Constanza Paulina Silva Gallardo
Criminal Justice Research Center Postdoctoral Scholar Alumni
Biography:
Constanza Silva Gallardo is a post-doctoral scholar for the Criminal Justice Research Center. Constanza will work with the Millennium Cohort Study data to assess developmental risk factors linked to substance use initiation, continuation, and negative consequences among adolescents. Constanza received her M.S. and Ph.D. in Biobehavioral Health from The Pennsylvania State University. Her dissertation explored nicotine- and cigarette smoking-induced alterations on genomic marks under different exposure scenarios from a translational perspective. This interdisciplinary and translational research approach aimed to address the complexities of nicotine addiction and substance co-use at different developmental stages. During her doctoral training, she was awarded two highly competitive predoctoral training grants (T32) on Biomedical Big Data (B2D2K) and Prevention and Methodology (PAMT). Her overall goals are to develop an interdisciplinary research collaborative program in her home country on adolescent substance use risk factors considering diverse contexts and countries.
She has experience with Big Data management, statistical methods, data collection, and laboratory work. She is fluent in both Spanish and English.
During Constanza’s postdoctoral scholar position with the CJRC she worked with Dr. Jeremy Staff, CJRC University Park Faculty Affiliate, on research related to adolescent substance abuse.
Constanza is currently an Assistant Professor at Society and Health Research Center (CISS) Early Career Researcher at Millennium Nucleus for The Evaluation and Analysis Of Drug Policies (nDP).