SHEILA SOTO

DrPH Assistant Research Professor, Public Health Ssoto2@arizona.edu

Sheila Soto, is an Assistant Research Professor and the Director of the Community Engagement and Outreach Programs (CEO) at the University of Arizona, Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, Department of Public Health Practice, Policy, and Translational Research.

Dr. Soto completed her MPH and DrPH at the University of Arizona with a concentration in Public Health Policy and Management. Her dissertation focused on the health status of farmworkers at a national, state, and local level. She incorporated secondary data analysis using national datasets, completed a systematized literature review, and a preliminary research study with farmworkers working in Yuma and Cochise County. For her MPH placement, she worked with SEAHEC and established a health-focused manual and handbook for community health workers living in Winchester Heights, Arizona.

Dr. Soto’s research addresses health disparities among disadvantaged populations, including immigrants, farmworkers, and rural and border communities. She has a background in community health with specific training in community-based participatory research and mixed methods. The CEO model consists of community health workers (CHWs) and interprofessional health science students who provide various services throughout Arizona. The Primary Prevention Mobile Health Units (MHUs) and Ventanillas de Salud in Phoenix and Douglas (VDS) aim to reduce the number of individuals who rely on the emergency room as their primary form of health care by establishing routing care in local clinics. Street Medicine Phoenix (SMP) is a student-run program that focuses on providing services and care to the unsheltered population in Phoenix. All these programs provide basic health screenings, HIV testing, referrals to designated services for linkage to care, and access to PREP or PEP, among other direct services.