor of Health Psychology in the Department of Psychological Sciences at the University of California, Merced. Her research focuses on racial/ethnic disparities in health behavior, exploring how social and cultural factors impact health, particularly in Indigenous communities. She examines health behavior through community-based research and current projects focus on: 1) increasing vaccine confidence and uptake among Indigenous communities, especially youth; and 2) reducing substance use among at-risk populations (e.g., Indigenous youth, Latinx young adults).
About the project Co-PI, Alicia R. Riley
Alicia R. Riley (white) is an Assistant Professor of Sociology and Core Faculty in Global and Community Health at University of California, Santa Cruz. As a sociologist, she studies how the health effects of structural inequality can be modified through policy. She has methodological expertise in complex survey analysis and substantive knowledge in older adult health, life course theory, racialization, Critical Race Theory, and health inequality theory. In addition to her research and teaching on health inequality, she has a longstanding interest in border health and migration.
About the project Co-PI, Nadia Diamond-Smith
Nadia Diamond-Smith is an Associate Professor in the Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department and Institute for Global Health Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco. Her expertise is in maternal and reproductive health in the developing world, with a focus on gender inequality/women's empowerment, family planning and abortion, nutrition, and the preconception, pregnancy and postpartum periods. She is a public health demographer, and did her dissertation research at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health on trends and causes of son preference and uneven child sex ratios in India. Much of her research is in South Asia, although she also works in Africa, elsewhere in Asia, in the US and Latin America. She uses mixed method approaches to research, intervention development, and evaluation.
About the project Co-I, Alison Comfort
Dr. Alison B. Comfort is a health economist whose research focuses on better understanding the role of health technologies, specifically pregnancy tests, in improving reproductive and maternal health outcomes and assessing the role of price and other factors to influence uptake of health products, such as contraceptives and anti-malarial bed nets. More broadly, Dr. Comfort is interested in conducting rigorous impact evaluations of interventions to improve reproductive health and maternal and child health, both in the United States and in developing countries. She speaks French, Spanish and Malagasy, and previously served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Madagascar.
About Postdoctoral Scholar, Lucía Abascal Miguel
Dra. Lucía Abascal Miguel, MD, PhD, completed a global health fellowship with the UCSF Institute for Global Health Sciences (IGHS) Executive Director’s office and worked as a teaching assistant for the IGHS Master of Science program, from which she graduated in 2018. She completed her PhD in Global Health Sciences in 2023. Previously, Lucía trained as a medical doctor in Mexico City and worked as a physician in a rural town in Mexico. While working there, she realized poverty and inequality affected patients’ access to quality healthcare, which inspired her to pursue a career in global health. Lucía has worked on a variety of global health topics, including literacy and diabetes in Latin America and vaccine cost-effectiveness. Her global health interests in are health systems and policy in Mexico and Central America.
About Research and Community Coordinator, Darío León
Darío León brings deep experience as a community organizer in California to his role at the UC Santa Cruz Institute for Social Transformation, and to the Connect/Conectados Project. He grew up in Chico, CA to farm-working parents who immigrated from the state of Guanajuato, México. Darío is an alum of UC Santa Cruz. His work in strengthening communities spans over 16 years of experience engaging with diverse neighborhoods and cities in different aspects throughout the state of California. Darío is also the Events and Program Manager for the Huerta Center.
About Research Coordinator, Mary Garcia
Mary Esperanza Garcia was born and raised in the San Joaquin Valley and transferred from community college with a UC Regents Scholarship to the University of California, Merced. While attending University, Mary received a Bachelor's in psychology and completed an internship at the Nicotine and Cannabis Policy Center where she investigated the cessation related needs amongst Latinx tobacco users in the Central Valley. Mary is currently the Research Coordinator in the Epperson Lab for the Connect/Conectados: Social Networks and Health among Indigenous Californians Research Collaborative grant project. Mary’s research interests are grounded in a commitment to address the health disparities that continue to affect central Californian’s and other vulnerable populations.
About Research Assistant, Michelle Vega
Michelle Vega first joined the Conectados team as an Undergraduate Research Assistant and then continued supporting the project an Indigenous Summer Fellow in 2024. After graduating from UC Santa Cruz with her BAs in Sociology and Latin American and Latino Studies, she was hired as a staff Research Assistant. Michelle grew up in Fresno, CA.
Previous Indigenous Summer Fellows
About 2024 Undergraduate Research Fellow, Anahí Matias Santiago
Anahí Matias Santiago was an Indigenous Summer Fellow in 2024 and continued supporting the Conectados project as a Building Belonging Fellow in Fall 2024 and Winter 2025. Anahí is a double major in Politics and Latin American and Latino Studies at UC Santa Cruz.
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