E
Speakers’ Biographies
Bernardo Hernández, Ph.D., is a National Researcher Level I of the National System of Researchers-Mexico. He is also a Senior Researcher “E” at the Research Center in Populational Health, National Institute of Public Health (INSP). His areas or interest are reproductive health (especially maternal mortality), evaluation of social and health programs, physical activity, and obesity. Dr. Hernández received his B.Sc. degree in Social Psychology at the Metropolitan Autonomous University-Mexico City, his Masters in Social Psychology at the London School of Economics (LSE), and his Doctorate in Sciences in Health and Social Behavior (Harvard School Public Health, HSPH).
Mauricio Hernández-Ávila, M.D., earned his MD degree from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in 1980. He has a master’s degree in statistics from UNAM Applied Mathematics and Systems Research Institute (1984). He also holds a Master of Public Health degree (1984) and a Ph.D. in Epidemiology (1988), both from the Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Hernández has participated in several international health committees, including “Lead in the Americas: Strategies for Disease Prevention” and “Physicians for Social Responsibility U.S.-Mexico Border Environmental Health Task Force”. In 1996, he received the Miguel Aleman Award in the area of health. Dr. Hernández is the author of 199 published scientific articles and 7 articles for diffusion, and has written 6 books and 45 chapters of books. He has mentored and trained six doctoral students in
the area of epidemiology and has been invited to more than 178 scientific events, both national and international. He built an inter-institutional team called the Environmental Health Unit dedicated to environmental health research, and as the leader of this group he has produced a large number of scientific articles in the area of lead poison. Dr. Hernández is a researcher of national and international prestige. He has been a member of the National Academy of Medicine since 1993 and of the National System of Researchers (Level III National Investigator) since 1990. He also sits on the Committee of Biomedical Sciences of CONACyT.
Jeffrey P. Koplan, M.D., M.P.H., is Vice President for Academic Health Affairs of Emory University’s Woodruff Health Sciences Center. In this position, he is responsible for coordination and oversight of academic matters including research and education in Emory’s schools of medicine, nursing, and public health and the Yerkes National Primate Research Center. From 1998 to 2002, Dr. Koplan served as the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Dr. Koplan began his public health career in the early 1970s as one of the CDC’s celebrated “disease detectives,” more formally known as Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Officers. Since then, he has worked on virtually every major public health issue, including infectious diseases such as smallpox and HIV/AIDS, environmental issues such as the Bhopal chemical disaster, and the health toll of tobacco and chronic diseases, both in the United States and around the globe. He recently chaired the Institute of Medicine committee on preventing childhood obesity and is internationally active in promoting healthy nutrition and physical activity. From 1994 to 1998, he pursued his interest in enhancing the interactions between clinical medicine and public health by leading the Prudential Center for Health Care Research, a nationally recognized health services research organization. Dr. Koplan is a graduate of Yale College, the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, and the Harvard School of Public Health. He is a Master of the American College of Physicians and was elected to membership in the Institute of Medicine, where he was elected to the Governing Council. He has served on many advisory groups and consultancies in the U.S. and overseas, and has written more than 190 scientific papers. He is a trustee of Yale University, The Marcus Family Foundation, HealthMPowers, and Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Georgia, Inc.
Ruy López is Chief of the Chronic Disease Division of the Population and Health Research Center at the National Institute of Public Health, Mexico. He has an M.D., Residency in Internal Medicine, and M.Sc. from the National University of Mexico and an Sc.D. candidate in Nutritional Epidemiology from Harvard University. His research and publications have focused
on the genetic and dietary determinants of diabetes mellitus and related conditions such as metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease. Since his incorporation at the National Institute of Public Health in Mexico, he is coordinating several projects related to the diabetes and obesity epidemics in Mexico, focusing on individual and collective determinants, specifically dietary and lifestyle factors related to the transition occurring in Mexico.
Reynaldo Martorell, Ph.D., is the Robert W. Woodruff Professor of Public Health and Chair of the Hubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University. Previously, he was Leading Professor, Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University and Professor of Nutrition, Food Research Institute, Stanford University. He began his career at the Division of Human Development, Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama (INCAP) in Guatemala. Dr. Martorell’s research interests include maternal and child nutrition (particularly in developing countries), child growth and development, the significance of early childhood malnutrition for short- and long-term human function, micronutrient malnutrition, and the emergence of obesity and chronic diseases in developing countries. Dr. Martorell’s policy interests include global health concerns, particularly programs and policies in food and nutrition, issues dealing with hunger and malnutrition, and the health implications of changes in diet and lifestyles in developing countries (including the emergence of obesity and related chronic diseases of dietary origin in developing countries). He has been a member of several IOM committees and currently serves on the Food and Nutrition Board. Dr. Martorell is a consultant to the World Bank, UNICEF, and WHO and a board member of the International Nutrition Foundation for Developing Countries and the Pan American Health and Education Foundation. Dr. Martorell received a Bachelor degree in Anthropology from St. Louis University and a Ph.D. in Biological Anthropology from the University of Washington. He was elected to the Institute of Medicine in 2002.
