Mario Morales

PhD Candidate

Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health | University of Arizona

mariomorales@arizona.edu | ORCID: 0000-0002-0576-8655

Research Assistant (2025–present)

Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine–Tucson, University of Arizona

• Conduct comprehensive literature reviews and quantitative analyses to examine predictors of nonmedical prescription opioid use among U.S. adolescents as part of the Comprehensive Center for Pain & Addiction
• Contribute to study design, data interpretation, and manuscript development under the supervision of Jennifer Schultz de la Rosa, PhD

Graduate Teaching Assistant (2025)

Department of Health Promotion Science, Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, University of Arizona

• Facilitate group discussions and grade assignments to promote critical thinking and applied learning
• Delivered a guest lecture on Gottman's "Fight Right" Quick Guide

Research Assistant (2021–2025)

Arizona Prevention Research Center (AzPRC), Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, University of Arizona

• Conduct mixed-methods research on chronic disease prevention and management along the U.S.–Mexico border
• Apply community-based participatory research (CBPR) methods to evaluate the impact of community health workers
• Co-author peer-reviewed publications on social determinants of health

Graduate Teaching Assistant (2019–2021)

School of Government and Public Policy, University of Arizona

• Led class discussions and provided individualized feedback to improve students' writing and analytical reasoning
• Held office hours to support academic growth

Research Assistant (2015–2019)

Division of Global Public Health, University of California San Diego (UCSD)

• Conducted mixed-methods analysis on police education and HIV prevention under the ESCUDO Project (NIDA R01 DA039073)
• Co-authored peer-reviewed articles linking law enforcement practices with harm-reduction strategies
• Developed IRB-approved protocols and co-designed a police education curriculum on harm reduction
• Trained over 1,800 Tijuana police officers on occupational safety and harm-reduction principles

Assistant Manager of International Relations (2013–2014)

Internal Affairs, Mexican Federal Police, Mexico City

• Co-directed the First International Congress of Police Internal Affairs, convening 300+ law enforcement leaders
• Coordinated the Permanent Seminar of Police Internal Affairs

Analyst (2012–2013)

International Consulting, Intelligence and Technology (ICIT), Mexico City

• Produced weekly briefs and state-level monographs on national security trends
• Compiled profiles of 100+ political and business leaders for risk assessments

Analyst (Summer 2009)

National Institute of Public Health (INSP), Cuernavaca, Mexico

• Conducted qualitative evaluations of Mexico's rural seniors welfare program (SEDESOL)

Undergraduate Research Assistant (2007–2008)

Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP), Puebla, Mexico

• Designed semi-structured interviews and conducted ethnographic fieldwork (n > 100) for a CONACYT-funded project on social innovation in Oaxaca

Morales, M., Wilkinson-Lee, A. M., Ingram, M., Nuño, T., Guernsey de Zapien, J. E., Sepulveda, R., & Carvajal, S. (2024). Risk factors associated with loneliness among Mexican-origin adults in Southern Arizona. BMC Public Health, 24, 1694. DOI

Welty, C. W., Bingham, L., Morales, M., Gerald, L. B., Ellingson, K. D., & Haynes, P. L. (2024). School connectedness and suicide among high school youth: A systematic review. Journal of School Health, 94, 469–480. DOI

Morales, M., Ingram, M., Wilkinson-Lee, A. M., Nuño, T., Guernsey de Zapien, J. E., Sepulveda, R., & Carvajal, S. (2023). Factors associated with diabetes among Mexican-origin adults in a community sample at the U.S.-Mexico border region. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(12), 6126. DOI

Morales, M., Ingram, M., Coulter, K. M., Nuño, T., Wilkinson-Lee, A. M., Guernsey de Zapien, J. E., & Carvajal, S. (2023). Factors associated with depressive symptoms among Mexican-origin adults in a community sample at the U.S.-Mexico border region. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(11), 6017. DOI

Raghu, D. D., Buckland, A. J., Morales, M., Ingram, M., Harris, E., & Holzberg, J. R. (2023). Vaccine hesitancy and the willingness to recommend the COVID-19 vaccine to children in a rural county on the U.S.-Mexico border. Frontiers in Public Health, 11. DOI

Nuño, T., Azurdia-Sierra, L., Wilkinson-Lee, A., et al. (2022). The Arizona Prevention Research Center partnerships in Arizona to promote COVID-19 vaccine health equity. Public Health Education and Promotion, 10. DOI

Baker, P., Arredondo, J., Borquez, A., et al. (2021). Municipal police support for harm reduction services in officer-led referrals of people who inject drugs in Tijuana, Mexico. Harm Reduction Journal, 18, 76. DOI

Beletsky, L., Abramovitz, D., Baker, P., et al. (2021). Reducing police occupational needle stick injury risk following an interactive training: The SHIELD cohort study in Mexico. BMJ Open, 11, e041629. DOI

Olguín, G., Borquez, A., Baker, P., Morales, M., et al. (2020). Preferences and acceptability of law enforcement initiated referrals for people who inject drugs: A mixed methods analysis. Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy, 15, 75. DOI

Morales, M., Rafful, C., Baker, P., et al. (2020). "Pick up anything that moves": A qualitative analysis of a police crackdown against people who use drugs in Tijuana, Mexico. Health & Justice, 8, 9. DOI

Morales, M., Baker, P., Rafful, C., et al. (2020). Conflicting laws and priorities as drug policy implementation barriers: A qualitative analysis of police perspectives in Tijuana, Mexico. Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. DOI

Rocha-Jiménez, T., Mittal, M. L., Artamonova, I., et al. (2019). Gender differences in syringe confiscation and syringe-related arrest among law enforcement officers in Tijuana, Mexico. Health and Human Rights, 21(1), 227–238.

