Mayra is a current doctoral student and is expected to graduate in May of 2025. She was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Senegal, West Africa from 2017-2019 where she worked in maternal, child, and adolescent health. In May of 2021, she graduated from Emory’s Rollins School of Public Health where she received her MPH from the Department of Behavioral, Social, and Health Education Sciences. Her interests are partnering with community organizations to conduct research that explores, addresses, and evaluates programs that reduce health disparities in BIPOC communities. Specifically, she is interested in partnering with religious communities to improve the quality of life for Latinx families impacted by dementia.

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Ge, Y., Sainz, M., Gore, J., Epps, F. “Everything is Either Sent by God or Used by God”: An Exploratory Study on the Impact of COVID-19 Upon the Religious Lives of Black Families Living with Dementia. J Relig Health 60, 3193–3208 (2021).

Epps, F., Moore, M., Chester, M., Gore, J., Sainz, M., Adkins, A., Clevenger, C., Aycock, D. The Alter Program: A nurse-led, dementia-friendly program for African American faith communities and families living with dementia. Nursing Administration Quarterly. (2021).

Ge, Y., Sainz, M., Gore, J., & Epps, F. (2020). The Impact of COVID-19 on Church Engagement for Black Families Affected by Dementia. Poster. 2020 National Hartford Center for Gerontological Nursing Excellence Virtual Leadership Conference.

Lemon, E., Del Carmen Chacón, L., Santiago, C., Sainz, M., Renfro, T., Crookes, D., Urbina, B., Woods-Jaeger, B. Addressing the impact of systemic oppression on COVID-related psychosocial outcomes among Latino immigrant families: A community-based participatory research study in the Southeast. Poster. 2021. Annual Meeting Society of Behavioral Medicine.

Sainz, M., Chandramohan, S., Ho, C., Phan, Q. Providers’ perception of telehealth amidst COVID-19. Poster. ATA 2021 Telehealth Conference.

Gore, J., Sainz, M., Brewster, G., Ge, Y., James, T., Epps, F. Worship experiences of black families living with dementia at dementia-friendly churches: A multiple case study. Poster. 2021. Medicine & Religion Conference.

Sainz, M., Lemon, E., Flores, Y., Santiago, C., Urbina, B., Woods-Jaeger, B. Building resiliency: Organizational strategies that support community health workers during COVID-19. 2021. Poster. American Public Health Association Annual Meeting.

Flores, Y., Lemon, E., Sainz, M., Del Carmen Chacón, L., Santiago, C., Urbina, B., Woods-Jaeger, B. Amplified Social Isolation from COVID-19 policies amongst undocumented Latinx Families. 2021. Poster. American Public Health Association Annual Meeting.