About Us
The Queerencia NM project is funded, in part, by the Santa Fe Community Foundation; the UNM Transdisciplinary Research Equity and Engagement (TREE) Center, (NIMHD Grant #U54 MD004811-10) Equity and Policy Institute; and generous donations from the New Mexico LGBTQ+ community and allies.
The TREE Center is among twelve research centers of excellence funded by the National Institute of Minority Health & Health Disparities. The TREE Center cultivates the collective passion and responsibility among local state, tribal and national stakeholders to create opportunities for transformative impact to Improve behavioral health equity among diverse communities; nurture community/academic ways of knowing; and prepare the next generation for conducting transdisciplinary multi-level intervention research.
Daisy Rosero, MPH
Research Scientist COPH, Transdisciplinary Research Equity and Engagement (TREE) Center
I am a first gen Ecuadorian American with over 15 years experience working in public health. My research and interests center around improving health outcomes of New Mexicans including our LGBTQ+ community with a focus on equity and inclusion. Currently I am a Research Scientist at the University of New Mexico Transdisciplinary Research, Equity and Engagement Center for Advancing Behavioral Health (TREE) center. Building on concepts developed to connect LGBTQ communities across New Mexico, I am leading the Queerencia NM effort to promote the sharing of LGBTQ+ strength and resilience experiences through storytelling.
I am a Public Health professional with a broad knowledge base and background in program implementation, evaluation and research and I have worked with minority populations, youth and adult alcohol prevention and agricultural occupational health. As Program Manager, I lead the implementation of the NM, School-Based Health Center, Screening Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT), a statewide training project for medical and behavioral health providers, aimed at identifying youth substance use and risky behavior and improving youth healthcare experiences. Through the Center for Development and Disability, NM Indian Children’s Program and the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders I formed part of a team that conducted clinical assessment and advocacy for Native American families impacted by substance use related disabilities and other disabilities. I served as evaluator for the McKinley County Strategic Network of Advocates for Prevention of Substance Abuse program and performed in a Research Scientist capacity for the Organic Farmers Safety, Health and Life survey, a study funded by NIOSH through the Southwest Center for Agricultural Health, Injury Prevention, and Education (SW Ag Center). I also received new investigator research funding to conduct a National COVID-19 Survey of organic producers. This project, funded by the Southwest Center for Agricultural Health Injury Prevention and Education (SWAg Center), has generated new data on organic producers’ health and healthcare experiences not previously collected.
Lisa M. Cacari Stone, PhD, MA, MS
Professor, UNM College of Population Health | Health and Social Policy: Executive Director/PI, Transdisciplinary Research, Equity & Engagement Center (NIMHD U54)
Dr. Cacari Stone has dedicated over 30 years of public health leadership in advancing health policy and racial equity for diverse communities. She has government, non-profit and policy experience as a former licensed behavioral health provider (LMFT# 2031), director for a home visiting child welfare program (Viva Family Services/Children’s Home & Aide Society, IL), director of senior services (Hinsdale, IL), executive director of a rural federally qualified mental health clinic (Vistas del Sol/Presbyterian Medical Services), state health officer (NM Department of Health), federal women’s health liaison (USDHHS), policy analyst (NM State Legislature, U.S. Senate H.E.L.P. Committee) assistant director of health policy (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded Center at UNM).
Dr. Cacari Stone is trusted for convening diverse stakeholders for strategic planning, engaged policy making, evaluation and research and grants management. Currently she is the Executive Director of a National Research Center of Excellence funded by the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities. In this role, she oversees the daily operations of the center including: budgeting, reporting, contracts and purchasing, human resource management, social media, human subjects protections, strategic planning, facilitation of co-leadership across faculty, project management and resource development and project implementation.
Her collaborative grants portfolio of $26 million spans across the macro-level determinants of health (e.g. health reform), to the community level (e.g. impact of neighborhood context and migration on substance use), to the interpersonal level (e.g. role of family and provider communication on chronic disease management among Latinos). Dr. Cacari Stone has written multiple articles (i.e. Health Affairs, American Journal of Public Health, Journal of Rural Health) and policy reports and delivered speeches nationwide on health equity, insurance coverage gaps and solutions and effective community and public engagement approaches.