Health Science Prof Miguel Pérez heads to Africa as Fulbright Senior Specialist

California State University, Fresno health science professor Dr. Miguel A. Pérez will be heading to South Africa in April to lend a hand with AIDS education and prevention.

Pérez has been selected for a Fulbright Senior Specialists Scholar Grant in public/global health at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, South Africa.

As a health educator, Pérez specializes in international health and applied research, adolescent health issues and cultural competence.

South Africa has one of the highest rates of AIDS cases in the world. The Fulbright grant will give Pérez the opportunity to apply his expertise in the primary prevention of AIDS and HIV and to work with experts from around the world. He will spend two-and-a-half weeks developing a Web-based HIV and AIDS prevention program for college students.

Pérez is a past Fulbright recipient. In fall 2000, he was a Fulbright Scholar and visiting professor at the Universidad El Bosque School of Medicine in Bogotá, Colombia, where he conducted drug research.

Fulbright Scholars lecture or conduct research in a wide variety of academic and professional fields and are chosen for their leadership potential. The Fulbright Senior Specialists Program provides short-term academic opportunities of two to six weeks for U.S. faculty and professionals.

The Fulbright program is the brainchild of Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, and has been a vehicle for promoting international educational exchange between the United States and other countries for more than 50 years. The program is sponsored by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Pérez earned his bachelor's degree in research in mental health at CSU Dominguez Hills and his master's degree and Ph.D. in health education at Pennsylvania State University. He joined the Fresno State faculty in 1999.

He has conducted research on migrant health issues and adolescent health risk behaviors in Colombia, El Salvador and Mexico. He has more than 50 papers and publications to his credit.

Pérez serves as a health policy research fellow with the Central Valley Health Policy Institute, faculty liaison to the Central California Public Health Partnership and is a Digital Campus Fellow.

Pérez serves on the board of directors of the American Association of Health Educators and the Asthma Advisory Council of the National Association of School Nurses and is a board member in the San Joaquin Valley Health Consortium.

Contact: Shirley Melikian Armbruster (559) 278-5292 or (559) 593-1815