Hector Velasco Mondragon, PhD, MS, MD

Biography

I practiced clinical medicine for fifteen years in Mexico. Then I got a Master’s in Health Sciences and conducted research on healthcare access and quality for a couple of years. In 1996 I pursued a Ph.D. in Epidemiology and have done research on cervical cancer screening and cardiovascular disease for the past twenty years. I have taught courses on Quality of Care, Program Evaluation, Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Research Methods. I have founded and chaired three Departments (Health Systems; Public Health Genomics; and Epidemiology and Biostatistics). I have led academic accreditation and strategic planning initiatives and developed and coordinated academic programs. I have done consulting for WHO/PAHO, CDC, and HRSA. I have also served as Councilor of APHA, AACOM and NBOME. I chair the Epidemiology and Biostatistics Section for NBOME. I came to Touro California in 2011, as Associate Dean of Preclinical Education and Professor, where I have led initiatives to improve the Boards performance, improve the quality of the medical curriculum, and streamline administrative data and workflows. At Touro, I have chaired the Student Promotions Committee for nine years; I also founded the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Anti-racism Committee (IDEA), the Exam Review taskforce (ERGO); and also founded the Wellness, Academic Achievement, Resilience, and Mindfulness (WARM) program. I’m also a member of the Provost’s Academic Leadership Team. I live on Mare Island with my wife and my dog. I speak Spanish, English, French fluently and am learning Italian and Tagalog. Working with students is my favorite part of my job.

Education

• MD, Family Physician, Master of Health Systems
• Ph.D. in Epidemiology

Honors and Awards

• 2009 Best Research Paper Award for the work "Family history of chronic disease; a public health tool". "La historia familiar de Enfermedades crónicas en México: herramienta genómica en salud pública ". Presented at the LXIII Annual Meeting of the Public Health Mexican Society. November 16 - 21, 2009, Oaxaca, Mexico (Coauthor).
• 2009 Recipient of the Star of Appreciation Award, MSU SCHP.
• 2008 Elected member of the Beta Epsilon Chapter of the Delta Omega Society, Morgan State University.
• 2007 Best Research Work Award for research group of the project "Variant BLY972ARG of the IRS1 gene is associated with Type-2 diabetes mellitus in a representative sample of lean diabetic patients: a candidate gene study". Presented at the XIII Latin American Conference on Diabetes Prevention in Havana, Cuba, on November 12, 2007 (Co-author).
• 2007 Annual Award to Curriculum Committee for developing the new curriculum and public health competencies for the DrPH program at Morgan State University School of Community Health and Policy.
• 2000-2001 Grantee of ANUIES-SUPERA Scholars Program, Mexico.
• 1996-1999 Kellogg Fellow. Ph.D. Program in Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD., USA.
• 1995 Honors Award. Master of Science in Health Systems, School of Public Health of Mexico.
• 1988 Grantee, Mexico’s National Council for Science and Technology, (CONACyT), to obtain the degree of Specialist in Family Medicine.
• 1992 Grantee, Mexico’s National Council for Science and Technology, (CONACyT), to obtain the Master of Science in Health Systems, School of Public Health of Mexico.

Recent Publications

Saleem A, Bekele A, Fitzpatrick MB, et al. Knowledge and awareness of cervical cancer in Southwestern Ethiopia is lacking: A descriptive analysis. PLoS One.2019;14(11): e0215117. 

Velasco-Mondragon HE, Menini T, West C, Clearfield M. Public Health and Interprofessional Education as Critical Components in the Evolution of Osteopathic Medical Education. JAOA, 2018; 11:753-763.

Alcalde-Rabanal JE, Nigenda G, Bärnighausen T, Velasco-Mondragón HE, Darney BG. The gap in human resources to deliver the guaranteed package of prevention and health promotion services at urban and rural primary care facilities in Mexico. Hum Resour Health. 2017 Aug 3;15(1):49.

