Archives: Our Team
Ileana María Ponce-Gonzalez
Clinical Faculty, Department of Health Services, University of Washington
Ileana María Ponce-Gonzalez, MD, MPH is a clinical faculty member in the Department of Health Services, School of Public Health at the University of Washington. Her work has spanned from academia, clinical services, local and state government, and public health administration, where she has extensive experience working with diverse segments of the community in three different countries: Nicaragua, Chile and the United States. Her areas of interest include infectious diseases, community health and public health administration. In Nicaragua, she directed the Infectious Disease Prevention Program, focused on the prevention of STDs, HIV/AIDS, malaria, TB, and other tropical illnesses found in rural communities of Tipitapa, Managua. In the U.S., Dr. Ponce-Gonzalez’s work has focused on developing health care programs and outreach initiatives for underserved communities, building collaborative networks, performing needs assessments, and devising technical assistance and training programs for community health workers. Currently, she is the Executive Director and founder of the Community Health Worker Coalition for Migrants and Refugees (CHWCMR), a passionate group of volunteers dedicated to the promotion, empowerment, leadership, continuing education and integration of community health workers into the health care system to improve the quality of life of underserved communities.
Beti Thompson
Member and Associate Program Head, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Professor, Department of Health Services, University of Washington
Beti Thompson, PhD, MA is a full member and Associate Program Head in the Cancer Prevention Program at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (Fred Hutch) and a full professor in the Department of Health Services, School of Public Health at the University of Washington (UW). She earned her Masters and Doctorate at Western Michigan University. Over the past 33 years, she has been Principal Investigator (PI), Co-Principal Investigator (co-PI), or co-Investigator on more than 30 NIH funded grants at the Fred Hutch. Dr. Thompson has a national and international reputation in community and health disparities research. Her current research focus includes disease prevention through lifestyle change, such as dietary practices, physical activity and smoking behavior, as well as encouraging populations to participate in disease screening activities. She is committed to a community-based participatory research approach to interventions, working directly with community members and organizations, in order to provide the most effective solutions to address health issues. She utilizes that strategy whether dealing with an entire community or neighborhood, a worksite as community, or a subpopulation group as a community.
Sandra Benavides-Vaello
Assistant Professor, College of Nursing Washington State University
Sandra Benavides-Vaello, MPAff, PhD, RN, earned her degrees from the University of Texas in Austin, TX. She currently works as an Assistant Professor at Washington State University, College of Nursing in Spokane, WA. Her work focuses on Latinos and under-served communities in the areas of chronic disease prevention and maintenance, quality of life and depression, diabetes, substance use, healthy food access, physical activity, healthcare access, and migrant farmworker health to name a few areas. Her responsibilities include research, instruction and mentorship to current nursing students. As a Latina, she is a lifelong advocate for higher education in Latino communities and healthcare access.
C. H. Hank Balderrama
Clinical Director, Comprehensive Life Services
C. H. Hank Balderrama, MSW, LICSW, co-founded and was the first executive director of Consejo Counseling and Referral Service in Seattle in 1978, which still serves Latino community members with culturally competent direct behavioral health services. He has worked extensively in organizational cultural competence to promote increased access and positive service outcomes for Latino communities. Mr. Balderrama co-chaired a SAMHSA national panel responsible for developing mental health standards of care for Latinos. He advocated for Latinos and other under-served groups as a senior administrator at the Washington State Mental Health Division, from 1989 to 2013. His professional responsibilities and experiences include developing policy; creating training curricula; and providing consultation at division headquarters, state hospitals, regional mental health authorities and mental health centers. His areas of expertise include client services, community engagement, training and education, technical writing, contracting, and program administration. His motivation for being a Latino Center for Health advisory board member includes continued advocacy for the Latino community, especially in the implementation of the national initiative of primary behavioral health care integration.
