Dr. Pérez Raifaisen Appointed Director of WHOPAHO at UTMB

We are pleased to announce that Norma A. Pérez Raifaisen, MD, DrPH, CPC, will serve as Director of the World Health Organization / Pan American Health Organization (WHO/PAHO) Collaborating Center on Aging and Health, effective May 1. Dr. Pérez Raifaisen is Assistant Dean, Student Affairs, John Sealy School of Medicine and PI, Center of Excellence for Professional Advancement and Research.

Dr. Pérez Raifaisen received her medical degree from the Universidad de Monterrey, Mexico and completed her residency training in PM&R at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico, and began her clinical service in Monterrey, Mexico. She returned to Houston to complete her doctorate in public health at the University of Texas – Houston School of Public Health, Houston.

>She is the Assistant Dean, Student Affairs, and the Principal Investigator for the DHHS HRSA federally funded UTMB Center of Excellence for Professional Advancement and Research. She holds faculty positions as an Associate Professor of Internal Medicine – Geriatric and Adjunct Associate Professor of Population Health and Health Disparities at the School of Public and Population Health. Dr. Perez Raifaisen has over 20 years of experience attracting, recruiting, and providing professional advancement opportunities and mentorship to promising students and faculty into medicine and other health care careers. She has been successful in being awarded state and federal grant funds to support undergraduate, medical student, and junior faculty training programs. She has experience leading national efforts and is also known for institutionalizing the UTMB Hispanic Center of Excellence. She has introduced Spanish clinical experiences, locally and internationally, through the creation of the Bilingual Health Scholarly Concentration. As the PI of the UTMB Center of Excellence, she leads the $2.74M center and pilot programs and activities with the intent of providing additional resources for underserved populations and increase representation in healthcare to mirror the population they serve.

We greatly appreciate her leadership, and we thank her for taking on this important responsibility. We also extend our gratitude to Dr. Rebeca Wong for her past service as Director.