Diversity and Inclusion | Diversity Team (UTRGV School of Medicine)

Diversity Team

Leadership

Sofia Hernandez, MPA: Chief Diversity Officer; (956) 296-1951; Sofia.Hernandez@utrgv.edu

Sofia Hernandez, MPA

Sofia Hernandez, MPA
Chief Diversity Officer
Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Health Equity
Email: Sofia.Hernandez@utrgv.edu
Phone: (956) 296-1951

Sofia Hernandez is the chief of staff for the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Office of Health Affairs and School of Medicine. Ms. Hernandez also serves as the UTRGV Chief Diversity Officer for Health Affairs.

Before joining UTRGV Ms. Hernandez served as vice president for government affairs and the Graduate Medical Education program at DHR Health.

Hernandez has more than 25 years of experience working in health care and public policy having worked for such organizations including United Healthcare, Hidalgo County, and State Senators Juan Hinojosa, Eddie Lucio, Judith Zaffirini and the late Carlos Truan.

Hernandez earned her undergraduate degree from The University of Texas at Austin. She also earned a master’s degree in public administration from The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

Faculty

Adela Valdez, MD, MBA: Associate Dean Diversity, Inclusion and Health Equity and Associate Dean for Continuing Medical Education, UTRGV SOM; (956) 296-1471; Adela.Valdez@utrgv.edu

Adela Valdez, MD, MBA

Adela Valdez, MD, MBA
Associate Dean Diversity, Inclusion and Health Equity and Associate Dean for Continuing Medical Education, UTRGV SOM
Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Health Equity
Email: Adela.Valdez@utrgv.edu
Phone: (956) 296-1471

Adela S. Valdez, M.D., M.B.A., is the associate dean of Diversity and Inclusion, the associate dean of Continuing Medical Education at the UTRGV School of Medicine, and professor in Family and Community Medicine.

She has oversight of the School of Medicine’s diversity and inclusion initiatives for students and faculty. Most recently, she was selected to serve on the UT System Kenneth Shine Academy of Health Science Education, and a recipient of the 2018 UTRGV Accessibility Outstanding Award. The National Library of Medicine honored Dr. Valdez in its “Faces of Medicine” exhibit that recognizes the achievement of women in medicine. She is an active member of the National Hispanic Medical Association and has had several national appointments at the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education. A Rio Grande Valley native, she has devoted her professional career in establishing access to clinical care and educational opportunities to RGV communities.

For over 25 years, Dr. Valdez has focused on the establishment and development of undergraduate, graduate, faculty, and continuing medical educational programs in South Texas. A strong advocate of community engagement, Dr. Valdez established a community-based Family Medicine Residency Program, community service-learning opportunities for medical students, and the development of community sites for medical student clerkship rotations during her tenure at The University of Texas Health Science San Antonio School of Medicine.

Dr. Valdez is a graduate of Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, and the UTHSCSA Family Medicine Program in McAllen, Texas. She received her M.B.A. from the Ken Blanchard Center and a Health Care Policy fellowship from NYU/NHMA program.

Laurence Harkless, DPM: Interim Dean, School of Podiatric Medicine; Lawrence.Harkless@utrgv.edu

Laurence Harkless, DPM

Laurence Harkless, DPM
Interim Dean, School of Podiatric Medicine
Department of Surgery
Email: Lawrence.Harkless@utrgv.edu

Dr. Harkless is the interim dean for the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) School of Podiatry and professor of surgery for the UTRGV School of Medicine. In this role, his charge is to obtain approval from state, regional, and professional accrediting bodies to admit an inaugural class, fall of 2022.

He is also the Western University Health Sciences College of Podiatric Medicine, Founding Dean Emeritus and Professor Emeritus from Pomona, California. He is an internationally distinguished clinical educator, investigator, lecturer, author, and political scholar.

Dr. Harkless relocated to Western University following a remarkable 30-year career at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA). He served with distinction as a professor of Orthopedics and division chief of Podiatric Medicine, Surgery ,and residency program director, educating thousands of students, residents, and fellows providing high quality health care service to the greater San Antonio community. While at UTHSCSA he received the Presidential Excellence in Teaching Award 1998, the Outstanding Educator American Diabetes Association 2001 and was chairman for the Texas Diabetes Council from 2001-2007 appointed by Governor Rick Perry.