Carolina Lucero
Community Member - at large | Retired. Former Senior Vice President, Sea Mar Community Health Centers
Carolina Lucero, MSW, has worked with Sea Mar Community Health Centers for the past 33 years. Her service has provided her with expertise in primary care clinics, preventive health services and care coordination, community-based senior care services, and facility service lines for nursing and assisted living personnel. Her responsibilities have spanned from direct service provider, to management, to her current role in senior leadership. Currently, Ms. Lucero has oversight of the long-term care coordination services in several primary care clinics located in diverse communities throughout Western Washington. She is involved in many of Sea Mar’s community outreach projects and has advocated over the last 38 years for underserved communities, specifically in the areas of health and education.
Ms. Lucero has been instrumental in addressing gaps in nursing education and shortages of bilingual and bicultural nurses in Washington State. She is a member of technical advisory committees for a number of institutions of higher education in the area, including the University of Washington, South Seattle Community College, Bellevue College, and sits on the President’s Advisory Council at Lake Washington Institute of Technology.
In Memoriam – Adrian Dominguez
Scientific Director, Urban Indian Health Institute | Member, Seattle Indian Health Board
Adrian Dominguez, MS, hailed from Los Angeles California and had over 25 years of experience in work spanning academic research, the government sector, and non-profit work. He received his Master of Science in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from the School of Public Health at the University of California at Los Angeles and he was awarded the Harvard University Health Professionals fellowship and attended Harvard University to study neurology, which introduced him to the field of public health. Over the course of his career, Mr. Dominguez worked with academic institutions and communities on topics that include pediatric lead poisoning in low-income areas, HIV/AIDS, maternal and child health, diabetes, breast and cervical cancer, social determinants of health and health equity, and community health assessments and evaluations. He was the Scientific Director for Urban Indian Health Institute, Seattle Indian Health Board and serves as a board member for the Washington State Public Health Association and the University of Washington Latino Center for Health. In 2015 Adrian was inducted into Eastern Washington’s Upsilon Phi Delta Honor Society for his work and contributions to public health in the state of Washington.
Dr. Leo Morales
Co-Director
Dr. Leo Sergio Morales is a professor and assistant dean for healthcare equity and quality in the UW School of Medicine and founding co-director of the Latino Center for Health at the University of Washington. He received his M.D. and MPH degrees from the University of Washington and his Ph.D. from the RAND Graduate School in Policy Analysis. After completing a residency in primary care internal medicine at the UCSF/San Francisco General Hospital, he was recruited to the UCLA School of Medicine where he held faculty positions as assistant and associate professor, and co-directed the UCLA Resource Center for Minority Aging Research.
He is a past recipient of a Robert Wood Johnson Minority Foundation Medical Faculty Development Award and a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Investigator Award. His research focuses on racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in health and the measurement of patient resorted outcomes in diverse population settings. In recognition of his research contributions, he was inducted into the American Society for Clinical Investigation in 2007.
In recognition of his efforts to improve the health of Washingtonians, he was 2023 the recipient of Washington State Public Health Association (WSPHA) Annual Secretary’s Award and a recipient of a 2021 Washington State Medical Association Grassroots Advocate Award.
Dr. Gino Aisenberg
Co-Director
Dr. Gino Aisenberg, an associate professor at the University of Washington School of Social Work, is a bilingual/bicultural Latino mental health researcher. He is the founding co-director of the Latino Center for Health at the University of Washington. Previously, he served as associate dean for diversity and student affairs of the Graduate School from 2013-2019.
Dr. Aisenberg is staunchly committed to addressing inequities in the access and utilization of health and behavioral health services by diverse populations. His research interests focus on three interrelated areas impacting underserved ethnic minority populations:
1. traumatic exposure of children and families to community violence and associated post-traumatic stress disorder,
2. depression care for adults, and
3. evidence-based practice.
Dr. Aisenberg obtained his MSW and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Southern California. Since coming to the University of Washington in 2002, Dr. Aisenberg’s research and teaching have been deeply informed by culture and authentic partnerships with community-based agencies serving marginalized and rural communities.