Research Professor
Community Health and Prevention
ml3629@drexel.edu
Download CV

Degrees

MD, University of La Salle, Mexico
PhD, Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University, School of Public Health
ScM, Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University, School of Public Health

Bio

Mariana Lazo, MD, PhD, ScM, is a Research Professor at the Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health, with appointments in the Department of Community Health and Prevention and the Urban Health Collaborative (UHC). She co-leads the Community Engagement Core of the UHC.

Dr. Lazo’s research focuses on two main areas: (1) understanding the role of social, economic, and environmental factors in chronic diseases and their disparities, and (2) developing and implementing multi-level interventions to address Latino and immigrant health issues. She co-leads community- and policy- engagement initiatives in Philadelphia, primarily focused on improving the health and well-being of the Latino community, and climate-related efforts.

Her work spans both the U.S. and Latin America. Dr. Lazo earned her MD in Mexico City (La Salle University) and her ScM and PhD in Epidemiology from The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Research Interests

• Epidemiology of Chronic Diseases (Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases, Liver Diseases)
• Hispanic/Latino/Immigrant Health
• Racial/Ethnic Health Disparities
• Community-Based Participatory Research
• Urban Health
• Climate Change

Publications

Neighbourhoods' social, built, and natural environment characteristics and body mass index in Latin American cities. Rodríguez López S, Diez Roux AV, Tumas N, Moore K, Sarmiento OL, Sánchez BN, Pérez-Ferrer C, Flores-Alvarado S, Mazariegos M, Bilal U, Lazo M. Int J Epidemiol. 2025 Apr 12;54(3):dyaf047. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyaf047. PMID: 40258365.

Associations between neighborhood built-environment characteristics and hepatic steatosis: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. Lazo M, Li J, Hirsch JA, Moore KA, Auchincloss AH, Tabb LP, Barrientos-Gutierrez T, Clark JM, Solga SF, Budoff MJ, Sánchez BN. Health Place. 2025 Jan;91:103392. doi: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2024.103392. Epub 2024 Dec 6. PMID: 39644759

Data Resource Profile: Harmonized health survey data for 240 cities across 11 countries in Latin America: the SALURBAL project. Moore K, Lazo M, Ortigoza A, Quistberg DA, Sanchez B, Acharya B, Alfaro T, Kroker-Lobos MF, Menezes MC, Sarmiento OL, de Souza Andrade AC, Perez Ferrer C, Hernandez Vasquez A, Caiaffa WT, Diez Roux AV; SALURBAL Group. Int J Epidemiol. 2024 Dec 16;54(1):dyae171. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyae171. PMID: 39761604.

Contribution of deaths of despair to the Hispanic mortality advantage in the USA by person, place and time: an ecological analysis of vital registration data. Trejo BG, Hernandez SM, Lazo M, Bilal U. BMJ Public Health. 2024 Aug 30;2(2):e001191. doi: 10.1136/bmjph-2024-001191. eCollection 2024 Dec. PMID: 40018534.

Pragmatic strategies to address health disparities along the continuum of care in chronic liver disease. Brahmania M, Rogal S, Serper M, Patel A, Goldberg D, Mathur A, Wilder J, Vittorio J, Yeoman A, Rich NE, Lazo M, Kardashian A, Asrani S, Spann A, Ufere N, Verma M, Verna E, Simpson D, Schold JD, Rosenblatt R, McElroy L, Wadhwani SI, Lee TH, Strauss AT, Chung RT, Aiza I, Carr R, Yang JM, Brady C, Fortune BE. Hepatol Commun. 2024 May 2;8(5):e0413. doi: 10.1097/HC9.0000000000000413. eCollection 2024 May 1. PMID: 38696374.

A multisociety Delphi consensus statement on new fatty liver disease nomenclature. Rinella ME, Lazarus JV, Ratziu V, Francque SM, Sanyal AJ, Kanwal F, Romero D, Abdelmalek MF, Anstee QM, Arab JP, Arrese M, Bataller R, Beuers U, Boursier J, Bugianesi E, Byrne CD, Castro Narro GE, Chowdhury A, Cortez-Pinto H, Cryer DR, Cusi K, El-Kassas M, Klein S, Eskridge W, Fan J, Gawrieh S, Guy CD, Harrison SA, Kim SU, Koot BG, Korenjak M, Kowdley KV, Lacaille F, Loomba R, Mitchell-Thain R, Morgan TR, Powell EE, Roden M, Romero-Gómez M, Silva M, Singh SP, Sookoian SC, Spearman CW, Tiniakos D, Valenti L, Vos MB, Wong VW, Xanthakos S, Yilmaz Y, Younossi Z, Hobbs A, Villota-Rivas M, Newsome PN; NAFLD Nomenclature consensus group. Hepatology. 2023 Dec 1;78(6):1966-1986. doi: 10.1097/HEP.0000000000000520. Epub 2023 Jun 24. PMID: 37363821.

Are Women's Empowerment and Income Inequality Associated with Excess Weight in Latin American Cities? Tumas N, Rodríguez López S, Mazariegos M, Ortigoza A, Anza Ramírez C, Pérez Ferrer C, Moore K, Yamada G, Menezes MC, Sarmiento OL, Pericàs JM, Belvis Costes F, Lazo M, Benach J. J Urban Health. 2022 Dec;99(6):1091-1103. doi: 10.1007/s11524-022-00689-5. Epub 2022 Nov 10. PMID: 36357625.

The urban built environment and adult BMI, obesity, and diabetes in Latin American cities. Anza-Ramirez C, Lazo M, Zafra-Tanaka JH, Avila-Palencia I, Bilal U, Hernández-Vásquez A, Knoll C, Lopez-Olmedo N, Mazariegos M, Moore K, Rodriguez DA, Sarmiento OL, Stern D, Tumas N, Miranda JJ. Nat Commun. 2022 Dec 29;13(1):7977. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-35648-w. PMID: 36581636.

Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: The Role of Neighborhood Socioeconomic Deprivation. Lazo M, Martinez-Folgar K, Bilal U. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2022 Jul 1;31(7):1254-1256. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-22-0378. PMID: 35775232.

Feasibility and acceptability of CRiSOL: A pilot peer-based intervention to address syndemic health issues afflicting Latino immigrants in the U.S. Martinez-Donate AP, Zumaeta-Castillo C, Yamasaki Y, Perez C, Martinez O, Hassrick EM, Ventimiglia J, Lazo-Elizondo M. PLoS One. 2023 Oct 24;18(10):e0287248. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0287248. eCollection 2023. PMID: 37874795.

Provider perceptions of availability, accessibility, and adequacy of health and behavioral services for Latino immigrants in Philadelphia: a qualitative study. Martinez-Donate AP, Dsouza N, Cuellar S, Connor G, Zumaeta-Castillo C, Lazo-Elizondo M, Yamasaki Y, Perez C, Carroll-Scott A, Martinez O, Hassrick EM. BMC Public Health. 2022 Aug 30;22(1):1645. doi: 10.1186/s12889-022-14066-z. PMID: 36042441.

View Dr. Lazo's full list of publications on PubMed