Liliana Aguayo-Markes
Asst Professor
Research Assistant Professor
Faculty, Global Health
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Liliana is a community health researcher committed to the prevention of disparities in cardiovascular diseases. She is investigating the early life origins of racial and ethnic disparities in obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Her research uses an intersectionality framework to investigate overlapping social determinants associated with disparities in obesity and cardiovascular health among racial/ethnically diverse children and adolescents.
Doctor Aguayo completed the Master of Public Health/Doctor of Philosophy in Community Health (MPH/ PhD) dual degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as a fellow of the USDA Illinois Transdisciplinary Obesity Prevention Program (I-TOPP). Upon completion of her graduate training, she completed postdoctoral training in cardiovascular epidemiology as a fellow of the American Heart Association (AHA) at Northwestern University and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital. She is an experienced qualitative and quantitative researcher with training in both and mixed methods research; and has extensive skills in bilingual survey research with over 6 years of experience carrying out primary data collection with Mexican and Latinx populations in Mexico and the US.
Liliana's research of the origins of disparities in obesity, and cardiovascular disease is funded by a Research Supplement to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research from NIDDK, a Career Development Award from the AHA and the Pediatric and Reproductive Environmental Health Scholars-Southeastern Environmental Exposures and Disparities mentored career development program (K12 PREHS-SEED) from the NIEHS. She is also the receipient of awards from the Rollins School of Public Health Dean’s Pilot and Innovation Grant and the NIH-funded Emory Specialized Center of Research Excellence in Sex Differences (SCORE).
Areas of Interest
- Adolescent Health/Child Health
- Cardiovascular Diseases
- Diabetes
- Obesity Prevention
- Social Epidemiology
- Spatial Analysis/GIS
Education
- BA 2005, Loyola University Chicago
- BA 2005, Loyola University Chicago
- PhD 2018, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- MPH 2018, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaig
- Postdoctoral Training 2018, Northwestern University/ Ann & Robert Lurie Children's Hospital
Affiliations & Activities
American Heart Association (AHA): Member of the Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health Early Career Council (April 2018- Present)
American Society for Nutrition (ASN): Vice-Chair, Early Career Nutrition (ECN) Interest Group (2021-2022)
Elected Secretary, ASN Student Interest Group (SIG) Committee (2017-2020)
Academic Pediatric Association (APA): Member (2018-Present)
The Obesity Society (TOS): Early Career Committee Chair (2021 -Present); Communications Coomitee Member (2021- Present); Member of the Spokesperson Group (2020- Present)
Publications
- Toney AM, Pineros-Leano M, Pérez-Flores NJ, Gomez D, Aguayo L, 2023, 'It is in our hands-Why wait until you are sick?': Perceptions about diabetes prevention of Latina mothers in Mexico and the United States., Diabetic Medicine, e15060,
- Liliana Aguayo, Diana A. Chirinos, Nia Heard Garris, Mandy Wong, Matthew M. Davis, Sharon Stein Merkin, Teresa Seeman and Kiarri N. Kershaw, 2022, Association of Exposure to Abuse, Nurture, and Household Organization in Childhood With 4 Cardiovascular Disease Risks Factors Among Participants in the CARDIA Study, JAHA, 11,
- María Pineros-Leano, Natalie Grafft, Liliana Aguayo, 2022, Childhood obesity risk factors by race and ethnicity, Obesity, 30,
- Heard-Garris N., Davis, M., Estabrook R., Burns J., Briggs-Gowan M., Allen N., Carnethon M., Aguayo L., Wakschlag L., Penedo F. , 2020, Adverse childhood experiences and biomarkers of inflammation in a diverse cohort of early school-aged children, Brain, Behavior, & Immunity - Health, 1, 100006
- Aguayo L., Hernandez I., Yasui M., Estabrook R., Anderson EL., Davis MM., Briggs-Gowan MJ., Wakschlag L., Heard-Garris N., 2020, Cultural Socialization in Childhood: Analysis of Parent–Child Conversations with a Direct Observation Measure, Journal of Family Psychology, ,
- Cuevas, C., Herrera P., Morales G., Aguayo L., Galvez P.E., 2020, Understanding the Food - Family Relationship: A qualitative research in a Chilean low socioeconomic context, Appetite, 156, 104852
- Jansen T., Aguayo L., Bobbit J., Payne L., Schwingel A., 2019, Diabetes Disparities across Illinois. GIS Snapshots, Preventing Chronic Disease, 16, 180154
- Bobbitt J., Aguayo L., Payne L., Jansen T., Schwingel A., 2019, Going the 'extra mile' for disease prevention: Geographical and social factors associated with chronic disease self-management program participation., Preventing Chronic Disease, 16, E25
- Aguayo L., Khan M., De Leon R., Schwingel A. , 2019, Use of Geographic Information Systems in Physical Activity Interventions: A Systematic Review, Progress in Preventive Medicine, 4, Progress in Preventive Medicine
- Aguayo L., Olave-Pichon A., Ariza A. J., & Binns H. J. , 2017, Characteristics of Very Young Hispanic Children Referred for Obesity Management, Global Pediatric Health, 16, E25
- Schwingel A., Linares D.E., Gálvez P., Adamson B., Aguayo L., Bobbit J., Castañeda Y., Sebastião E., and Marquez D.X. , 2015, Developing a Culturally Sensitive Lifestyle Behavior Change Program for Older Latinas, Qualitative Health Research, 25, 1733-46