Dr. María Fernández is Vice President of Population Health and Implementation Science at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth Houston) and the founding Co- Director of the UTHealth Houston Institute for Implementation Science. Dr. Fernández is also the Lorne Bain Chair of Public Health and Medicine, Professor of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, and Director of the Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research (CHPPR) at the UTHealth Houston School of Public Health. Dr. Fernández has spent her career leading participatory community-engaged intervention and implementation research to develop, evaluate, implement, and disseminate interventions to improve health and health equity. Her research focuses on chronic disease prevention and control among underserved populations in the U.S. and globally. Her awards include the Association for Schools and Programs of Public Health Research Excellence Award and the UTHealth President's Scholar Award for Research Excellence.