Yareliz Diaz is a PhD Candidate in Health Services and Policy Research at Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH). She is currently funded under NIMH with a dissertation award (R36) and is a Gates Millennium Scholar.  Her research interests are on disaster response and its intersection with public health, specifically in low-income communities of color. She is interested in understanding the long-term health impacts of disasters (such as Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico), community resilience, and how current policies create inequitable outcomes in communities.

Yareliz is a mixed methods researcher with a personal interest in Latinx and Spanish-speaking populations. She has been a Teaching Assistant for Health Law, Policy, and Policymaking, an advanced policy course for Masters students at BUSPH. As well as for Research, Theory, and Design an advanced research methods course for doctoral students. 

Previously, Yareliz worked with the Disparities Research Unit (DRU) at Massachusetts General Hospital on mental health research with low income people and Latinx immigrants under PCORI and NIDA grants. She also coordinated a PCORI Eugene Washington Engagement Award while working for The Center for Community Health Education, Research, and Service (CCHERS) that focused on building research infrastructure and developing genuine engagement in partnership with under-resourced communities in Boston. 

Yareliz received her MPH from BUSPH in 2020 and is a 2015 graduate of Tufts University.