Welcome

I am a UCSF faculty member and public health researcher whose work focuses on improving the quality of preventive healthcare for low-income Spanish-speaking families through my mixed methods intervention research, as well as my program development, implementation and evaluation work with community health organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area. My research examines obesity in Mexican American families, with a special focus on the role that fathers play in preventing obesity in their children. Additionally, my research examines innovate technology-based behavioral interventions in Latinx youth to help enhance and ensure cultural representation and responsiveness. My other interests include STEM education, health policy research and mentoring underrepresented minority students.

Recent Awards

Health Disparities Research Loan Repayment Program NIH/NIMHD
Graduate Fellows Program
Institute for the Study of Societal Issues
​UC Berkeley
Susan Kersch De Young Public Health Fellowship
​UC Berkeley
Kaiser Permanente Public Health Scholarship
​UC Berkeley

Publications

Obstacles to preventing obesity in children aged 2 to 5 years: Latino mothers' and fathers' experiences and perceptions of their urban environment  PDF
​Fathers’ feeding practices and children’s weight status in Mexican American families  PDF
Preferred child body size and parental underestimation of child weight in Mexican American families  ​PDF
Parental feeding practices and child weight status in Mexican American families: a longitudinal analysis  ​PDF
carlos.penilla@ucsf.edu​