With formal and clinical training in both the fields of psychology and nursing, Dr. Longoria approaches research through an interdisciplinary and systems-level lens. Prior to pursuing her PhD, she gained over five years of research experience in psychiatric populations (i.e., schizophrenia, depression) while coordinating multimodal clinical trials in industry (Pfizer, Roche) and academic (UCLA, UT-Austin) settings. These formative experiences establish the basis of her research program, which focuses on advancing integrative methods for early detection and intervention of depression and common morbidities in women during biologically dynamic life stages (e.g., pregnancy, postpartum, menopausal transition).

Dr. Longoria earned her PhD at The University of Texas at Austin, School of Nursing in 2023, where she gained specialized training in precision health methodologies as a NIH T32 Pre-doctoral Fellow. Leveraging data and biospecimens from Dr. Elizabeth Widen’s Mother and Infant NuTrition (MINT) study, Dr. Longoria’s mixed methods dissertation provided some of the first evidence of perinatal shifts in fecal-derived metabolites and associations with postpartum depression, a contribution that earned her the Carol A. Lindeman New Researcher Award from the Western Institute of Nursing (WIN).

Longoria completed her postdoctoral training at the University of California, San Francisco under the mentorship of Drs. Elena Flowers and Sandra Weiss, developing expertise in multi-omics methodologies, integrative risk phenotyping, and conducting biobehavioral research in perinatal populations and women during midlife. As a postdoctoral scholar aiming to build on her dissertation findings, Longoria received intramural funding to conduct a multi-omics pilot focused on characterizing longitudinal shifts in maternal microRNAs and gut microbes to identify early indicators of risk for postpartum depression. She continues to maintain interdisciplinary, cross-institutional research collaborations with both the Flowers and Weiss Labs, as well as the Widen Lab at UT- Austin, The International HOPE Consortium, and National Network of Depression Centers Women & Mood Disorders Working Group.