Dr. Abad completed medical school at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, Texas. Her interests in social determinants of health, community health, and experience on the United States-Mexico border learning about border health issues led her to the Yale Internal Medicine-Primary Care Program where she completed residency. During residency, the extent of which she saw how occupation, upstream factors, and the built environment contributed to the health of her patients motivated her to pursue a additional training at the Yale Occupational and Environmental Medicine Program where she completed her fellowship
Her clinical and academic interests include the occupational health and safety of vulnerable workers, teaching occupational and environmental medicine in the academic and community setting, evaluation of war- related injuries and illnesses, military toxic exposures, evaluation of heavy metal exposures, and how the built environment- where we live, work, play, learn, and rest affects our physical and mental well-being.