Rate My Professor Jennifer Salinas

Jennifer Salinas serves as Associate Professor of Social Work in the Department of Social Work within the College of Health Sciences at the University of Texas at El Paso. She holds a PhD in sociology and demography from the University of Texas at Austin in 2006, a Master of Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania in 1995, and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts in 1993. Her professional career began as a clinical social worker at the University of Pennsylvania’s teaching hospital, assisting Spanish-speaking patients and addressing communication and cultural barriers in healthcare. She subsequently held faculty positions at the UT School of Public Health in Brownsville, where she researched health disparities in border versus non-border populations and adapted interventions for Hispanic communities, and at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso, while contributing to master’s and doctoral committees in the UTEP College of Health Sciences.

Dr. Salinas’s research centers on Hispanic health disparities, social determinants of health, cancer and chronic disease prevention, healthy eating, active living, and obesity prevention, with emphasis on U.S.-Mexico border populations in the Paso del Norte region. She has implemented evidence-based strategies through community-based participatory research, including Pasos Para Prevenir Cancer, a multilevel lifestyle intervention to improve healthy eating and physical activity, and 50k4Life, a SMART randomized clinical trial to enhance walking engagement among public school employees. Key publications encompass “50k4Life: A SMART Study Protocol to Improve Walking Engagement in Public School Employees on the US-Mexico Border” (Contemporary Clinical Trials, 2025), “Characterization of an At-Risk Population for Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) in a Primary Care Setting along the U.S.-Mexico Border” (Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 2025), “Change in Nutrition Behavior among Mexican Americans after Participating in an Obesity-related Cancer Education Program” (Cancer Control, 2024), “Using the RE-AIM Framework to evaluate the implementation process of a tailored-education program to reduce obesity-related cancers in El Paso, Texas” (BMC Public Health, 2024), and “Engagement in Physical Activity Improves after Participation in Pasos Para Prevenir Cancer” (International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2022). She has presented on these topics at conferences such as the American Heart Association and received UTEP Research and Innovation awards for First Time Principal Investigator and Highest External Funded Department (2025).