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Maria Alonso Luaces, PhD

Maria Alonso Luaces portrait
Education Associate Professor, Family Medicine and Community Health
malonsoluaces@kumc.edu

Professional Background

Dr. Maria Alonso Luaces is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC) and the Director of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion at the School of Medicine.
Dr. Alonso’s work primarily focuses on the intersection of Education and Health. She works closely with communities and urban schools in Kansas to develop a strong pipeline to the health professions, serving more than 100 students per year. In the School of Medicine, she leads multiple efforts focused on the recruitment and retention of underrepresented students into the school.
Dr. Alonso is heavily involved in medical education. She serves as the Diversity Thread head for the curriculum, leads the Medical Spanish program and provides numerous educational sessions focused on language barriers, how to work effectively with medical interpreters and the effects of racism and bias in access and quality of care. The development of The Global Scholars Distinction Program and a summer Study Abroad Program in Spain focused on Medical Spanish and Public Health are just two examples of Dr. Alonso’s efforts to provide the KUMC community with opportunities to seek new perspectives, forester collaboration and graduate students who are prepared to serve ALL patients.

Education and Training
  • BS, Linguistics and Literature, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago, Spain , Spain
  • MA, Language and Literature, The University of Kansas, Lawrence , ks
  • PhD, C&T, The University of Kansas, Lawence , KS

Publications
  • Alonso Luaces, Maria, Suarez, Natalia, Estrella, Octavio, Ramaswamy, Megha, Choi, Won, Cupertino, Paula . 2013. Pipeline efforts with a freirean twist: the Juntos Health Disparities Research Internship.. Journal of Community Medicine and Health Education, 3 (5), 233-239. https://www.omicsonline.org/pipeline-efforts-with-a-freirean-twist-the-juntos-health-disparities-research-internship-2161-0711.1000233.php?aid=17988
  • Alonso Luaces, Maria, Cearley , Maggie, Chang, Karin, Cupertino, Paula, Ramaswamy, Megha. 2018. Envisioning Career Technical Education as a Platform for Student Empowerment. CTE Journal, 6 (2), 2-14. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6625782/
  • Alonso Luaces , Maria, Alvarado, Aaron, Keeton, Jeniffer, Novorr, Jeff, Murrell, Tim, Ramaswamy, Megha. 2019. An Urban School District-University-Industry Partnership to Increase Diversity in the Health Professions: Lesson Learned from the University of Kansas Health Science Academy. J Best Pract Health Prof Divers, 12 (2), 111-127. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33073263/
  • Teachers' Perceptions of Using Health Disparities Content to Engage High Schoolers in Urban Communities, Megha , Lumpkins, Crystal, Alonso Luaces, Maria, Chang, Karin, Cupertino, Paula. 2019. Teachers' Perceptions of Using Health Disparities Content to Engage High Schoolers in Urban Communities. Journal of STEM Outreach, 2 (1)
  • Wickliffe, Joi, Coates, Tawana, Rodas, Jessica, Pomeroy, Marcia, Carillo, Ursula, Alonso Luaces, Maria, Ramaswamy, Megha. 2020. Description of a Twenty-Year Initiative to Bring STEM Career Exploration to Urban Minority Youth in Kansas City, Kansas: Multi-Sector Investment and Program Evolution. Journal of STEM Outreach, 3 (3)