Arredondo, J., Beletsky, L., Baker, P., et al. (2019). Interactive versus video-based training of police to communicate syringe legality to people who inject drugs: The SHIELD study, Mexico, 2015–2016. American Journal of Public Health, 109(6), 921–926. DOI

Beletsky, L., Abramovitz, D., Arredondo, J., et al. (2019). Addressing police occupational safety during an opioid crisis: The syringe threat and injury correlates (STIC) score. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. DOI

Morales, M., Rafful, C., Gaines, T., et al. (2018). Factors associated with extrajudicial arrest for syringe possession: Results of a department-wide survey of municipal police in Tijuana, Mexico. BMC International Health and Human Rights, 18, 36. DOI

Borquez, A., Beletsky, L., Nosyk, B., et al. (2018). The effect of public health-oriented drug law reform on HIV incidence among people who inject drugs in Tijuana, Mexico: An epidemic modeling analysis. The Lancet Public Health. DOI

Mittal, M. L., Artamonova, I., Baker, P., et al. (2018). Improving police conceptual knowledge of Mexico's law on cannabis possession. The American Journal on Addictions, 27(8), 608–611. DOI

Cepeda, J. A., Strathdee, S. A., Arredondo, J., et al. (2017). Assessing police officers' attitudes and legal knowledge on behaviors that impact HIV transmission among people who inject drugs. International Journal of Drug Policy, 50, 56–63. DOI

Arredondo, J., Lira, S., Strathdee, S. A., et al. (2017). Measuring improvement in knowledge of drug policy reforms following a police education program in Tijuana, Mexico. Harm Reduction Journal, 14, 72. DOI

Morales, M., Freedman, C. J., Koss, M., Carvajal, S., & Haynes, T. (in preparation). Effectiveness of randomized controlled trial school interventions for the prevention of dating violence and substance use among adolescents worldwide: A systematic review.

Morales, Carvajal, S., M., Brancato, C. J., Coker, A. (in preparation). Evaluating the Green Dot bystander intervention for dating violence prevention: Impact on alcohol-related victim blaming in Kentucky high schools.

Morales, M., Schultz-de la Rosa, J. (in preparation). Nonmedical prescription drug use, suicidality, and bullying among U.S. youth: Evidence from the 2023 YRBS.

Morales, M. (in preparation). The Social-Ecological Drivers of Intimate Partner Violence Justification in Belize: An Intersectional Priority Cascade Analysis.

Morales, M. (2020). El pianista. In P. del C. Lobatón, G. Nettel, & Y. Weiss (Eds.), Diario de la pandemia (pp. 530–532). Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

Morales, M. (2020, June). El pianista. Revista de la Universidad de México. Link

Morales, M. (2019). ¿Quiénes son Guatemala, El Salvador y Honduras y por qué las caravanas migrantes están definiendo la relación bilateral entre Estados Unidos y México? Este País. Link

Morales, M. (2013). Factores que explicaron los niveles de homicidios y fallecimientos por rivalidad delincuencial entre 2007 y 2010 en México. Coyuntura Demográfica, 3, 17–22.

Salas, E. H., Greathouse, L., Morales, M., & Valckx, A. (2005). Una vez un moreno, una morena, un güero y una güera… O los mitos contados por los niños y las niñas. In Matices sociales del color de la piel en México. Facultad de Psicología, BUAP.

Morales, M. (2025, November). Teens, Choices, and Health: From Diagnosis to Intervention in Southern Belize. 20th Tinker Symposium, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.

Morales, M. (2024, March). Spotify's sound features associated with songs' popularity among Música Urbana Grammy winners (2004–2022). 58th Southwest Council of Latin American Studies (SCOLAS), Panama City, Panamá.

Holzberg, J., Darisi, R., Buckland, A., Morales, M., Ingram, M., & Harris, E. (2023, May). Vaccine hesitancy and adult willingness to recommend the COVID-19 vaccine to children in Cochise County. El Rio Health & Southern Arizona AHEC Research Exhibition (online).

Morales, M., Torres, E., Cruz, L., Ingram, M., Wilkinson-Lee, A., & Carvajal, S. C. (2023, March). Factors related with COVID-19 vaccination among Latinx adults in Southern Arizona. Prevention Research Center Week (online).

Morales, M. (2023, January). Victimization and perception of extortion in Mexico: Results from ENVIPE 2018. Latin American Peace Science Society, Medellín, Colombia.

Morales, M., Mittal, M. L., Baker, P., et al. (2022, November). Spatial regulation of homeless people who use drugs: A qualitative study of police officer perspectives in Tijuana, Mexico. American Anthropological Association, Seattle, U.S.

Morales, M. (2022, April). Factors associated with depression among Latinx adults in the U.S.-Mexico border region. MEZCOPH 2022 Poster Forum, Tucson, AZ.

Morales, M. (2021, June). Prevention of addiction and victimization in middle schools of Morelos, Mexico (PAVS-1). Institute for Qualitative & Multi-Method Research (IQMR), Syracuse, NY.

Morales, M. (2017, May). Translating drug policy reform: a qualitative study of police officer perspectives on implementing the Narcomenudeo law reforms in Tijuana, Mexico. 11th Annual Conference of ISSDP, Aarhus, Denmark.

Beletsky, L., & Morales, M. (2016, October). Harm reduction, policy reform, and policing practice: The case of Narcomenudeo implementation in Tijuana, Mexico. 3rd LEPH Conference, Amsterdam.

Morales, M. (2012, May–June). Operativos conjuntos y violencia asociada con el crimen organizado en México: Un enfoque demográfico. XI National Demographic Research Meeting (SOMEDE), Aguascalientes, Mexico.

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