Oscar D. Parra, MPH, MAdmin

As a founding member and inaugural Deputy Director for the UA Center for Disparities in Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism (formally inaugural Administrator and then Associate Director), Mr. Parra works with the Center Director/Principal Investigator to develop the center foundation and infrastructure, as well as strategic planning, budget, financial forecasting, submitting grant applications, and overseeing all personnel and human resource issues, as well as serve as Affiliate Administrator for the Division of Endocrinology. Mr. Parra also serves as Deputy Director of the UAHS Biorepository Unit. Additional leadership responsibilities include leading the annual all funds meetings for both the center and division to develop and manage annual budgets and assure budget adherence, as well as leverage the resources across the center, division, UAHS campus, and partnerships to assure all research and academic goals are achieved, increasing the impact of the center's clinical partners in clinical translation research, assuring the center’s and division’s alignment with the university’s strategic pillar of Arizonan Advantage and Grand Challenges.

As the only Hispanic in senior leadership within UA CDDOM, Mr. Parra works along aside the center director and UAHS faculty as a peer Research Investigator to design and implement new research initiatives as well as, leading all the center research initiatives with multiple components, including budgets, supervising and training staff, creating SOPs, work plans and protocols. Mr. Parra leads the center, program, and project personnel in the development and submission of IRB applications and compliance documents and in development of the research databases. Furthermore, he collaborates with the various colleges/ departments throughout the Health Sciences and the University to effectively advance the Center’s goals and aspirations and its basic, translational and educational programs. Mr. Parra also serves as liaison to other University administrative offices, colleges and departments, and assists with establishing new collaborations to increase the center's research portfolio and partnerships with faculty and students increasing Hispanic representation in research, adhering to the mission of the university as a Hispanic Serving Institute.

Mr. Parra has also served in various roles within the College of Nursing and College Public Health on various research initiatives including a NIH funded diabetes intervention dyad study for Hispanics and a CDC funded initiative, Communities Putting Prevention to Work, as well as rural health and rural critical hospital quality assurance HRSA funded initiatives. 

Areas of Responsibility

• Infrastructure and Workflow Development 
• Process Improvement 
• Financial Planning and Oversight
• Strategic Planning
• Regulatory Adherence
• Research Development and Implementation
• Grant and Contract Development
• Personnel Mentorship, Development, and Training 
• Pre and Post Award Administration
• Data Management, Integration, and Reporting 
• Human Resource Affairs 
• Partnership Development 
• Website Design and Upkeep
• Asset Acquisition and Management 

Research Interest and Research Experience

• Social and Environmental Determinants of Health 
• Type 2 Diabetes and Obesity 
• Health Education and Literacy 
• Hispanic Populations and Acculturation 
• Health Promotion Programs
• Public Health Policy 
• Precision Medicine Biorepositories
• Clinical Randomized Control Trials 

Publications

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

Muscogiuri, G., Kohler, L., Parra, O., Soltani, L., Spegman, D., Coletta, D., & Mandarino, L. J. (2024). Longitudinal study of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on diet and physical activity among Latinos of Mexican ancestry. Journal of translational medicine, 22(1), 342. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12967-024-05007-y

Parra, O. D.†, Kohler, L. N.†, Landes, L., Soto, A., Garcia, D., Mullins, J., Molina, P., Pereira, E., Spegman, D. J.,  Soltani, L. & Mandarino, L. J. (2022). Biobanking in Latinos: Current Status, Principles for Conduct, and Contribution of a New Biobank, El Banco por Salud, Designed to Improve the Health of Latino Patients of Mexican Ancestry with Type 2 Diabetes. BMJ Open Diabetes Research and Care 2022;10:e002709. doi: 10.1136/bmjdrc-2021-002709. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35504695/

Standage-Beier, C. S., Bakhshi, B., Parra, O. D., Soltani, L., Spegman, D. J., Molina, P., Pereira, E., Landes, L., Mandarino, L. J., & Kohler, L. N. (2022). Fruit, Vegetable, and Physical Activity Guideline Adherence and Metabolic Syndrome in El Banco por Salud. Nutrients, 14(9), 1767. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14091767

Standage-Beier, C. S.†, Ziller, S. G.†, Bakhshi, B., Parra, O. D., Mandarino, L. J., Kohler, L. N., & Coletta, D. K. (2022). Tools to Measure Health Literacy among Adult Hispanic Populations with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Review of the Literature. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9566768/

Submitted:

Bakhshi, B., Klimentidis, Y.C., Campos, B., Parra, O. D., Soltani, L., Spegman, D. J., Mandarino, L. J., Hingle, M., & Kohler, L. N. (2023). Food Insecurity is Associated with Lower Diet Quality Among Hispanic and Latino Biobank Participants at High Risk for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior.