Dr. Ashley Toney is a graduate from the University of Nebraska Lincoln. She is a first-generation student, biracial Latina who was born and raised in Wilmington, CA.

 

Her research aims to address health disparities in underserved populations using interdisciplinary approaches that combine basic science discoveries with community research interests. In the laboratory, she investigates how red raspberry polyphenols and their gut microbiota derived metabolites, urolithins, attenuate obesity-related diseases using a variety of mouse models, including germ-free mice. In the community, she focuses on community health workers as the bridge between participant and researcher by using the social ecological model as a framework. Her goal is to promote, support, and advocate for community health workers as a sustainable workforce in research and clinical organizations to better serve communities.

 

Ashley now works in the UTHealth School of Public Health in El Paso, Texas as a postdoctoral fellow to continue exploring ways to decrease health disparities in Latino/Hispanic communities through translational research. Moreover, as a Latina in STEM, she is dedicated to mentoring the next generation of Latina scholars and is excited to be part of Latina Voice!