MCHWS Bios

Louise Martinez, MPH

Louise I. Martinez is the Center Project Coordinator. She has been with the Center since 1999. Her responsibilities include information gathering, maintaining and assuring the Center space and resources, maintenance of the Center web site, the tracking and reporting of requirements /goals for the major research projects (i.e progress reports), and assistance with literature reviews, qualitative data analysis, reports, manuscripts, grants and presentations. Her research focus includes dentistry, nutrition, occupational therapy, nursing, and low-income, underserved populations.

In the past, Ms. Martinez oversaw two advanced practice dental studies from modifying the surveys to completing the final center reports. The dental studies looked at training and practice plans of dentists who are trained to serve special needs populations such as the physically disabled, children 0-3, and the elderly. Also, Ms. Martinez was a project leader for the study titled Identifying Training Strategies that Increase Health Professions Practice in Underserved Communities, which assesses what one institution is doing to foster future health professions practice for rural and underserved minority populations. Currently, Ms. Martinez is working on the project "Applying and Evaluating the HRSA RN supply model in two Midwestern states," which utilizes state specific data to project the future nursing supply in Illinois and Iowa.

Ms. Martinez holds a Masters in Public Health from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a concentration in Health Policy and Administration. Ms. Martinez has three recent publications in nursing and nutrition.