Office for Research and Partnership

In her role as Director of Business and Research Operations at the School of Public Health, Courtney leads efforts related to establishing the school’s research, education, and community service missions. Her professional background includes program management in HIV health services, a focus on increasing health equity and addressing health disparities, and academic faculty development. She holds an MPH in Social and Behavioral Health from the Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health. 

Dr. Cruz focuses on community engagement through community brokering and qualitative methods that promote community-based participatory research, focusing on research that navigates relationships between healthcare providers/clinicians and underserved communities that are overcoming poverty and living with chronic illnesses in both urban and rural settings. 

As the Director of Research and Lab Operations for the SPH, Dr. Marko is responsible for the oversight, supervision, management, and coordination of activities related to all aspects of the development, operation, funding, governance, and evaluation of the RURAL Cohort Study and the Cardiovascular and Pulmonary responses to Stressors (CaPS) Laboratory, under the portfolio of the Dean.  Dr. Marko completed her MD from the University of Tirana, Albania and her MSc in Health Economics and Healthcare Management from the University Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, Spain. She brings twenty-five years of experience in the public health field. Prior to joining UT Health School of Public Health San Antonio, she was an Assistant Professor in the Institute for Health Policy at the UTHealth Houston School of Public Health. Her research has focused on population-based health surveys, having managed the two rounds of the Health of Houston Survey, the largest survey of adults and children in the Houston area. 

Michelle Lopez is a San Antonio Native and earned her Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Texas A&M San Antonio in 2020. She started at UT Health San Antonio in July 2008. Lopez exhibits a strong sense of devotion to the research operations at UT Heath San Antonio and this experience gave her a deep appreciation for how the university’s research enterprise has improved the quality of life in our region, one project at a time.

Marissa Mexquitic, BA, MS, is a Senior Research Coordinator. She holds a BA and MS in Psychology from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Though her education was primarily psychology, she has implemented her experience in research to apply across multiple disciplines. She believes in researching health from a holistic approach and is passionate about bridging the gap between research and the community.

Sara Platz, MPH, is a Research Area Specialist at the Study Coordinating Center. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and Health Policy & Management from Providence College and a Master of Public Health degree from the Boston University School of Public Health. Platz feels that the RURAL study aligns with her passions for health equity, health policy, and increasing the delivery of primary care to underserved populations.