A brief biography

I graduated as a medical doctor (MD) from the University of Costa Rica (UCR) and finished a Medical Residency in Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery graduating both magna cum laude. In addition, I hold a master’s degree in Public Health (MPH) with emphasis in Health Management, having graduated suma cum laude from the UCR. While I pursued my medical specialty and master simultaneously I decided to continue my career as MD in the field of public policy and global health management.

In fact, patient well-being has been the apex of my MD studies and early work, and from daily practice at hospitals I perceived the importance of policy making based on evidence. Consequently, during my time as a medical student I became involved in initiatives such as launching the National Anti-tobacco Network (RENATA), campaigning for smoke-free hospitals and lobbying at political level. This resulted with the network being adopted as a national policy by the Department of Health. During my Residency and master I started to collect data and perform research on hospital wait lists, organizing a group of health professionals to address the situation, and finally publishing the results which ended with a proposal being considered by the Costa Rican Social Security System.

At a crucial and decisive point in my career, and after having worked several years at large tertiary referral hospitals, I made the decision to pursue health policy and management. In doing so, I found herself returning to the US academic environment with a dedication to comparative research in global health systems. At Cornell University I was awarded the Deans Excellence Graduate Fellowship, and have been working on developing a supply side model to create evidence that can improve health systems, doing research in the intersection between judicial and health policy to address access to drugs, and the effects of primary care on the elderly.

Finally, besides pursuing a career in health policy issues and health management, I have excellent teaching skills, having assisted in courses in Health Policy, Health Economics, Microeconomics, Cost-Benefit Analysis and Pharmaceutical Management, and for instance having obtained the Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award in Fall 2018. I also contribute ad-honorem with the School of Public Health at UCR, in their research endeavors.

In sum, I have distinguished myself by my intellectual capacity, excellent work performance, problem solving skills, in-depth research ability. I expect to graduate August 2020, and will join the FDA as a Economist at the Office of Economics and Analysis (Office of the Commissioner) in September.