Yamnia Cortés, PhD, MPH, FNP-BC, FAHA

Assistant Professor
School of Nursing

Dr. Yamnia I. Cortés is an Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Cortés leads an interdisciplinary research program focused on understanding the sociocultural, environmental, behavioral, and biological factors that impact midlife women’s cardiovascular health. Additionally, she designs interventions to improve menopause-related symptoms and reduce cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in midlife women, particularly Latinas. Another line of research examines the interface between reproductive health and chronic disease. In this work, she integrates methods from biobehavioral science, epidemiology, and life course research. As part a Career Development Award from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIHMD) (K23MD014767), Dr. Cortés is pilot testing a community-engaged, multi-component intervention to reduce CVD risk among Latinas during the menopause transition. In 2019 she received a North American Menopause Society New Investigator Award for her work on endogenous sex hormones and subclinical CVD in midlife women. Dr. Cortés is a Fellow of the American Heart Association, and Fellow of the Betty Irene Moore Fellowship for Nurse Leaders and Innovators. Dr. Cortés obtained her BA in Biology and a concentration in Latino/a Studies at Williams College. She completed her MPH in the Department of Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia University, where she also received her BS/MS in Nursing. In 2015, she received her PhD from Columbia University School of Nursing and subsequently completed postdoctoral training in cardiovascular epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health.