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INFORMATION FOR

    Rafael Pérez-Escamilla, PhD

    Professor of Public Health (Social and Behavioral Sciences); Director, Office of Public Health Practice
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    Additional Titles

    Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health

    Director, YSPH Global Health Concentration

    Director, Maternal and Child Health Promotion (MCHP) Program

    About

    Titles

    Professor of Public Health (Social and Behavioral Sciences); Director, Office of Public Health Practice

    Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health; Director, YSPH Global Health Concentration; Director, Maternal and Child Health Promotion (MCHP) Program

    Biography

    Rafael Pérez-Escamilla, Ph.D., is Professor of Public Health, and Director of the Office of Public Health Practice, the Global Health Concentration, and the Maternal Child Health Promotion track at the Yale School of Public Health. He is the PI of the Yale-Griffin CDC Prevention Research Center (PRC). His global public health nutrition and food security research program, supported with over $70 million in extramural funds, has contributed to improvements in breastfeeding and other maternal, infant and young child nutrition outcomes, iron deficiency anemia among infants, household food security, and early childhood development. He has co-led innovative mixed-methods implementation studies assessing the impact of community health worker person centered interventions on breastfeeding, type-2 diabetes, post-partum hypertension and mental health outcomes among in vulnerable communities, including people of color in the U.S. He has published over 340 research articles, 3 books/monographs, and numerous journal supplements, book chapters, and technical reports. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine (elected in 2019) and served in the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) Food and Nutrition Board from 2012-18. He has been a senior advisor to maternal-child community nutrition programs as well as household food security measurement projects funded by the World Health Organization, the Pan American Health Organization, UNICEF, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), the U.S. Agency for International Development, The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH),The World Bank, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Governments across world regions. He obtained his BS in Chemical Engineering from the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City and his MS in Food Science and his PhD in Nutrition from the University of California at Davis. His postdoctoral training at UC Davis focused on the link between nutrition and early childhood development.

    Appointments

    Other Departments & Organizations

    Education & Training

    Postdoctoral fellow
    UC Davis (1994)
    PhD
    University of California at Davis (1991)
    MS
    University of California at Davis (1985)
    BS
    Universidad Iberoamericana, Chemical Engineering (1982)

    Research

    Overview

    Medical Research Interests

    Breast Feeding; Child Care; Child Development; Community Health Workers; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2; Food Deprivation; Global Health; Healthcare Disparities; Hypertension; Maternal Health Services; Maternal-Child Health Centers; Mental Health; Nutrition Surveys; Obesity

    Public Health Interests

    Breastfeeding; Chronic Diseases; Community Health; Global Health; Infectious Diseases; Maternal & Child Health; Nutrition; Obesity; Child/Adolescent Health; Health Equity, Disparities, Social Determinants and Justice; COVID-19

    Research at a Glance

    Yale Co-Authors

    Frequent collaborators of Rafael Pérez-Escamilla's published research.

    Publications

    2024

    See All Publications

    Academic Achievements & Community Involvement

    • activity

      Current Developments in Nutrition (Elsevier)

      Journal ServiceDeputy Editor
    • activity

      Maternal and Child Nutrition journal (Wiley)

      Journal ServiceEditor-in-Chief
    • activity

      Newman's Own Foundation

      Advisory BoardsBoard of Directors
    • activity

      Healthy Eating Research national Advisory Council

      Advisory BoardsCouncil Member
    • activity

      Women's Health Initiative Scientific Advisory Council (SAC)

      Advisory BoardsCouncil Member
    See All Achievements

    Get In Touch

    Contacts

    Email
    Academic Office Number

    Locations

    • Office of Public Health Practice

      Academic Office

      135 College Street, Ste Room 216

      New Haven, CT 06510

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