Maria Quiñones-Cordero, who holds a doctorate in clinical psychology, is an assistant professor of clinical nursing. She currently serves as one of the two Faculty Diversity Officers on the Council for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the School of Nursing. Quiñones is the associate director of center activities at the Elaine Hubbard Center for Nursing Research on Aging and the co-lead of the Hispanic/Latino Engagement Core at Roybal Center for Social Ties & Aging Research.
Quiñones’ research interests focus on neurobiological mechanisms in cognitive and mental health outcomes across the life span. Specifically, she is interested in understanding the relationships among cognition, inflammation, and mental health symptoms (i.e., depression and PTSS) and the contributions of aging on these relationships. Her overall aim is to develop or identify interventions that effectively target these mechanisms to improve cognitive and mental health and quality of life across the lifespan. A key focus of Quiñones’ work is on mechanism-based intervention development and delivery aimed at reducing Latino health disparities. She implements systematic approaches to cultural adaptation of evidence-based interventions to fit the needs and characteristics of the Latino culture in order to improve access to and delivery of care, as well as health-related outcomes.
Quiñones earned her bachelor's from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez campus, and an master's and PhD and in clinical psychology from the Ponce Sciences University in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Quiñones completed her clinical internship in the Psychiatry Department at the University of Rochester Medical Center. She completed her postdoctoral training in cognitive aging and psychoneuroimmunology at the University of Rochester School of Nursing.