Christina received her BA from Oberlin College (1991), where she studied Spanish colonial history, sociology, critical theory, and borderlands literature. She received her MPH in community practice (2002) and DrPH in public health policy and management (2018) from the University of Arizona, Zuckerman College of Public Health. Christina's connection to this work is through commitments made to family and Yoeme communities in Sonora and Arizona. Her paternal family are Indigenous descendant from Ayacucho-Huancavelica (Peru) and maternal family are Irish (Arizona). She lives in Tucson, Arizona with her family: Joseph, Munai and Tenzin. Christina loves walks in the desert, dips in ephemeral water holes, hikes above timberline, diving into ocean waves, and spending time with her family who are in Mexico, Peru, and the U.S.