Hector Balcazar Ph.D.
Hector Balcazar is the Regional Dean of Public Health at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, School of Public Health, El Paso Regional Campus. He is also a professor of health promotion and behavioral sciences. Prior to joining The University of Texas, he was a professor and Chair of the Department of Social and Behavioral Science, School of Public Health at University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, Texas. He holds a Ph.D. and M.S. degree in International Nutrition from Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, and a B.S. degree in Nutrition and Food Science from Iberoamericana University, Mexico City. Dr. Balcazar serves as the Co-Director of the Hispanic Health Disparities Research Center, an NIH funded initiative in collaboration with the College of Health Sciences of the University of Texas at El Paso. Dr. Balcazar specializes in the study of public health problems of Latinos/Mexican Americans. Dr. Balcazar is a bilingual, bicultural family and public health scientist who has conducted numerous studies of Latino birth outcomes, acculturation and health related behaviors, cardiovascular disease prevention programs in Latinos, and border health issues. His most recent funded work includes: An NIH initiative to test the effects of promotoras de salud in changing clinical outcomes for chronic diseases in El Paso, Texas; a CDC/ASPH project on promotoras de salud and hypertension control; the North Texas Salud Para Su Corazon (Health For Your Heart) Community Health Initiative; a Hispanic diabetes clinical study; a Latino family caregiver educational program for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease; the development of a strategic plan for a national Latino public health leadership collaborative, and a two-year study on the use of perinatal, infant, and childhood health services among high-risk Mexican American subgroups. As a Latino health specialist Dr. Balcazar provides consultation and leadership to local and national health organizations. Dr. Balcazar currently serves as a member of the Editorial Board of APHA (American Public Health Association) and as a member of the Board of Trustees of SOPHE (Society for Public Health Education).
