Center Leadership Team

Robert Otto Valdez, Ph.D., RWJF Professor Family & Community Medicine and Economics

Phone: (505) 277-0130
Fax: (505) 277-0118
Email: Robert Otto Valdez

Robert Otto Valdez, Ph.D., RWJF Professor Family & Community Medicine and Economics serves as the Executive Director, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center for Health Policy at the University of New Mexico, a national program office for increasing diversity in health and health care leadership. As Associate Director, UNM Health Science Center’s Office of Community Health, he is engaged in improving the delivery and quality of health services across New Mexico. Dr. Valdez was founding Dean, Drexel University School of Public Health in Philadelphia and previously Doctoral Studies Director and Professor, UCLA School of Public Health. Dr. Valdez served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health (PHS) and Director of Interagency Health Policy (HCFA) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1993-1997. As an adjunct Senior Health Scientist with the RAND Health Program is work has focused on public health infrastructure improvement, child health and immigration; he serves on the Executive Committee of the Public Health Institute, one of the nation’s largest non-profit public health research and programming organizations in the country.

Marie Lobo, PhD, RN, FAAN, Graduate Program Director
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing with a Concentration in Health Policy

Phone: (505) 272-1457
Fax: (505) 272-8901
Email: Marie Lobo

Dr. Lobo has a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing from The Ohio State University and a Master’s in Nursing and PhD in Nursing Science from the University of Washington in Seattle. She is a pediatric clinical specialist and her research has focused on families and children in various states of health and illness. Her latest study with co-investigator Patricia Marshik, Pharm D., examined Gaps in Services and Out of Pocket Resources for Children with Chronic Pulmonary Conditions. She has also been involved in the development of Health Care Quality Outcome Guidelines for Nursing of Children and Families.

Frank Kessel, PhD, Professor - IFCE, College of Education

Phone: 505-277-0423
Email: Frank Kessel

Frank Kessel is a a Senior Fellow in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center for Health Policy and Professor of Early Childhood Multicultural Education at the University of New Mexico. Prior to joining UNM in the fall of 2005, Kessel served for 12 years as Program Director for the Culture, Health and Human Development Program at the Social Science Research Council (in New York). There he helped bring to fruition the collective work of a variety of inter-disciplinary, sometimes international, groups of scholars.
 

Charlene Porsild, PhD,
Associate Director of Student Affairs

Phone: (505) 277-0128
Fax: (505) 277-0118
Email Charlene Porsild

A native of Canada's Yukon and a former Fulbright scholar, Charlene holds a PhD in history from Carleton University. An award winning author and teacher, she has been with with the RWJF Center since its inception. Her research interests include western social history and social reform.

Carolyn Richardson, Ed.D, Leadership Coordinator

Phone: (505) 272-9831
Fax: (505) 925-4004
Email Carolyn Richardson

Carolyn has worked in health policy in a variety of ways since the mid 1970s. She has developed, implemented and evaluated interdisciplinary graduate programs with emphasis in leadership. She has a strong interest in supporting students from underrepresented populations and in the area of leadership which honors a variety of cultural approaches. To assist with developing skills in this area she served as a consultant to public schools throughout the North and South Pacific territories and nation states.

Gabriel Sanchez, PhD, RWJF Recruitment Coordinator

Phone: (505) 277-3337
Fax: (505) 277-0118
Email: Gabriel Sanchez

Gabriel Sanchez is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of New Mexico. His fields of interest are Racial and Ethnic politics with a specific focus on Latino Political Behavior. Professor Sanchez has articles published in Political Research Quarterly, Social Science Quarterly, Urban Affairs Review, PS: Political Science and Politics, and American Politics Research, as well as a book “Hispanics and the U.S. Political System?” co-authored with Chris Garcia, also from UNM. Professor Sanchez is also the Recruitment Coordinator for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Research Center for Health Policy at the University of New Mexico and is engaged in several research projects focused on Latino health policy.

Gina Urias Sandoval, Program Manager

Phone: (505) 272-1457
Fax: (505) 277-0118
Email Gina Urias Sandoval

William Wiese, MD, MPH, Associate Director for Health Sciences

Phone: (505) 272-3881
Fax: (505) 277-0118
Email William Wiese

William Wiese, MD, MPH, Associate Director for Health Sciences Dr. Wiese returned to the School of Medicine in 2002 to launch the IPH. In the preceding five years, he worked in state government, including as Director of the Public Health Division in the NM Department of Health. Prior to that, he spent 25 years in the UNM Department of Family and Community Medicine, developing programs in primary care, community outreach, and public health. Nationally, he served on the original U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and currently represents the Association of Teachers of Preventive Medicine on the Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public Health Practice.

Center Staff

Thu Luu, Accountant II

Phone: (505) 277-0129
Fax: (505) 277-0118
Email Thu Luu

Antoinette Maestas, Administrative Coordinator

Phone: (505) 277-0130
Fax: (505) 277-0118
Email Antoinette Maestas

Blake Boursaw, Statistician

Phone: (505) 277-0121
Fax: (505) 277-0118
Email Blake Boursaw
Calendar for Blake Boursaw, Center Statistician

Anita Parmar, PhD, Statistician

Phone: (505) 277-0126
Fax: (505) 277-0118
Email Anita Parmar
Calendar for Anita Parmar, Center Statistician

Dustin Allen, IT Support

Phone: (505) 277-0947
Fax: (505) 277-0118
Email Dustin Allen
IT Support Form

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing with a Concentration in Health Policy

Leadership Team

Marie Lobo, PhD, RN, FAAN, Graduate Program Director

Phone: (505) 272-1457
Fax: (505) 272-8901
Email: Marie Lobo

Gina Urias Sandoval, Program Manager

Phone: (505) 272-1457
Fax: (505) 272-8901
Email Gina Urias Sandoval
 

Susie Baquera, Administrative Assistant III

Phone: (505) 272-4578
Fax: (505) 272-8901
Email: Susie Baquera

For more information about the RWJF Center for Health Policy, please contact us:

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Center for Health Policy
MSC05 3400
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131

Phone: (505) 277-0130
Fax: (505) 277-0118

Email: center@healthpolicy.unm.edu