Office for Research and Partnership

Carmen Valdez, PhD, is a professor and Associate Dean of Research and Partnerships at the University of Texas School of Public Health San Antonio. In that role, she oversees research operations for the school, supports the school’s research capacity and footprint and leverages institutional and community partnerships so research can be impactful to San Antonio residents.

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 School of Public Health, 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. 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.

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.

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.