Lisa E. Vera

Ms. Vera has been Project Director at the University of California, San Diego Cancer Prevention and Control Division of the Moores Cancer Center since 2003. There she manages a research study examining the effects of parenting practices on adolescent health and behavioral outcomes, including the prevention of tobacco and other substance use. Her long-term interest and focus on prevention research to promote healthy life choices among youth is reflected in her 25 years of experience in the area. Prior to joining Dr. John Pierce's Health Behavior Studies team at UCSD, Ms. Vera managed several projects at the Oregon Research Institute, a private non-profit research organization located in Eugene. Her specialties included promoting family communications about health, reducing the access of underage youth to tobacco products, building community advisory coalitions to advise research programs, and interactions with the media.

In 2009, Ms. Vera began working with the SDPRC as Evaluation Coordinator. In this capacity, she supports the Evaluation Core by assisting the SDPRC to measure its impact on the community and the success of its community-based collaborative efforts, and to catalog the research products generated from SDPRC collaborations.

Ms. Vera received a BA in English from the University of Oregon in 1984. She possesses a lifelong passion for movement and physical activity, which has translated into more than two decades of dance and fitness training. She currently teaches a variety of group exercise classes at the Being Fit Fitness Centers in San Diego, studies tap and jazz dance, and is a freelance writer.