Fernando Sanchez Mendoza, M.D., M.P.H., is Professor and Chief of the Division of General Pediatrics at the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford and Associate Dean for Minority Advising and Programs at Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Mendoza received his undergraduate degree from San Jose State College, his medical degree from Stanford University, and did his pediatric residency at Stanford University Hospital. After residency, he obtained a Master of Public Health degree from Harvard University, and then returned to Stanford as a Robert Wood Johnson Academic General Pediatric Fellow. Dr. Mendoza’s research interests have focused on Hispanic children’s health. He has published numerous articles and chapters on the growth and health status of Mexican–
American children and is a national expert in the field. He is a reviewer for a number of scientific journals and served on the National Institutes of Health, Human Development and Aging Study Section. He was a member of the Institute of Medicine’s Committee on the Health and Adjustment of Immigrant Children and Families, and authored a report on the health and nutrition of immigrant Hispanic children. His current work focuses on childhood obesity in Hispanic children. As Associate Dean for Minority Advising and Programs, Dr. Mendoza has been involved in the career development of minority medical students and faculty both at Stanford Medical School and at the national level as past President of the Hispanic Serving Health Professions School Inc. He is a fellow of the Academy of Pediatrics, a member of the Ambulatory Pediatric Association, and the American Pediatric Society, and is listed in the “Best Doctors in America.” Dr. Mendoza has received a number of awards for his service to the Hispanic community, and Hispanic Business Magazine has named him as among the 100 most influential Hispanics in the United States.
Juan A. Rivera, Ph.D., is the founding Director of the Center for Research in Nutrition and Health at the National Institute of Public Health and is a Professor of Nutrition in the School of Public Health in Mexico. He is also an adjunct professor at Cornell University and the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. Dr. Rivera earned both his master’s and doctorate degrees from Cornell University in International Nutrition with minors in Epidemiology and Statistics. Dr. Rivera is a former director of Nutrition and Health at the Nutrition Institute of Central America and Panama (INCAP). He is the co-chair of the International Zinc Nutrition Consultative Group (IZiNCG). Since 2000, he’s been a member of the panel of experts of the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) and has been appointed to the National Academy of Medicine and to the Mexican Academy of Sciences in Mexico. He was a member of the board of the International Union of Nutritional Scientists (IUNS) from 2001 to 2005 and of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) Board until 2005. He is the Chair of the International Nutrition Council of the American Society for Nutrition. Dr. Rivera has published more than 130 scientific articles, book chapters, and books, and is currently a member of the Latin American Nutrition Society, the American Society for Nutritional Sciences, and the Society for International Nutrition Research. His research interests include the epidemiology of stunting, the short- and long-term effects of undernutrition during early childhood, the effects of zinc and other micronutrient deficiencies on growth and health, the study of malnutrition in Mexico, and the design and evaluation of programs to improve nutritional status of children.
Jaime Sepúlveda, M.D., Dr.Sc., is Director General of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) of Mexico. He was appointed by President Fox in November 2003. As Director, he is responsible for setting policy; planning and coordinating the programs and activities of 12 NIH institutes; and overseeing an intra-mural operational budget of almost US $1 billion. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Sepúlveda was elected Director General of the National Institute of Public Health (INSP)—1 of the 12 NIH institutes in 1995, and reelected to a second term in 2000. During this time, he also served as the Dean of the National School of Public Health (NSPH), the first and most prestigious school in Latin America founded in 1922. As Director General of Epidemiology (1985–1991) and Vice-Minister of Health (1991– 1994), he strengthened the country’s Epidemiologic Surveillance System and founded a Universal Vaccination Program, which increased coverage for preschool vaccination from 45 to 94 percent in two years, and successfully eliminated poliomyelitis and diphtheria from Mexico. He was elected and currently serves on the Harvard Board of Overseers (2002–2008), which is one of the two governing boards of the university. He was also elected to the Institute of Medicine in 2004 and currently serves as chair to the IOM Committee responsible for evaluating the implementation of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Dr. Sepúlveda earned his Medical Degree at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in 1978, followed by a Masters in Public Health in 1980, a Masters of Science in Tropical Medicine in 1981, and a Doctorate in Population Science in 1985, all from the Harvard School of Public Health.
Frederick Trowbridge, M.D., is President of Trowbridge & Associates, Inc. and has an extensive background in public health and nutrition issues, both in the United States and internationally. After completing clinical training and Board Certification in Pediatrics and a Master of Science degree in Human Nutrition, Dr. Trowbridge served for 25 years as a medical epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), assigned to the CDC Tropical Disease Research Station in El Salvador, the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, and the Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity in Atlanta, where he served as Director for more than a decade. After retiring from CDC in 1996, Dr. Trowbridge served as Executive Director of the Nutrition and Health Promotion Program of the International Life Sciences Institute in Atlanta before founding Trowbridge & Associates, Inc. in 1998. Dr. Trowbridge is actively involved in research and in a wide range of consulting activities, particularly on topics relating to child and adolescent obesity, assessment of body weight status, and promotion of healthful dietary and physical activity behaviors in children and families. Recognizing the growing need for tools to assist healthcare professionals in the assessment and management of
child obesity, Dr. Trowbridge recently developed the BMI Wheel, a CD-sized circular calculator that quickly computes body mass index in children, adolescents, or adults. Fluent in Spanish, Dr. Trowbridge has been particularly involved with health promotion efforts directed towards Hispanic populations.
