Nazareth Ortega, Research Assistant

Nazareth Ortega is a first-generation Latina at CSUN pursing her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a minor in Child and Adolescent Development graduating Spring 2021. She currently is a scholar and paid researcher through BUILD PODER, a biomedical research training program funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She joined our lab the summer of 2019. Nazareth plans to pursue a PhD in Clinical Neuropsychology, and is interested in conducting research on cognitive aging with a focus on the impact of demographic and cultural factors. She hopes to work with the Latinx community and other ethnic minorities that are underrepresented within this discipline. She is currently piloting a project under our Multicultural study where we will investigate the impact that bilingualism and cultural stressors have on cognitive functioning. She received the NSP Presidential Scholarship 2020-2021 ($10,000) to fund this project. She is also a scholar for the California Pre-Doctoral Program designed to increase diversity by supporting the doctoral aspirations of CSU students who have shown stellar academic achievement and experienced economic and educational disadvantages. She is involved with on-campus organizations like Multicultural Psychological Association as their Community Outreach Director, involvement in two neuropsychological research labs, Strength United, CSUN's Missions Team, and Community of Achievement for Psychological Sciences (CAPS). She is passionate about multicultural issues, social justice advocacy, promoting diversity, and reducing health disparities in underrepresented populations.