President and CEO
Regional Center for Border Health, Inc. and its subsidiary corporations

Former Arizona State Senator Amanda Aguirre serves in the capacity of President & CEO of the Regional Center for Border Health, Inc. since 1991 and its subsidiary San Luis Walk-In Clinic, Inc., an integrated primary care-behavioral health rural health medical center serving Yuma, La Paz and Mohave Counties.

Ms. Aguirre has been involved for more than 35 years in health care and business administration. She possesses a life-long commitment to education and in 2007 she established a licensed post–secondary vocational training center in the area of allied health training, which has generated job opportunities for over 3,500 individuals.

Ms. Aguirre has built these corporations that have become a multi-million-dollar corporations providing employment for over 475 employees.

In 2003, Ms. Aguirre became the first female and first Hispanic to represent District 24 (new legislative district 4) in the Arizona House of Representatives and in the Arizona State Senate (in 2006) where she served in the Arizona State Senate through 2010.

In August 2023, Ms. Aguirre just received the Arizona’s Immunization Champion Award in honor of her exemplary immunization work.by the Association of Immunization Managers (AIM) , the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS).

Ms.  Aguirre was appointed Member of the US-Mexico Border Health Commission in December 1999 by President William J. Clinton.

Ms. Aguirre holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Sonora in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. In 1981 received her master’s degree from the California State University in Los Angeles, California with emphasis in Nutrition and Dietetics.

In April 2013, Ms. Aguirre completed a Certificate Program in Executive Leadership for Healthcare Professionals at Cornell University (online). In July 2005 Ms. Aguirre completed a Training Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government at John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.

In 2003, Ms. Aguirre became the first female and first Hispanic to represent District 24 (new legislative district 4) in the Arizona House of Representatives and in the Arizona State Senate (in 2006) where she served in the Arizona State Senate through 2010.

During her time in office, Senator Aguirre has had great success in passing key bi-partisan legislation. In 2008 Senator Aguirre sponsored SB1263 Autism Spectrum Disorder “Steven’s Law,” which requires private medical insurance companies to provide autism intervention service coverage under their insurance plan benefits.

Other past successful legislation includes: the creation of a “Breast Cancer Awareness” special license plate (HB2526) with proceeds benefiting cancer screening for uninsured women; securing $1 million dollars to fund the state diabetes prevention and awareness campaign; establishing liability protection guidelines for  volunteer citizens performing emergency medical assistance during a state of emergency (HB 2599) and many other legislations that have had a positive impact in the State of Arizona.

Distinguished Professor of Public Health, San Diego State University
Director, Institute for Behavioral and Community Health
Director, SDSU HealthLINK Endowment
Co-Director, SDSU HealthLINK Center for Transdisciplinary Health Disparities Research
Co-Director, Imperial County Clinical Research Network for Health Equity

Dr. Guadalupe Xochitl Ayala is a Distinguished Professor of Public Health at San Diego State University (SDSU) and Co-Director of another RCMI Center – the SDSU HealthLINK Center for Transdisciplinary Health Disparities Research (along with Dr. Kristen Wells, Professor of Psychology) and Co-Director of the Imperial County Clinical Research Network for Health Equity (along with CEO/President Yvonne Bell, Innercare).  Dr. Ayala is also Director of the Institute for Behavioral and Community Health and Director of the SDSU HealthLINK Endowment (along with Dr. Jose Castillo, Dr. Kee Moon, and President Adela de la Torre). Dr. Ayala received her PhD from UCSD-SDSU Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology and her MPH in Health Promotion from the SDSU School of Public Health both in 2002.

Dr. Ayala is serving/has served as PI of over 30 grants, contracts, and endowments totaling $95 million from sources ranging from the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the American Cancer Society, among others. Her research focuses on developing new and adapted interventions to reduce Latino health disparities in obesity, diabetes, and asthma. This has included the development of evidence-based individual, family, healthcare, and community interventions to improve diet, physical activity, and other behavioral, social (e.g., parenting), and environmental (e.g., air quality) determinants of obesity, diabetes, and asthma.  A concurrent program of research examines social, cultural, and environmental factors that impact health behaviors and health outcomes among immigrants and other hard-to-reach communities. This research has led to over 220 peer-reviewed publications, including several systematic reviews and evidence-based interventions.

Professor
University of Washington

Dr. Heitkemper received her BSN from Seattle University, master’s degree in nursing from University of Washington, and PhD in Physiology and Biophysics from University of Illinois. Dr. Heitkemper is currently a Professor in the Department of Biobehavioral Nursing and Health Informatics and Adjunct Professor, Division of Gastroenterology, School of Medicine, and former Director of Center for Innovations in Sleep Self-Management at the University of Washington. She has received substantial funding by the National Institute for Nursing Research, National Institutes of Health for her work in the study of pathophysiology and non-pharmacological management of individuals with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), as well as studying the interaction of stress, sleep, genetics, and symptoms in women and children with IBS.

As a nursing scientist, Dr. Heitkemper has over 25 years of leading or leading NIH-funded research centers. Each of these centers focused the development of early career scientists conducting interdisciplinary research to advance the health of vulnerable populations. In addition, these enhanced the research environment of the University School of Nursing by providing statistical consultation, laboratory equipment, and assay development. These centers laid the groundwork for pilot investigators to progress to independent researchers.

