Dr. Cecilia Rosales recognized for her border health work

The Public Health Institute has named Cecilia Rosales, MD, the 2014 ‘Public Health Change Champion’ for her work to improve the health and quality of life among border populations in both the southwestern United States and Mexico.

Dr. Rosales is assistant dean of Phoenix Programs at the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health. She has worked in the health arena for more than 20 years and in public health over 15 years. She joined the college in 2005, after serving five years as Director of the Office of Border Health for the Arizona Department of Health Services. Dr. Rosales has expertise in program development and implementation, public health administration, policy and health disparities research in the Southwest.

Dr. Rosales uniquely contributes to the body of knowledge about Hispanic, border and bi-national health, and conducts community-based participatory research in the Southwest. She served on the U.S.-Mexico Border Health Commission, the Arizona-Mexico Commission, the Border Governors, and the State Health Departments in Arizona and Sonora. She understands the context of how the public health infrastructure can be strengthened at the local, state, national and binational levels to eliminate health disparities.

Melange Matthews, the Public Health Institute’s chief of staff said, “From your work tracking infectious disease, to your research in chronic disease prevention and management, including the assessment and treatment of diabetes, to studying the challenges to farm worker health, you have significantly contributed to reducing health disparities and improving quality of life on both sides of the border.”