His pioneering leadership led to the establishment of podiatric medical services in San Bernardino and Riverside County Hospitals meeting the needs of the underserved community through improved access to high quality care and prevention of complications of diabetes and pathology associated aging and arthritis.

His research has been interprofessional and collaborative in nature and he has built on a team approach to further scientific discovery.

He has impacted the entire arena of limb preservation in Diabetes and wound healing, including the development and validation of wound and risk stratification models. The risk and wound classification systems have provided the taxonomy which allows clinicians to communicate worldwide improving patient centered outcomes and reducing the impact of health care costs.

Eugenia Curet, PhD: Assistant Professor of Psychiatry; Eugenia.Curet@utrgv.edu

Eugenia Curet, PhD

Eugenia Curet, PhD
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
Department of Psychiatry
Email: Eugenia.Curet@utrgv.edu

Dr. Eugenia Curet is an assistant professor with the UTRGV School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry. As a member of the faculty, she teaches mental health-related courses, provides psychotherapy supervision to the psychiatric residents, and trains the campus community on suicide prevention. She also provides psychotherapy services within the UT Health RGV clinics located in Harlingen and Edinburg.

Dr. Curet holds a master degree in Social Work with a specialization in psychiatric social work from New York University Graduate School of Social Work; a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies focusing on Public Health and Substance Abuse from The Union Institute and University, Cincinnati, Ohio, and pursued doctoral studies (ABD) on advanced clinical social work at the Adelphi University in New York. She was also ordained Interfaith Minister from the One Spirit Seminary in New York City.

Dr. Curet is and has been the principal investigator for several grant-funded projects: Campus Suicide Prevention Program; Project Peer Educators: Survey of Students’ Sexual Behaviors and Knowledge and Attitudes about HIV; Weight Management: A Biopsychosocial Approach, Violence Against Women Campus Program; and the MSI/CBO Substance Abuse and HIV Prevention program. Before her employment with the University Texas System, for 17 years, she was the Administrative Director of the Vincent P. Dole Research and Treatment Center for Opioid Addiction of the Weill Cornell Medical College (WCMC) and Instructor in Public Health.

Dr. Curet has published and has been a presenter at numerous national and international conferences on subjects ranging from mental health, suicide prevention, substance abuse, culturally sensitive delivery of treatment services to Hispanic communities, and HIV prevention. She is very active and interested in providing quality mental health services to the community and advocating for social justice and equality for all.

Dustin Paul, DO: Professor of Pediatric Neurology, Director of Pediatric Services; Dustin.Paul@utrgv.edu

Dustin Paul, DO

Dustin Paul, DO
Professor of Pediatric Neurology, Director of Pediatric Services
Department of Neurology
Email: Dustin.Paul@utrgv.edu

Dr. Dustin Paul is assistant professor of Neurology at the UTRGV School of Medicine. He was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dr. Paul attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he played college football and received a bachelor's degree in biochemistry in 2007.

Dr. Paul obtained his master's degree in chemistry from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 2010. While at SUNY Buffalo, Dr. Paul started his research interests in developing small molecules targeting trinucleotide repeat disorders such as myotonic dystrophy type 1.

Dr. Paul graduated from Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2013. He then went on to complete a pediatrics residency and pediatric neurology fellowship at the University of Texas at Houston McGovern Medical School in 2018.

Dr. Paul further specialized in pediatric neuromuscular medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, in 2019. He is board-certified in neurology with special qualifications in child neurology. In June 2019, Dr. Paul joined the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine with the Department of Neurology.

Delisa Guadarrama, MD: Assistant Professor, Director of Pediatric Services, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry; Delisa.Guadarrama01@utrgv.edu

Delisa Guadarrama, MD

Delisa Guadarrama, MD
Assistant Professor, Director of Pediatric Services, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Department of Psychiatry
Email: Delisa.Guadarrama01@utrgv.edu

Dr. Delisa Guadarrama is board certified in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. She graduated from medical school at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA) and completed three years of general psychiatry residency at UTHSCSA, and then continued training for an additional two years of child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship at UTHSCSA. She also recently became a diplomat of the American Board of Obesity Medicine.

