José Ramón Fernández-Peña, MD, MPA
President
American Public Health Association

José Ramón Fernández-Peña, MD, MPA – Is the President of the American Public Health Association. He is also the director of Health Professions Advising at Northwestern University where he leads the university's efforts to support students interested in pursuing careers in the health sector. 
Dr. Fernández-Peña is an Associate Professor Emeritus in the Department of Health Education at San Francisco State University where his work focused on health workforce diversity and cross-cultural communication in health.  Prior to this, he worked at Mission Neighborhood Health Center in San Francisco as director of Health Education. Before arriving in California, he was an associate director for quality management at Bellevue Hospital Center in New York City. 
He is the founder and executive director of the Welcome Back Initiative (WBI), a program to assist immigrant health professionals already living in the U.S. through the necessary steps to enter the U.S. health workforce.
He has advised the White House Domestic Policy Council on the economic integration of foreign-trained professionals and continues to serve as an expert panelist on this topic at national and international forums.
Dr. Fernández-Peña earned his medical degree from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and his masters’ degree in public administration from New York University.