María del Carmen Santos-Ortiz, Ph.D., CHES

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Social Sciences Department
Health Education Program
Graduate School of Public Health
Medical Sciences Campus
University of Puerto Rico
P.O. Box 00936-5067
San Juan, PR 00936-5067
Phone: 787-274-0582
Fax: 787-754-6621
E-mail: maria.santos7@upr.edu

María del Carmen Santos-Ortiz is a professor and coordinator of the Health Education Program and Director of the Social Sciences Department of the Graduate School of Public Health on the Medical Sciences Campus at the University of Puerto Rico. Her educational training includes the following disciplines: health, clinical and school psychology, health education, and gerontology. She is investigator and co-investigator in several research projects related to women's health: human sexuality, sexually transmitted infections, HIV/AIDS, sex workers, substance abuse, sexual violence, and older women.

Dr. Santos is a consultant and member of local and international educational and research committees, community-based organizations, and training centers. These organizations work with HIV/AIDS and women's health including reproductive and sexual health, sexual violence, substance abuse, and lesbian/bisexual women issues.

As a professor, she has taught health communications, health promotion and education research, group facilitation, human sexuality, and mental health courses. She has mentored several female students that have made presentations in local and international conference congresses.

She has a longstanding academic career focused on service projects centered in sexual health promotion and prevention in different populations, including female sex workers, incarcerated women, and female drug users. She has designed, developed, implemented, and evaluated an array of projects in collaboration with other faculty members, graduate students, and government and community-based organizations.

Content last updated November 16, 2009.