Public Health Professor Receives Pillar of Public Health Award
Photo Courtesy of City of El Paso Department of Public Health
Dr. Oralia Loza, associate professor of Public Health Sciences, was recognized by the City of El Paso Department of Public Health in their annual Pillars of Public Health event, receiving a Path Builder award. The awards are given to individuals and organizations who commit themselves to the core principles of public health.
Dr. Loza teaches biostatistics and epidemiology for the UTEP Department of Public Health and mentors students in the UTEP Masters of Public Health program and Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Ph.D. Program. Her research interests focus on substance abuse and risks behaviors for HIV, Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among high-risk populations on the U.S.-Mexico border region, including transgender women, persons who use drugs and migrants. More recently, she has focused her service and research on LGBTQ health in the local El Paso community in collaboration with dedicated community partners such as the City of El Paso Department of Public Health. One of the major achievements of these efforts has been to increase access to LGBTQ-friendly healthcare and social services through The Purple Pages of El Paso, an online resource directory of LGBTQ-friendly healthcare and social service providers.