Dr. Vera Lopez

Vera Lopez is a Professor of Justice & Social Inquiry and Associate Director of Graduate Studies in the School of Social Transformation at Arizona State University (ASU). Dr. Lopez earned her doctorate in school psychology from the University of Texas at Austin. Additionally, Dr. Lopez completed a 1-year clinical research internship at the Institute for Juvenile Research at the University of Illinois at Chicago, a 2-year NIMH-funded research postdoc at ASU’s Prevention Research Center (now known as the REACH Institute), and one year as a Visiting Scholar at the Center for Mexican American Studies at the University of Houston. Dr. Lopez’s work has been featured in many journals, including the Journal of Family Issues, the Journal of Youth and Adolescence, and Latino Studies. Her solo-authored book “Complicated Lives: Girls, Parents, Drugs, and Juvenile Justice” was published with Rutgers University Press in 2017. Her co-edited volume, “Latinas in the Criminal Justice System: Victims, Targets, and Offenders,” came out in 2021 with New York University Press. Dr. Lopez’s current research project focuses on Latina Girls and Sports. Her most recent publication—on the othering of Latina girls in school sport contexts—can be found in the most recent issue of the Journal of Adolescent Research. Dr. Lopez is currently a member of the Girls on the Run IDEA Commission. (IDEA = Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access).