About Us

Yumary Ruiz, Ph.D.

Department of Public Health, Purdue University

Email: ruiz46@purdue.edu

Faculty Page

Dr. Ruiz is Co-Principal Investigator of the Purdue Puentes Project and an associate professor of Public Health. Dr. Ruiz uses quantitative and qualitative methodologies to understand how cognitive processes (e.g., attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge) interact with social factors (e.g., migration) to impact health. Her work also identifies health-promoting mechanisms in the form of social support (e.g., parents and mentors) and individual characteristics (e.g., resilience and coping strategies) that can mitigate the harmful effects of socioeconomic and health disadvantages. The overarching goal of Dr. Ruiz’s research is to develop innovative and empirically based interventions (e.g., use of mentors, provider–parent collaborations, and community health workers) to reduce health disparities among youth.

Gustavo Carlo, Ph.D.

Director, Cultural Resiliency and Learning Center; Equity Advisor, School of Education, University of California, Irvine

Email: gcarlo@uci.edu

Faculty Page

Gustavo Carlo is Co-Investigator of the Purdue Puentes Project and Professor in the School of Education at the University of California, Irvine. His research interests are in the roles of culture-related mechanisms, sociocognitive and socioemotive traits, and family processes on prosocial and moral development. He has several projects focusing on Latines in various regions of the U.S. and has conducted research with culturally-diverse families and youth from various parts of the world. He has published over 250 articles, co-edited 13 books and special issues, and has obtained funding from several major agencies including the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. Dr. Carlo currently serves as Associate Editor of Developmental Psychology and Child Development. He is past recipient of a Templeton/American Psychological Association Positive Psychology Research Award, Outstanding Mentor Award from the Society for Research on Adolescence, and he is a Fellow of the American Psychological Society and the American Psychological Association (Division 7). 

Alexia Clothilde Carrizales, Ph.D.

Department of Human Development and Family Science/Public Health, Purdue University

Email: accarriz@purdue.edu

Dr. Alexia Carrizales is a Post-Doctoral Research Associate for the Purdue Puentes Project. She received her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from the University of Bordeaux, France. She holds a M.A. in Educational Psychology from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain, and a M.Sc. in Psychology from the University of Bordeaux, France. Dr. Carrizales’ research focuses on the individual, parental, social and cultural correlates of prosocial socioemotional development (e.g., empathy, kindness, generosity) in adolescence with a particular emphasis on Latine rural and farmworker youth through her work with the Purdue Puentes Project.

Xue Jiang, Ph.D.

Department of Human Development and Family Science/Public Health, Purdue University

Email: jiang994@purdue.edu

Dr. Xue Jiang is a Post-Doctoral Research Associate for the Purdue Puentes Project. She received her Ph.D. in. Human Development and Learning from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Jiang’ s research interest centers on how diverse developmental trajectories are embedded in various ecocultural realities. And she also values the translation of research into practices to address urgent societal challenges. Specifically, Dr. Jiang is focusing on understanding how children from rural China and youth from rural America develop resilience when experiencing parental migration. Her goal is to translate her research findings into practice application by informing policy and program design.

Ei Sandi Nwe, Ph.D.

Department of Human Development and Family Science/Public Health, Purdue University

Email: enwe@purdue.edu

Dr. Nwe recently graduated with a Ph.D. in Strategic Management from Purdue University’s Daniels’ School of Business. She is originally from a Southeast Asian country, Myanmar, yet she has studied and lived in Singapore, the UK and the US. She has a very diverse educational background as she holds a master’s in international business management and a bachelor’s in chemical engineering. Dr. Nwe’s professional as well as personal interests pertain to creating social impact through business. Particularly, she pioneers research at the intersection of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate strategy. She views CSR through a relational lens and examine how CSR practices can be integrated into mainstream strategy. While her current research is quantitative in nature, she is also looking to lean more towards qualitative studies. Additionally, her 5-year entrepreneurial and industry experience has allowed her to witness the disconnect between practice and academia and she aspires to bring unique perspectives and insights to build a bridge between the two worlds. As such, she is excited to join Purdue Puentes Project as this role would enable her to utilize both her managerial as well as research skills, while creating social impact at the same time. 

Jihee Im, Ph.D.

Department of Human Development and Family Science/Public Health, Purdue University

Email: jvi5117@psu.edu

Dr. Jihee Im will serve as a Postdoctoral Research Associate for the Purdue Puentes Project. She will begin her new position on June, 15, 2024. She earned her Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Science from the University of Missouri.

Dr. Im’s research focuses on the development of children’s self-regulation and their academic adjustment within the family context. She also investigates individual, social, and cultural predictors of parenting behaviors. Dr. Im’s particular focus lies in exploring these research areas within families and children from ethnically and racially minoritized backgrounds, as well as those from low socioeconomic backgrounds.

Jennifer Escobedo

Graduate Student, Department of Public Health, Purdue University

Email: jescobed@purdue.edu

Jennifer Escobedo is a master’s and doctoral student in the department of Public Health with a concentration in family and community health at Purdue University [advisor: Dr. Yumary Ruiz] and a research assistant with the Purdue Puentes Project. Jennifer’s research interest focuses on the social determinants of health and how they contribute to health and educational disparities amongst the Latine community. She plans to use her research skills to create evidence-based interventions to help combat health and educational disparities.

Genesis Santiago Burgos, B.S.

Graduate Student, Department of Public Health, Purdue University

Email: santiagg@purdue.edu

Genesis Santiago Burgos is a doctoral student in the department of Public Health at Purdue University [advisor: Dr. Yumary Ruiz] and a research assistant with the Purdue Puentes Project. Genesis’ research interests include health promotion and interventions within underprivileged communities such as Latine and Hispanic communities. She plans to expand and deepen her research skills to advocate good health practices in underprivileged communities.

Maria Suarez

Project Assistant

Department of Human Development and Family Science/Public Health, Purdue University

Email: suarez37@purdue.edu

Maria Suarez is a psychologist who graduated from Javeriana University in Colombia; she has experience in research with minority groups on issues related to mental health and sexuality. Additionally, she has worked for more than five years in human resources and coordinating the work environment in important companies in her country. Her main interest is focused on the contribution in mental health issues to immigrant groups, she wants to start soon a master’s degree in psychology to continue generating support to the most disadvantaged groups in the United States such as the Latino community.