Rafael E. Pérez-Figueroa, MD, MPH, is the Associate Dean for Community Engagement and Public Health Practice at the Rutgers University School of Public Health, and an Associate Professor of Urban-Global Public Health. He studies the mechanisms through which historically and contemporary under resourced populations experience health inequities. He does this by engaging in theoretically driven research that seeks to disentangle the effects of different social determinants of health on the outcomes of these populations. Most of his scholarly work focuses on public health issues related to HIV/AIDS prevention and care, substance use and abuse, harm reduction, mental health, and healthcare utilization. He uses different community-engaged approaches to study these issues, focusing on the interplay between social, structural, and environmental factors that influence health systems in which inequities are embedded. He emphasizes on conducting community-engaged research work and public health practice that directly aligns to the translation, diffusion, and implementation of evidence-based health strategies into community practice and policies.
