Former Researchers
Adriana S. Álvarez
My name is Adriana S. Álvarez and I have a bachelor's degree in English with concentration in Linguistics from the UPR in Cayey. I was a research assistant for Dr. Patria López de Victoria on two occasions. The first investigation I took part in was Cuéntame de Maria, in which I participated from August to December 2018. Then I was part of Resilience and Medical Help-Seeking for and by Older Adults from October 2018 to May 2019. As part of my role in both investigations, I conducted interviews, transcriptions, recruited participants, filled databases, among other tasks. Currently, my area of interest is Business Administration, although I still love linguistics. I would love to be able to do more research in the future and go on to fulfill graduate studies.
Miguel Cardona Rodríguez
I am Miguel Cardona Rodríguez, and I was a research assistant in “Resilience and Helpseeking in Health and Illness by and for the elderly”. I focused on practicing and doing qualitative interviews and transcribing them. Currently, I am focusing on my doctoral studies at the University of Carlos Albizu in the PsyD of Clinical Psychology. I am very interested in continuing my doctoral studies and returning to the world of research.
Gabriel J. Cruz Rodriguez
I am Gabriel Cruz and I worked as a research assistant from 2018 to 2020. During these years, I assisted in the recruitment and interviews of participants. In addition, I helped develop ways to collect data related to the networks of the participants and carried out analyzes of these together with Dr. López de Victoria. Currently, I am pursuing doctoral studies in the "Biobehavioral Health” program at Penn State University. My research areas of interest are in the topics of substance use, addiction, methodologies, statistics, neuroscience, and functional-MRI. I am interested in understanding which environmental, social, and biological mediators and moderators contribute to substance dependence.
Valeria de Jesús Benjamín
I am Valeria de Jesús and some of the activities I carried out as a research assistant in "Resilience and the Helpseeking in Health and Illness by and for the Elderly" were recruiting participants, being an active researcher in interviews where I was in charge of the audio recording and working on transcribing the audio of the interviews. I also did administrative work such as preparing interview materials, communicating with people interested in participating to verify that they qualified, and setting dates for interviews. Currently, I am in my last year of a Master's Degree in Psychological Counseling, where I am doing an internship to prepare myself as a future mental health professional.
Elba L. Gonzalez Marquez
I am Elba González and I have a Master's degree in Public Health with a specialty in Gerontology from the University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus. I worked as a research assistant at the University of Puerto Rico in Cayey from Summer 2019 to Fall 2021. My research interests include the heterogeneity of the elderly population, the experience of longevity, and the meaning of life in the elderly population over 90 years old. I am also interested in the different ways older adults and caregivers seek medical help and meet their needs in times of sustained crisis and challenges.
Keyla N. Velez Malave
I am Keyla N. Vélez Malavé; currently I am pursuing graduate studies at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras campus. My area of interest is sociolinguistics. In 2018, I completed my baccalaureate in English at the Cayey campus. During my last semester, I was a research assistant in the project, Cuéntame de María, with professor Patria López de Victoria, which became the Resilience Project in January 2019. During the summer of 2019, I rejoined the team as a research assistant, and during the academic year 2019-2020, I worked as a teaching assistant for Dr. López de Victoria.
