Victoria Ojeda

Victoria Ojeda is a Professor in the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health & Human Longevity Science at the University of California San Diego (UCSD). Her research focuses on addressing health disparities among marginalized populations, particularly justice-involved adults, migrants, and individuals with mental health challenges. She has led numerous NIH-funded studies, including a recent RCT testing health literacy interventions to reduce disparities in access to care among justice-impacted adults.

Education & Training:

• B.A. Psychology & Spanish, Brandeis University
• M.P.H. Public Health, UCLA
• Ph.D. Public Health, UCLA
• Postdoctoral Fellowship in Mental Health Services, Harvard Medical School

Research Interests: Victoria's work emphasizes improving healthcare access for vulnerable groups through interventions addressing social determinants of health. Key areas include health literacy, reentry programs for justice-involved individuals, and mental health service delivery for youth with serious mental illness. Her projects often involve collaboration between academia, government, and community organizations to create sustainable solutions.

Grants & Funding:

• NIH R01MD016959: Health Literacy Intervention for Justice-Involved Adults
• NIH R01MD011528: Peer Support for Youth with Serious Mental Illness
• California Board of State and Community Corrections: Warm HandOff Program
• BSCC 850-22: Prosocial Skills for Violence Prevention

Her research has been supported by over $10M in NIH grants since 2016.

Labs & Teams: Dr. Ojeda leads the UCSD RELINK program, a trauma-informed initiative providing health and reentry coaching for youth exiting jail. She collaborates with the California Border Health Collaborative and binational programs addressing migrant health issues in Tijuana.