Maria-Elena De Trinidad Young, PhD

Maria-Elena De Trinidad Young, PhD, MPH, is an assistant professor of public health at UC Merced and a faculty associate at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research (CHPR). In her words, Young says she “grew up” at the CHPR, where she was a graduate student researcher and then research scientist working with the late Steve Wallace.

“I was so lucky to get to work with Steve,” says Young. “Steve was a mentor who created the conditions for people to flourish. Steve challenged me to take on new projects, always communicating trust in my abilities while being willing to ask hard questions and push me to be rigorous and thoughtful. He fostered my autonomy and voice as a thinker and researcher, supporting me to grow while knowing he always had my back.”

As the CHPR developed more immigrant health projects, she became the project manager for the Research on Immigrant Health and State Policy (RIGHTS) Study, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to understand the experiences of Latino and Asian immigrants in California in the areas of health care, social services, employment, education, and law enforcement and how these experiences have had an impact on their health and access to health care.

Continuing on that trajectory, Young’s research seeks to understand the impact of the U.S. immigration system on the well-being of immigrants and their families and the disparities in health and health care access between U.S. citizens and noncitizens. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she conducted research on the health and economic impact of the pandemic on Latino families in rural regions of California.

She is currently leading the UC Merced Community Health Survey, which aims to understand people’s experiences with community resources, which may help identify barriers to health care, gaps in health needs, differences in health care across counties, and other aspects of well-being in both Arizona and California.