Before coming to USC Cynthia Sanchez was a family nurse practitioner at the Orange County Health Care Agency working at the 17th Street Testing, Treatment & Care Clinic, where she provided services to primarily LGBTQ community and to persons at risk for and living with HIV. and worked as a Public Health Nurse for Los Angeles County. She earned her bachelor’s degree from California State University Los Angeles and received her master’s degree as a Family Nurse Practitioner from California State University Dominguez Hills. After working for several years in family practice, she obtained a position at Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center in Women’s Health as a nurse practitioner working with underserved populations. She served as faculty for University of Phoenix for five years. She earned her DNP from the Southern California CSU DNP Consortium in 2016. Her areas of interest are working with underserved populations, and public health. Her passion is increasing access to quality care for the public, by expanding the role of advanced practice nurses. She is a member of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, and the California Association of Nurse Practitioners, as well as the Western Institute of Nursing.