Gloria Avalos is an Assistant Professorin the College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Science, University of Galway, having commenced teaching and carrying out research in 1990. The principal taught modules that she delivers are: Medical Statistics, Research Methods and Evidence-based Medicine to undergraduate and postgraduate students in the School of Medicine. Furthermore, she is the Medical Statistics module lead for the Master in Preventive Cardiology, Master in Diabetes and Master in Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitationprogrammes. In order to achieve optimum student learning objectives each teaching module is comprised of problem-based learning involving data analysis tutorials via the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software. Over the past several years, Gloria has organised the Berman Prize in collaboration with the University of Minnesota Medical School, USA. The Berman Prize named in honour of the renowned cardiovascular clinician and researcher, Dr Reuben Berman is awarded annually to two undergraduate School of Medicine students based on their marks achieved in the Second Year Medical Statistics module. The Berman Prize honourees undertake a four-week clinical placement elective in the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. She carried out a central role in the ERASMUS student exchange programme between the LEscola Universitària dInfermeria Sant Joan de Déu (St John of God School of Nursing ), University of Barcelona, Spain and NUI Galway for more than ten years. She was the lecturer and module lead for the two-year Medical Spanish curriculum that prepares candidates for the ERASMUS elective in Spain. Relatedly, jointly with other NUI Galway staff, Gloria participated in assessment of the training environment in hospitals in Barcelona where the NUI Galway nursing students go on placement. In terms of medical research, she has made several important contributions to research by providing statistical advice to undergraduate medical students that carry out research during the summer from the different academies. Additionally Gloria provides statistical support to master students in the school of medicine and nursing. In terms of medical research, her involvement is comprised of three main inputs: a) delivering specially designed training in Research Methods and Medical Statistics to undergraduate medical students who are involved in research studies, including Health Research Board (HRB) Summer Research Fellowships; b) mentoring the undergraduate research students in the data analysis of the projects; c) supervising postgraduate medical students on their research dissertation data analysis. Through this effective guidance and collaboration with students, several peer-reviewed Public - No restrictionations (full papers, abstracts) and oralposter presentations at both international and national scientific meetings have been achieved. Additionally, Gloria has successfully contributed to NUI Galway research output through direct involvement and collaboration with medical, nursing and other clinical research colleagues, mainly in terms of medical statistics and data analysis. Whilst the majority of her research Public - No restrictionations are in the areas of gestational diabetes and obesity, she has also published scientific papers in the fields of cardiology, psychiatry, paediatrics, endocrinology and oncology, amongst other disciplines. As of June 2020, Gloria has been the authorco-author of more than 50 peer-reviewed journal articles and scientific meeting contributions. Beyond her diverse roles as lecturer and researcher within the School of Medicine, annually she organises the International Medical Students Evening on behalf of the several hundred medical students who have chosen to undertake their medical education clinical training in NUI Galway and its teaching hospitals. This highly popular and entertaining international event highlights the rich multi-cultural nature of the NUI Galway medical student body, originating from more than 30 countries around the world. With creative and artistic presentations of song, dance and theatre performed by traditionally-attired students in representation of their respective countries, the International Medical Students Evening is a lively celebration of diversity, equality and respect. Gloria was the first Mexican in Ireland to receive the Ohtli award (2014), which is the highest international honour presented to a Mexican national living outside the country for her extensive involvement in representing and promoting Mexican culture abroad.

Medical statistics, Evidence Based Medicine and Research Methods