University of Maryland, Baltimore · PharmacologyHealthcare Access Research Lab
Ester Villalonga Olives · Baltimore, Maryland
Research Focus
Dr. Ester Villalonga Olives leads research focused on understanding and measuring barriers to healthcare access for various populations, particularly English and Spanish speakers. The lab is dedicated to developing a comprehensive tool that incorporates economic indicators, ensuring that health measures are valid across different racial groups. Through innovative methodologies, the aim is to uncover the root causes of health disparities and provide actionable insights for policymakers and public health initiatives.
healthcare accesseconomic barriersinstitutional barriershealth disparitiesmultidimensional measureBlack populationsHispanic populationspsychometric techniquespublic healthdata collection
Research Aims
5AIM 01Develop a multidimensional measure of institutional and economic barriers to healthcare.
AIM 02Incorporate economic indicators into health disparity assessments.
AIM 03Ensure measurement invariance across different population groups.
AIM 04Create a representative item bank for assessing asymmetric treatment effects.
AIM 05Test the validity of the new instrument using a diverse American population.
Skills the Lab Values
psychometric analysisdata collectionsurvey designstatistical analysiscommunity engagementmethodological developmentquantitative researchitem bank creationcross-cultural research
Output against the department
Publications78bottom 17% of dept.382nd of 462
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations2.0kbottom 14% of dept.399th of 462
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.