Division of General Internal
Medicine

Senaida Fernandez , PhD; Assistant Professor

Fax: 212-263-4240
E-mail: senaida.fernandez@nyumc.org

Information Page

Dr. Senaida Fernandez is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine at New York University School of Medicine. She is a clinical psychologist with specialization in behavioral medicine, and her research focuses on minority aging, assessment in culturally diverse populations, and community-based interventions for improving cardiovascular health and reducing health disparities among African American and Latino older adults.

Her graduate work was completed at the University of California, San Diego – San Diego State University Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, and her clinical internship in behavioral medicine at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System. She completed postdoctoral training at Columbia University, and in April 2008 joined the faculty in the Division of General Internal Medicine.

In 2005, she was awarded a National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Minority Postdoctoral Supplement to examine patient-level factors influencing healthful behaviors in hypertensive African Americans. Also during her postdoctoral training, she was awarded and completed a pilot trial funded by NIA-funded Center for the Active Life of Minority Elders, which tested the feasibility and impact of a lifestyle counseling intervention aimed at improving blood pressure in hypertensive African American and Latino older adults.

The focus her current work is utilization of qualitative and quantitative methods to culturally-tailor a Spanish-language, evidence-based behavioral intervention, and test its effect on blood pressure among hypertensive Latino older adults in NYC senior centers. This work is funded through the American Heart Association, Heritage Affiliate.

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