Xóchitl Castañeda

Director of Health Initiative of the Americas (HIA) School of Public Health, University of California (UC) Berkeley

Xóchitl Castañeda is the Director of Health Initiative of the Americas (HIA) at the School of Public Health, University of California (UC) Berkeley since 2001. Her leadership has resulted in the creation of binational programs to improve the health and quality of life of migrants in the United States. Among them, are the binational health weeks and “ventanillas de salud” in several consulates of Latin American countries. Through these strategies, thousands of people receive medical care and counseling on how to obtain health services by government and community agencies in the United States. A medical anthropologist by training, Xóchitl was educated in Guatemala and Mexico and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in reproductive health at UC San Francisco; and a post-doctoral in social science and medicine at Harvard and at Amsterdam Universities. In 1999 she received the National Award for Research in Social Sciences and Health, in 2010 the California Legislative Caucus recognized her work with a national recognition and recently was awarded the national distinction “Medalla Campeones de la Salud” from the National Mexican Institute on Public Health for her work with immigrants in the United States. She has published more than 150 scientific papers and has served as a consultant for more than 30 international organizations. She is also a board member of 9 international organizations.

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