Yolanda Suarez-Balcazar
Professor and Department Head, Occupational Therapy / Professor, Disability and Human Development
Office of Health Literacy
About
Dr. Suarez-Balcazar is professor and head of the Department of Occupational Therapy. She holds an affiliate appointment in the Department of Psychology at UIC. Her research interest and expertise covers several interrelated areas: Development, implementation, and evaluation of community-based healthy lifestyles interventions for youth and young adults with disabilities and their families; the study of cultural competency and its role in addressing health disparities; and the study of community capacity building for evaluation. Dr. Suarez-Balcazar was chosen as 2016 Applied Health Science Professor of the Year and received the 2020 Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Kansas Department of Applied Behavioral Sciences.