Town Hall Meeting Speakers

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Speakers' Biographies

CAPT Kenneth L. Dominguez, MD, MPH

Medical Epidemiologist, Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD & TB Prevention, CDC

Dr. Kenneth Dominguez is a medical epidemiologist on the Prevention for Negatives Team—biomedical intervention activity in the CDC’s Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, Epidemiology Branch. He has worked with CDC as a medical epidemiologist since 1993 and is especially interested in decreasing mother-to-child HIV transmission, improving the quality of life and survival of HIV-infected children, and biomedical interventions to prevent HIV transmission in all age groups. Dr. Dominguez serves as federal liaison to the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Pediatric AIDS and is the CDC spokesperson for several HIV campaigns. Through various CDC training programs, Dr. Dominguez mentors junior scientists and student interns. He was instrumental in helping co-organize CDC’s first Hispanic/Latino Health Workgroup, a scientific workgroup focused on improving Hispanic health in the US.

Dr. Dominguez received both a medical degree and master’s in public health degree at Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University. He completed residency training in pediatrics and preventive medicine at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, California, and at the CDC in Atlanta. He also trained as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Officer through CDC at the Puerto Rico Department of Health. Dr. Dominguez became a Commissioned Officer in the US Public Health Service in 1991.

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Jaime R. Torres, DPM, MS

President, Latinos for Healthcare Equity

Dr. Jaime R. Torres is president of Latinos for Healthcare Equity, a not-for-profit organization created to improve access to quality, affordable healthcare for the Latino community. Prior to holding this position, he was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as the regional director of the US Department of Health and Human Services, Region II, covering New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands (2010–2014). He was vice-chair of the Hispanic/Latino Work Group of the National Diabetes Education Program—a combined program from CDC and the National Institutes of Health—where he was instrumental in creating bilingual health campaigns for people with diabetes (2001–2008).

Dr. Torres received a doctorate in podiatric medicine and surgery from the New York College of Podiatric Medicine and a master of science degree in community health from Long Island University.

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Theresa Byrd, DrPH, MPH, BDN

Associate Dean and Chair, Department of Public Health, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

Theresa Byrd, DrPH, is the associate dean and chair of the Department of Public Health in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. Early in her career, she worked as a public health nurse, then worked in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, for three years with Proyecto La Verdad serving marginalized populations with basic public health needs. For the next 20 years, Dr. Byrd worked as a faculty member at the University of Texas School of Public Health.

Dr. Byrd's research is focused on cancer prevention and screening, especially in the areas of cervical and colorectal cancer. She led the development and testing of the AMIGAS program, an intervention to increase cervical cancer screening in Hispanic populations which has been adopted by the CDC as a recommended intervention. Her research has been funded by the National Cancer Institute, CDC, and the Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas.

Dr. Byrd received her doctor of public health degree in behavioral sciences and health education from the University of Texas School of Public Health, her master of public health degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, and her bachelor of science degree in nursing from the University of Arizona.

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