Dr. Guadarrama has been treating children and adolescents in outpatient community-based practice throughout Hidalgo County since 2016.

She is also the Medical Director of the Child Psychiatry Access Network (CPAN) under the Texas Child Mental Health Consortium. This network will provide telemedicine-based consultation and training to pediatricians to assist them with identifying mental health issues in their patients.

Dr. Guadarrama, a native of the Rio Grande Valley, joins the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley as the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship Director and as an assistant professor in the UTRGV School of Medicine’s Psychiatry Department.

Maria Villegas, MD: Division Chief of Dermatology, Assistant Professor of Surgery, UTRGV SOM; Maria.Villegas@utrgv.edu

Maria Villegas, MD

Maria Villegas, MD
Division Chief of Dermatology, Assistant Professor of Surgery, UTRGV SOM
Department of Surgery
Email: Maria.Villegas@utrgv.edu

Dr. Maria Villegas is the division chief of Dermatology and assistant professor of Surgery at the UTRGV School of Medicine. She also serves as the musculoskeletal/dermatology co-module director with the School of Medicine.

Dr. Villegas completed medical school, a one-year internal medicine internship, and a dermatology residency at University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio. Before joining on as faculty, Dr. Villegas was treating veterans for over eight years with the Veterans Health Administration Surgery and Specialty Clinic in Harlingen.

She is a board-certified dermatologist and is a member of the American Academy of Dermatology, Texas Dermatological Society, Texas Medical Association, and American Medical Association.

She enjoys teaching medical students and residents in her clinic and in a classroom. Her new presence in the private sector is crucial to the Rio Grande Valley, where there is a significant need for dermatologists. Dr. Villegas sees patients of all ages at UT Health RGV Dermatology clinic in Harlingen.

Melinda Wilding, PhD: Assistant Professor; Melinda.Wilding@utrgv.edu

Melinda Wilding, PhD

Melinda Wilding, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Internal Medicine
Email: Melinda.Wilding@utrgv.edu

Melinda M. Wilding, D. Bioethics, is an assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine. She has developed, designed, and currently instructs two core courses and an elective course in the online MS in Bioethics.

She previously served as an instructor of graduate bioethics courses at the University of Colorado’s Department of Philosophy in Denver, and as a volunteer clinical instructor at the School of Medicine at the University of Colorado Anschutz in Aurora, Colorado. Dr. Wilding was a special graduate faculty member at the University of Colorado’s Humanities Program -graduate school in Denver.

Dr. Wilding received her Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and a Master of Arts in Bioethics from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio where she attained a 4.0 GPA.

She received a doctorate degree in bioethics from Loyola University of Chicago Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics and Healthcare Leadership in Chicago, Illinois.

Wilding’s specialization is in applied ethical reasoning and bioethical deliberation and problem solving. According to Dr. Wilding, when clinicians pivot reasoning from the traditional clinical gaze to patient care narratives and community-based scopes, standards of care are enhanced which leads to greater overall individual and stakeholder health.

Michelle Varon, PhD, LP: Assistant Professor of Family and Community Medicine, Director of Pediatric Services; Michelle.Varon01@utrgv.edu

Michelle Varon, PhD, LP

Michelle Varon, PhD, LP
Assistant Professor of Family and Community Medicine, Director of Pediatric Services
Department of Family & Community Medicine
Email: Michelle.Varon01@utrgv.edu

Michelle Varón, PhD, LP is an assistant professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine for the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine. Dr. Varón, is also the director of The Primary Care Behavioral Health (PCBH) and Family Medicine Educator fellowship program.

She received both a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and Master of Arts degree in Clinical Psychology from University of Texas-Pan American. She received her doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from Utah State University. She completed her APA accredited predoctoral internship at Citrus Health Network in Hialeah, Florida, and completed her postdoctoral residency at Valley Psychological Services in Texas.