Velasco-Mondragon, E, Jimenez, A, Palladino-Davis, AG, Davis, D, Escamilla-Cejudo, JA. Hispanic health in the USA: a scoping review of the literature. Public Health Reviews, December 7, 2016; 37:31.
https://publichealthreviews.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40985-016-0043-2

Noonan, AS, Velasco-Mondragon, HE, Wagner, F. Improving the health of African Americans in the USA: an overdue opportunity for social justice. Public Health Reviews, October 3, 2016; 37:12. Corresponding author.
https://publichealthreviews.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40985-016-0025-4

Alcalde-Rabanal JE, Bärnighausen T, Nigenda-López G, Velasco-Mondragón HE, Sosa-Rubí SG. [Human resources needed to implement health prevention and promotion to adults in primary health care]. Salud Publica Mex. 2013 May-Jun;55(3):301-9.

Velasco-Mondragon E, Lindong I, Kamangar F. Determinants of anti-hepatitis A
antibody seroprevalence in 2- to 19-year-olds in the USA using NHANES 2007-2008. 
Epidemiol Infect. 2012 Mar;140(3):417-25.

Amen-Ra NSS, Velasco-Mondragon E, Hossain MB, Bronner Y. Energy expenditure differs between Black and White Americans: Implications for obesity prevention research. Food and Nutrition Sciences 2012;3:914-924.

Lazcano-Ponce E, Lorincz AT, Cruz-Valdez A, Salmerón J, Uribe P, Velasco-Mondragón E, Nevarez PH, Acosta RD, Hernández-Avila M. Self-collection of vaginal specimens for human papillomavirus testing in cervical cancer prevention (MARCH): a community-based randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2011; 378(9806):1868-73.

Peart T, Velasco Mondragon HE, Rohm-Young D, Bronner Y, Hossain MB. Weight
status in US youth: the role of activity, diet, and sedentary behaviors. Am J Health Behav. 2011 Nov;35(6):756-64. PubMed PMID: 22251766.

Velasco Mondragon HE, Charlton RW, Peart T, Burguete-Garcia AI, Hernandez-Avila M, Hsueh WC. Diabetes risk assessment in Mexicans and Mexican Americans: effects of parental history of diabetes are modified by adiposity level. Diabetes Care. 2010; 33(10):2260-5.

Burguete-Garcia AI, Cruz-Lopez M, Madrid-Marina V, Lopez-Ridaura R, Hernández-Avila M, Cortina B, Gómez RE, Velasco-Mondragón E. Association of Gly972Arg polymorphism of IRS1 gene with type 2 diabetes mellitus in lean participants of a national health survey in Mexico: a candidate gene study. Metabolism. 2010 Jan;59(1):38-45.

Perez-Cruz E, Winkler JL, Velasco-Mondragon E, Salmeron-Castro J, Garcia F,
Davis-Tsu V, Escandon-Romero C, Hernandez-Avila M. [Screening and follow-up for cervical cancer prevention in rural Mexico using visual inspection] Salud Publica Mex. 2005 Jan-Feb;47(1):39-48. (Corresponding author)

Wagner FA, Velasco-Mondragon HE, Herrera-Vazquez M, Borges G, Lazcano-Ponce
E. Early alcohol or tobacco onset and transition to other drug use among students
in the State of Morelos, Mexico. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2005 Jan 7;77(1):93-6.

Camargo M. Constanza, Lazcano-Ponce Eduardo, Torres Javier, Velasco-Mondragón Eduardo, Quiterio Manuel, and Correa Pelayo. Determinants of Helicobacter pylori seroprevalence in Mexican adolescents. Helicobacter. 2004 Apr;9(2):106-14.

Herrera-Vazquez M, Wagner FA, Velasco-Mondragon E, Borges G, Lazcano-Ponce E. Onset of alcohol and tobacco use and transition to other drug use among students from Morelos, Mexico. Salud Publica Mex. 2004 Mar-Apr;46(2):132-40.

Velasco Mondragon HE, Leyva Lopez A.  [Comment analysis of the article on hepatitis B and C.] Salud Publica Mex. 2000 Nov-Dec;42(6):479-81. Spanish.

Velasco Mondragon HE, Leyva Lopez AG. [Disagreement with an educational intervention program on breast-feeding] Salud Publica Mex. 2000 Nov-Dec;42(6):476-9. 