As Director of a current T-32 training program for pre-doctoral and postdoctoral fellows, she also has the experience of working with students and novice researchers. Dr. Heitkemper’s experience as a NIH grant reviewer for the past three decades has also provided her with the ample experience in grantsmanship. Dr. Heitkemper is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and has served as a committee member for two reports. Finally, as an investigator, her program of NIH-funded research has spanned omics (genomics, metabolomics) to randomized clinical trials.

Project Scientist
National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
National Institutes of Health

Dr. Jarrett A. Johnson is a Program Official in the Division of Community Health and Population Science at the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In this capacity, he manages a portfolio of grants focusing on community-based approaches that seek to address health disparities across the continuum of care for populations that experience health disparities.

Dr. Johnson is a health behavior scientist with over a decade of experience working collaboratively in planning, organizing, and conducting multi-level and muti-factorial study design, and analyses for behavioral research. He earned a Doctor of Public Health degree (DrPH) from the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health at Georgia Southern University with a concentration in community health behavior and education. Prior to joining NIMHD, Dr. Johnson was a Cancer Prevention Fellow in the Genomic Epidemiology Branch (GEB) of the Epidemiology and Genomics Research Program (EGRP) at the National Cancer Institute.

Program Official
Division of Scientific Programs
Community Health and Population Sciences
National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
National Institutes of Health

Dr. Nancy Jones’ research interests include the ethical, legal, and social ramifications that research, medicine, and healthcare have on underserved populations. Examples include making explicit underlying norms, values, and philosophies to improve cultural congruence and lessen group harms. Another interest is to support research to improve the ability of theoretical constructs and conceptual models to explain the causes of health disparities.

Dr. Jones’ background spans basic and translational biomedical research; medical ethics; legal and social implications of research, healthcare, and policy; and design of curricula and scientific programs. She developed a code of ethics for life sciences and a curriculum to teach ethics and professionalism for biomedical science and engineering graduate students. Dr. Jones lectures on the ethics of health disparities and serves as an adjunct professor of bioethics at Trinity International University.

Dr. Jones graduated with a B.S. in biochemistry in 1981 from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. She earned her Ph.D. in biochemistry from Wake Forest University School of Medicine in 1987 before receiving an M.A. in bioethics from Trinity International University in 2003. Jones joined NIMHD in 2012 and served as co-chair on the Etiology of Health Disparities for the Science Visioning as well as several trans-NIH committees on bioethics.

Director, Seven Directions: A Center for Indigenous Health
Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
School of Medicine
University of Washington

Dr. Myra Parker is currently an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and Director of Seven Directions: A Center for Indigenous Public Health, based within the Center for the Study of Health and Risk Behaviors at the University of Washington. Dr. Parker received her B.A. in Human Biology from Stanford University, a J.D. and M.P.H. from the University of Arizona in 2001 and 2002, respectively, and a Ph.D. in Health Services from the University of Washington School of Public Health in 2010.
Dr. Parker has worked for more than 10 years on tribal public health program implementation, and coordination with tribal communities in Arizona, Idaho, and Washington, as well as with tribal colleges and universities across the United States.

Her research experience in public health involves Community Based Participatory Research, cultural adaptation of evidence-based interventions, and disparities research.

As an enrolled member of the Mandan and Hidatsa tribes, she is aware of the historical health practices and misconduct perpetuated on tribes in the United States, as well as other minority and disenfranchised populations. Her background in law and policy has informed a broader understanding of the principles of ethics and serves as a framework for identifying methods to address the disparities in tribal control and access of research data through the use of formalized agreements and other mechanisms that support tribal sovereignty.

Executive Vice President and University Provost
Office of the Provost
Northern Arizona University

Dr. Karen Pugliesi has served as Executive Vice President & Provost since June 2021. She is Professor of Sociology and has served in a variety of leadership positions at NAU for over 20 years, including Dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, Dean of the University College, and Chair of the Department of Sociology and Social Work. Her research has focused on the impact of chronic stressors linked to social roles, work conditions, and familial caregiving on well-being; social support networks; emotion management in the workplace; gender and well-being; and the links between social conditions, and the links between emotional experiences, medicalization, and the self-diagnosis of premenstrual syndrome.

Managing Director, Ruby Rose Consulting, LLC

Kim Russell is of the Bitter Water People, born for the Tangle People. Her maternal grandfathers are of the Coyote Pass Clan and her paternal grandfathers are of the Bitter Water People. Ms. Russell is from Chinle, Arizona and a citizen of the Navajo Nation. Ms. Russell is the Managing Director of Ruby Rose Consulting, LLC, a consultant business that provides technical assistance and research to clients seeking guidance in Indian health care policy and programming. Currently, she works full time at Sage Memorial Hospital – Navajo Health Foundation as the grant writer and was the Executive Director of the Navajo Department of Health. Prior to coming back home to the Navajo Reservation, she was the Executive Director for the Arizona Advisory Council on Indian Health Care where she focused on advocating for legislative and administrative policy solutions for Indian health care systems. Kim has worked with Tribes, Tribal Organizations, the Indian Health Service, and Urban Indian Health Programs to advance their health agendas and priorities her entire career. Ms. Russell received her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and a Master of Health Administration. Kim enjoys spending time with family, her puppy nephews, nieces and traveling.