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Carmen R. Valdez, PhD

Associate Dean of Research and Partnerships

Professor

Carmen R. Valdez, Ph.D., is a professor and Inaugural Associate Dean of Research and Partnerships at the University of Texas School of Public Health San Antonio. In that role, she oversees research operations for the school, supports the school’s research capacity and footprint, and leverages institutional and community partnerships so research can be impactful to San Antonio residents.  She has co-led community and academic partnerships that leverage social capital, community experience, and university research and resources to improve community health and foster community self-determination. Valdez is interested in mentoring students, trainees, and junior faculty in their research trajectories, authentic leadership, and community-based participatory research. She develops community engagement tools to support community-academic partnerships and resident-led programs.

Valdez has a special research interest in understanding family stability and stress in the context of social policy. In her family research, she examines the role of immigration and health policy, neighborhood, and family factors on Hispanic personal and family health, as well as developing community-based, family-focused interventions for Hispanic families. She has an additional interest in coalition-building and community engagement for environmental justice in south Texas. For this collective work, she was elected as a member of the American Psychological Association’s Committee on Socioeconomic Status and was granted in 2023 a Mid-Career Award by the Latinx Caucus of the Society for Research in Child Development.

Prior to joining UTSPHSA, Valdez was Chief of the Division of Community Engagement and Health Equity, and Faculty Director of Community-Driven Initiatives, both at Dell Medical School in Austin, TX. She also had a faculty appointment at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work at the University of Texas at Austin, where she taught undergraduate and graduate social work students and led research programs.