Biography

Shelley Fontal is currently a medical student at the University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine. She graduated from the University of Central Florida with her Bachelor’s of Science in Health Sciences. During her gap year, she worked as a research assistant for Dr. Karina Villalba, focusing on violence against women in the United States and Latin American countries. Her projects included: assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on alcohol abuse; assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on intimate partner violence (IPV); identifying risk factors for IPV. Her research areas of interest include public health policy for women’s health, COVID-19/Long COVID syndrome, and mental/behavioral health.

Publications

Attonito, J., Villalba, K., & Fontal, S. (2021). Priorities for Alcohol Use Disorder Treatment and Prevention During COVID-19’s Second Wave. American Journal of Public Health, 111(3), 359–362. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2020.306070

Presentations

Fontal, S. Pino Espejo, M. J. Villalba, K. Understanding The Relationship Between Types of Abuse and Alcohol Use Among University Students In Spain. 13th International Women’s and Children’s Health and Gender (InWomen’s) Group Conference; June 2021; Orlando, FL.