Presenter

Dr. Rupa Valdez is a professor at the University of Virginia with joint appointments in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the School of Medicine and serves as president of the Blue Trunk Foundation. Dr. Valdez merges the disciplines of human factors engineering, health informatics, and cultural anthropology to understand and support the ways in which people manage health at home and in the community. Her work draws heavily on community engagement with community organizations and individuals from multiple health disparity populations, and has been supported by the NIH, AHRQ, NSF, PCORI, and the USDA, among others. She has testified before Congress on the topic of health equity for the disability community. Among other appointments, she serves as associate editor for Ergonomics and Human Factors in Health Care, on the Board of Directors for the American Association of People with Disabilities, and as an advisor for the National Committee for Quality Assurance’s Health Equity Expert Work Group. Her work has been recognized by HFES in multiple ways, most recently as election to fellow.