Public Health Analyst, Office of Health Information Technology and Quality, Health Resources and Services Administration
 

 

 

 

About Me:
 
I'm a Public Health Analyst in the Office of Health IT and Quality (OHITQ) within the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Within OHITQ, I work on HIT workforce activities. One of the products, working with Alliance of Chicago, a HRSA grantee, is a video module targeted at young adults about HIT careers. I'm also a member of the HRSA Public Health Steering Committee and that’s how I got the invite to this group. I also staff the Federal mHealth Collaborative monthly meetings and I'm a member of the new HHS mHealth Communities of Practice (CoP). I'm also a member of the Federal Text4Baby Outreach Team, with a specific interest in the Spanish language outreach efforts. I have also been the HRSA Government Task Lead working with the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) on the Congressionally-mandated HIT and Health Disparities report. 

 

Prior to moving to DC in 1996, I was a graduate student in Social Work at Boston University. I'm a graduate of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (JHBSPH) and completed the Certificate in Health Disparities and Health Inequalities. In fall 2009, I was asked to serve as an Advisor to the Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions and that same year was elected President of the American Public Health Association (APHA) Latino Caucus for Public Health. I have been an APHA member since 1996 and have had previous leadership roles within the Latino Caucus and APHA including the APHA Science Board, the Joint Policy Committee, and as a member of the Martha May Elliot Awards Committee; this May I was appointed to the APHA Awards Committee.

 

I’m a strong supporter of mentoring programs as I have benefited from great mentors, especially during my first year at HHS (1996) when Debbie Maiese, MPA and Dr. Earl Fox served as great mentors. This past year, I was one of 25 invited alumni to serve as mentors for the JHBSPH Pilot Mentoring Program 2011-2012. I have also served as a mentor to my undergraduate school, PSU, for the last ten years.