María E. Fernández, PhD

Vice President of Population Health and Implementation Science; Co-Director, UTHealth Houston Institute for Implementation Science, UTHealth Houston
Lorne Bain Distinguished Professor of Public Health and Medicine; Professor, Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences; Director, Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research; UTHealth Houston School of Public Health
[email protected]

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Department

Vice President of Population Health & Implementation Science, UTHealth Houston

Co-Director, UTHealth Houston Institute for Implementation Science

Lorne Bain Distinguished Professor in Health and Medicine

Professor of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, UTHealth Houston School of Public Health

Director, UTHealth Houston Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research

Research Interests

Dissemination and Implementation Research
Health Promotion Planning; Intervention Mapping
Health Equity / Health Disparities
Cancer Control
Hispanic and other underserved populations
Health Promotion  Program Evaluation
Technology in Health Promotion
Primary Care
Health Communications

Biography

Dr. María Fernández is Vice President of Population Health and Implementation Science at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth Houston) and the founding Co-Director of the UTHealth Houston Institute for Implementation Science. Dr. Fernández is also the Lorne Bain Distinguished Professor of Public Health and Medicine, Professor of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, and Director of the UTHealth Houston Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research (CHPPR) at the UTHealth Houston School of Public Health.  As a researcher and a leader, Dr. Fernández has spent her career conducting participatory community-engaged research and practice to develop, evaluate, implement, and disseminate interventions to improve health and health equity. Her research focuses on cancer and chronic disease prevention and control among underserved populations in the U.S. and globally.

Dr. Fernández is an expert in dissemination and implementation (D&I) research, having served as a member of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health Study Section and as faculty for several national and international D&I training programs. Dr. Fernández has an extensive portfolio of global, federal, and state-funded research developing and improving evidence-based interventions and guidelines for the prevention and control of cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease in clinical and public health settings. Dr. Fernández has over 200 peer-reviewed publications and has co-authored several books, including the 4th edition of Planning Health Promotion Programs: An Intervention Mapping Approach (2016) and the Handbook of Community-based Participatory Research (2017).  Her awards include the Association for Schools and Programs of Public Health Research Excellence Award and the UTHealth President's Scholar Award for Research Excellence. 

Contact

[email protected]
Office: +1 (713) 500-9626
Fax: +1 (713) 500-0369

Current Projects

Puerto Rico U-54 Project

The UPR/MDACC Partnership for Excellence in Cancer Research Community Outreach Program emphasizes educating communities about cancer prevention and control. By working directly with community partners, we can address cancer health disparities through the development of research, outreach, and educational activities.

Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences, Community Engagement Component

This project focuses on the Community Engagement component of the Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences (CCTS)

For Our Children (Por Nuestros Hijos)

For Our Children is a theory-based program designed to educate parents about the Human Papillomavirus (HPV), and motivate them to vaccinate their adolescent children. The program features bilingual (English/Spanish) resources for parents and an innovative interactive application for healthcare providers.

The University of Puerto Rico and MD Anderson Cancer Center Partnership for Excellence in Cancer Research

The Partnership for Excellence in Cancer Research seeks to address and, ultimately, eliminate cancer health disparities through the development of clinical, research, outreach and educational activities that benefit both institutions.

Implementation of Evidence-based Interventions to Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening in Texas Federally Qualified Health Centers

The goal of this program is to increase Colorectal Cancer Screening through evidence-based interventions in Federally Qualified Health Centers to ultimately reduce Colorectal Cancer and related health disparities among African Americans and Hispanics.

HRSA COVID

A project to increase COVID-19 vaccinations through the development and mobilization of existing community-based health and outreach workforces in Texas.

Readiness R01

This project seeks to develop a measure of organizational readiness for delivering evidence- based interventions to improve colorectal cancer screening among community health center patients.

Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Program

The purpose of this project is to enhance hypertension and high cholesterol prevention initiatives, improve EHR practices, and improve cardiovascular health in underserved communities.

Salud en Mis Manos Dissemination and Implementation Assistance (SEMM-DIA)

SEMM-DIA is an implementation support system for Salud en Mis Manos (SEMM), an evidence-based breast and cervical education and navigation program for Latinas. SEMM-DIA includes a set of implementation strategies to facilitate program implementation and maintenance.

Diabetes Prevention and Control Grant Program

The purpose of this project is to decrease the risk for type 2 diabetes among adults with prediabetes and improve self-care practices, quality of care, and early detection of complications among people with diabetes.

Connecting Behavioral Science to COVID-19 Vaccine Demand Network: PRC COVID-19 Supplement Project

CBS-CVD conducted needs assessments to inform the development of tailored interventions to increase COVID-19 vaccine confidence and uptake among Black and Hispanic individuals in Harris and Cameron counties.

Brief Interventions to Create Smoke-Free Home Policies in Low-Income Households

The Smoke-Free Homes Program: Some Things are Better Outside (SFHs) is a minimally intensive program with three mailings and a single counseling telephone call, implemented in partnership with 2-1-1 social services information and referral (I&R) systems.

Alliance for Colorectal Cancer

A partnership with MD Anderson Cancer Center to evaluate a program to increase colorectal cancer screening among CPRIT priority populations in central, south, and southeast Texas.

Texas Implementation Science Hub to end HIV

The Texas Implementation Science Hub to end HIV (Texas IS Hub) is a component of the Texas D-CFAR, which focuses its research on the theme “Ending HIV and optimizing HIV health in Texas.”

Heart Disease Innovation Program

The purpose of this project is to help health systems improve their capacity to track and address hypertension and high cholesterol, particularly with respect to race, ethnicity, and language (REaL) data.

Salud en Mis Manos (SEMM)

A breast and cervical cancer prevention program across 31 counties in the Texas Gulf Coast. This community health worker delivered program is designed for Latinas 18 years and older and includes a class and follow-up health coach navigation calls.

RADx-Up

Addressing COVID-19 Testing Disparities in Vulnerable Populations Using a Community Just in Time Adaptive Intervention.