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India J. Ornelas photo

India J. Ornelas

Professor, Health Systems and Population Health
Program Director – MPH Core, School of Public Health

Professor, Fred Hutch Cancer Center

206-685-8887 | iornelas@uw.edu

Office HRC 439
Box 351621
University of Washington, 3980 15th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98195

Research Interests

Racial and ethnic health disparities; social determinants of health; Latino and immigrant populations; American Indian populations; health promotion interventions; community-based participatory research; cancer prevention; mental health; substance use; coronavirus

Bio

India J. Ornelas teaches in the MPH program and is the Director of the MPH Core Curriculum. Her research focuses on understanding how social and cultural factors influence the health of Latino and American Indian communities. She collaborates with communities to develop and test culturally relevant interventions in the areas of mental health, substance use and cancer prevention.

Education

PhD Health Education, Health Behavior, University of North Carolina, 2009
MPH Health Services, University of Washington, 1999
BA Health and Society, Brown University, 1996

Academic Programs and Affiliations

Recent Publications (PubMed)

Reliability of cancer screening questions from the National Health Interview Survey.
Kessler LG, Comstock B, Aiello Bowles EJ, Mou J, Nash MG, Bravo P, Fleckenstein LE, Pflugeisen C, Gao H, Winer RL, Ornelas IJ, Smith C, Neslund-Dudas C, Shetty P, Raghavan UG. Reliability of cancer screening questions from the National Health Interview Su
Agricultural Exceptionalism: Development of a Labor Law Equity Index to Capture Variation in State Labor Protections for U.S. Agricultural Workers.
Santos EC, Ornelas IJ, Hill HD, Spector J, Garcia RM, Navarro M, Hernandez A, Baquero B. Agricultural Exceptionalism: Development of a Labor Law Equity Index to Capture Variation in State Labor Protections for U.S. Agricultural Workers. New Solut. 2026 Ma
Neighborhood Physical Disinvestment and Incident Diabetes between visits 1 and 2 of the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos
Smith CM, Spalt EW, Gallo LC, Carlson JA, Allison M, Thyagarajan B, Chambers EC, Pirzada A, Daviglus M, Cordero C, Qi Q, Austin E, Fretts AM, Ornelas I, Kaplan R, Kaufman JD, Mooney SJ. Neighborhood Physical Disinvestment and Incident Diabetes between vis
A Cross-Sectional Legal Epidemiology Study of Associations Between State-Level Labor Laws (LLEI) and Workplace Sanitation and Training Indicators Among Hispanic US Crop Workers Using the National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS).
Santos C, Ornelas I, Hill H, Spector JT, Flunker JC, Baquero B. A Cross-Sectional Legal Epidemiology Study of Associations Between State-Level Labor Laws (LLEI) and Workplace Sanitation and Training Indicators Among Hispanic US Crop Workers Using the Nati
Neighborhood Physical Disinvestment and Incident Diabetes between visits 1 and 2 of the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos
Kessler LG, Comstock B, Aiello Bowles EJ, Mou J, Nash MG, Bravo P, Fleckenstein LE, Pflugeisen C, Gao H, Winer RL, Ornelas IJ, Smith C, Neslund-Dudas C, Shetty P, Raghavan UG. Measuring the validity of survey questions on breast, cervical, colorectal, and
Impact of Brief Health Equity/Implicit Bias Education on Patient-Centered Communication Among Clinical Teaching Faculty.
Sabin J, Guenther GA, Ornelas IJ, Patterson DG, Andrilla CHA, Morales LS, Gujral K, Frogner BK. The Impact of Brief Health Equity/Implicit Bias Education on Patient-Centered Communication Among Clinical Teaching Faculty. Adv Med Educ Pract. 2026 Jan 31;17
Patterns of mental health help seeking among Latina immigrant women
Rodriguez MO, Gudino J, Valencia J, Rhew I, Ornelas IJ. Patterns of mental health help seeking among Latina immigrant women. BMC Public Health. 2025 Aug 14;25(1):2771. doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-23992-7.
Amigas Latinas Motivando el Alma (ALMA): Increasing Mindfulness and Social Support to Reduce Depression and Anxiety in Latina Immigrant Women
Ornelas IJ, Nelson AK, Price C, Perez-Solorio SA, Rao D, Chan KCG. Amigas Latinas Motivando el Alma (ALMA): Increasing Mindfulness and Social Support to Reduce Depression and Anxiety in Latina Immigrant Women. Mindfulness (N Y). 2025 Jul;16(7):1923-1932.
Assessing the feasibility of a community health worker-delivered mental health intervention for Latina immigrant women
Perez-Solorio SA, Gudino J, Perez G, Maurer S, Baquero B, Rao D, Ornelas IJ. Assessing the feasibility of a community health worker-delivered mental health intervention for Latina immigrant women. Front Public Health. 2025 Apr 15;13:1545922. doi: 10.3389/
Protocol to measure validity and reliability of colorectal, breast, cervical and lung cancer screening questions from the 2021 National Health Interview Survey: Methodology and design.
Kessler LG, Comstock B, Aiello Bowles EJ, Mou J, Nash MG, Bravo P, Fleckenstein LE, Pflugeisen C, Gao H, Winer RL, Ornelas IJ, Smith C, Neslund-Dudas C, Shetty P. Protocol to measure validity and reliability of colorectal, breast, cervical and lung cancer

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