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Our Team Members

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Iris Aguilar

Executive Director

Iris Aguilar, DPPD
iraguilar@fullerton.edu
www.linkedin.com/in/ia-heath4all

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Meet our Director:

Dr. Aguilar has worked in both service delivery and research enterprises, gaining a unique perspective on the issues under-resourced communities face and the ability of universities to improve their quality of life.

She began her career as a vocational nurse at a Los Angeles County community clinic before moving to social work at a federally qualified community clinic in East Los Angeles, where she helped Spanish-speaking mothers prepare for birth and raising children. Her career shifted toward gerontology issues as a coordinator of a respite program, part of the El Portal: Latino Alzheimer's Project. She has coordinated care as part of the Los Angeles Caregiver Resource Center and helped expand older adult services for the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health. She started her career in academic research at the University of California Los Angeles as project director of two community-based clinical trials to determine the effectiveness of a physical activity behavioral health intervention. Dr. Aguilar spent over 15 years as assistant director at the University of Southern California (USC) Edward R. Roybal Institute on Aging. Before joining CHN, Dr. Aguilar served as the Director of Program Administration for the Office of Research & Economic Development Population Health Initiative and adjunct lecturer in the Department of Public Policy and Administration at Florida International University.

Dr. Aguilar earned her Doctor of Policy, Planning, and Development (DPPD) from USC, where she received the DPPD Outstanding Dissertation Award. She also holds a master's in public administration, and bachelor’s in social work from California State University, Los Angeles, as well as a vocational nursing degree from Los Angeles Trade-Technical College.

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Jessie Jone