Hernandez B, Velasco-Mondragon HE. Encuestas Transversales [Cross-sectional surveys]  Salud Publica Mex. 2000 Sep-Oct;42(5):447-55. Review. Spanish. 

Velasco Mondragon HE, Leyva Lopez A, Briseno Tavez F, Escobar Meza J, Fuentes Dominguez J, Fuentes Roman L, Jimenez Gallegos L.  [Possible bias in the selection of the control group] Salud Publica Mex. 2000 Sep-Oct;42(5):378-80. Spanish. 

Velasco-Mondragon HE, Martin J, Chacon-Sosa F.  Technology evaluation of a USA-Mexico health information system for epidemiological surveillance of Mexican migrant workers. Rev Panam Salud Publica. 2000 Mar;7(3):185-92.
 
Lazcano-Ponce EC, Rascon-Pacheco RA, Lozano-Ascencio R, Velasco-Mondragon HE. Mortality from cervical carcinoma in Mexico: impact of screening, 1980-1990.  Acta Cytol. 1996 May-Jun;40(3):506-12.

Book Chapters:

Velasco, H. Collaborator. Porta, M.: A dictionary of epidemiology. 6th edition. Oxford University Press, New York, 2014. Print ISBN-13:978019997672

Velasco-Mondragón E. Inclusion criteria. Exclusion criteria. (Encyclopedia articles) In: The Encyclopedia of Research. Salkind N, Ed. Sage Publishers. London, 2010.

Hernandez B, Velasco-Mondragon HE. Chapter VIII, Cross-sectional surveys (Encuestas Transversales). In: Epidemiologia, Diseño y Análisis de Estudios. Editorial Médica Panamericana and National Institute of Public Health, Mexico, 2007. pp 191-212, ISBN 978-968-7988-87-0.

Velasco-Mondragón E, Eduardo Lazcano-Ponce, Mauricio Hernández-Avila. Concepto Multidimensional de Salud y Enfermedad. Cap. 14. En: La Comunicación Humana en la Relación Médico-Paciente.  CONAMED, SSA, Editorial Prado, S.A. de C.V., México, D.F., 2005; revised and expanded, Second edition, 2006.

Velasco-Mondragon HE. Health Atlas 2003, Atlas de la Salud 2003 (Co-author) INSP. First Ed. 2002, Cuernavaca, México. Available online at http://www.insp.mx/

Velasco-Mondragon HE. Technical reviewer and writer. Módulos de Principios de Epidemiologia para el Control de Enfermedades (MOPECE). First and 2nd Ed. Pan American Health Organization. Washington, DC, 2001, 2016. 

Velasco-Mondragón HE, Martin J., Stevenson-Perez H. Book Chapter: "Binational Health Care for Migrants: the Health Data Exchange Pilot Project and the Binational Data Transfer System." In: Children of la Frontera: Binational Efforts to Serve Mexican Migrant and Immigrant Students.  Ed. ERIC, Clearing-house on Rural Education and Small Schools. Charleston, WV, USA, 1996.

Memberships and Affiliations

December 2018-to date. Chair of SubCommittee and Councilor of the Council of Diversity and Inclusion for the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine.
2014-to date National Faculty and Chair of Epidemiology and Biostatistics; National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners, Preventive Medicine and Health Promotion. Boards Exam item writer.
2011 – Nov 2017 APHA Governing Councilor and Policy Whip, Epidemiology Section 
Nov 2010/Nov 2011 Co-Chair of the APHA Public Health Genomics Forum. 
2009-10 Chair of the APHA Public Health Genomics Forum Special Projects Committee and Section on Gene Environment Interactions. 
May-Aug 2008 Member of the ASPH DrPH Competency Critical Analysis Workgroup 
2006-2008 National Board of Public Health Examiners. Liaison and member of the 2007 and 2008 Item-Writing Committee.
2011- 2020 Member of the International Association of Medical Science Educators 
2007- 2016 Member of the American College of Epidemiology. 
2006- 2020 Member of the American Public Health Association. 

Teaching Responsibilities

Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Research Methods, Health Program Evaluation.