She serves as clinical faculty and is involved in teaching Integrated Behavioral Health to family medicine residents and medical students. She also actively provides behavioral health care services at the McAllen Medical Center Family Medicine Residency Clinic.

Diversity Resources

Betty Monfort, MPH: Senior Associate Dean, Admissions and Enrollment Management; Betty.Monfort@utrgv.edu

Betty Monfort, MPH

Betty Monfort, MPH
Senior Associate Dean, Admissions and Enrollment Management
Email: Betty.Monfort@utrgv.edu

Florence Nocar, JD: Chief Institutional Equity and Diversity Officer, UTRGV; Florence.Nocar@utrgv.edu

Florence Nocar, JD

Florence Nocar, JD
Chief Institutional Equity and Diversity Officer, UTRGV
Email: Florence.Nocar@utrgv.edu

Kate Rader, FASPR: Director, School of Medicine Faculty Recruitment; Kate.Rader@utrgv.edu

Kate Rader, FASPR

Kate Rader, FASPR
Director, School of Medicine Faculty Recruitment
Email: Kate.Rader@utrgv.edu

Beatriz Tapia, MD, EdD, MPH: Assistant Dean, Faculty Development; Beatriz.Tapia@utrgv.edu

Beatriz Tapia, MD, EdD, MPH

Beatriz Tapia, MD, EdD, MPH
Assistant Dean, Faculty Development
Office of Faculty Affairs
Email: Beatriz.Tapia@utrgv.edu

Beatriz Tapia, M.D., Ed.D., M.P.H, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and the Assistant Dean of Faculty Development at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in Harlingen, Texas. Dr. Tapia is a native of Chicago, Illinois. She attended the Autonomous University of Puebla in Mexico, where she received her M.D., and the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University (JHSPH), in Baltimore, Maryland, where she received her Master’s in Public Health. In addition to her M.P.H., Dr. Tapia trained in occupational health and environmental medicine, health disparities and health inequality at the JHSPH. Dr. Tapia is also a recent graduate of a Doctor of Education in Professional Leadership with an Emphasis in Health Science Education from the University of Houston.

Since her appointment as assistant dean in 2015, Dr. Tapia has led the planning of over 120 faculty development series and workshops for UME and GME. Dr. Tapia is also a founding member for the Texas Consortium for Faculty Success (TCFS) established in 2016. The TCFS is a professional community of faculty and administrative leaders responsible for faculty affairs and faculty development in Texas' academic health institutions.

Dr. Tapia is a strong advocate for the medically underserved; she continuously provides environmental and public health education to promotoras (lay healthcare workers), public health professionals and community centers. Her research interests are border health, environmental medicine, public health, minority health, faculty development and medical education research.

Students

Addanchezo (Ada) Oguejiofor: MS 1, UTRGV SOM; Adaadinchezo.Oguejiofor01@utrgv.edu

Addanchezo (Ada) Oguejiofor

Addanchezo (Ada) Oguejiofor
MS 1, UTRGV SOM
Email: Adaadinchezo.Oguejiofor01@utrgv.edu

Alessandra Jimenez: MS 1, UTRGV SOM

Alessandra Jimenez

Alessandra Jimenez
MS 1, UTRGV SOM

Staff

Esmeralda Lozano: Program Manager, Diversity Programs; (956) 296-1454; Esmeralda.Lozano@utrgv.edu

Esmeralda Lozano

Esmeralda Lozano
Program Manager, Diversity Programs
Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Health Equity
HCEBL 3.112
Email: Esmeralda.Lozano@utrgv.edu
Phone: (956) 296-1454

Diversity and Inclusion (UTRGV School of Medicine)

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Contact

Sofia Hernandez
Chief Diversity Officer
Email: Sofia.Hernandez@utrgv.edu
Phone: (956) 296-1951

Resources

For Students
For Faculty
SOM Newsletter

Helpful Links

Diversity Strategic Plan
Faculty Development Diversity Leadership Series
Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity
Student Mistreatment
UTRGV Center for Diversity and Inclusion
Faculty Development Calendar