Monica De La Cruz

Monica De La Cruz, MPH is an adjunct faculty in the Master's in Public Health program. Also currently a PhD student at the UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare, Monica received a master’s in public health from the University of San Francisco. After receiving her MPH, Monica worked at the Stanford School of Medicine in partnership with pediatricians, pediatric residents, medical students, and other medical providers examining the impact of local interventions on addressing basic needs insecurity (food and diaper insecurities, to name just two). She has extensive experience conducting program evaluations with community partners and using both quantitative and qualitative methods. A main research interest of Monica’s is exploring novel approaches to ameliorating family poverty.

• Qualitative research methods

• Maternal health
• Child health
• Poverty

• UC Berkeley, PhD in Social Welfare, Currently Attending
• University of San Francisco, Master's in Public Health, 2015
• San Francisco State University, BS in Molecular and Cell Biology, 2008

• Program Manager, Pediatric Advocacy Program, Stanford School of Medicine

• Lunch at the Library: A Qualitative Evaluation of a Community-Based Approach to Addressing Food Insecurity. JS Bruce, MM De La Cruz, G Moreno, LJ Chamberlain. Public Health Nutrition (2017) 1640-1649. doi:10.1017/S1368980017000258
• Combating Child Summer Food Insecurity: Examination of a Community-Based Mobile Meal Program. JS Bruce, MM De La Cruz, K Lundberg, N Vesom, JA Aguayo, SB Merrell. Journal of Community Health (2019) 1009-1018. doi: 10.1007/s10900-019-00675-0
• More to Offer than Books: Stakeholder Perceptions of a Public Library-Based Meal Program. MM De La Cruz, K Phan, JS Bruce. Public Health Nutrition (2020) 1-10. Doi: 10.1017/S1368980019004336