Jesus Ramirez-Valles
He/Him
I’m queer and I’m a public-health scholar. //
I am an out and proud public health leader, scholar, and a filmmaker humbled by having been named one of the “Top Gay Latino Activists who Have Broken Boundaries” by the Huffington Post. My expertise is on health equity and global health and on higher education. I have worked in academia for over 20 years preparing generations of STEM professionals, in public health, leading educational programs and recruiting and mentoring faculty and doctoral students. I am the author of two books: “Compañeros: Latino Activists in the Face of AIDS,” and “Queer Aging: The Gayby Boomers and the new Frontier in Gerontology.” Both books were made possible (in part) as I was twice selected as a Rockefeller Foundation Fellow. A companion documentary, “Tal Como Somos/Just As We Are,” is based on the stories explored in “Compañeros.” My research, teaching, and creative efforts touch on: gender and sexuality, stigma, and community mobilization. Currently, I am a Co-PI of the Center for Health Equity Research (a joint effort between the University of Illinois-Chicago and University of Chicago, funded by the NIHMD) looking at structural violence and its connections to health inequality. I am the Editor-in-Chief of “Health Education & Behavior.”