Meet the Team

Erik Ruiz is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of South Florida College of Public Health.  Erik earned a Bachelor’s in Biology from James Madison University in 2012 and a Master’s in Public Health from Benedictine University in 2020. A desire to reduce behavioral health disparities in young Latino populations provides motivation and inspiration for his work. This includes research that examines and identifies intervention points in the social cultural contexts where Latino youth live, learn, and grow to improve health literacy and healthcare access. It also includes building and supporting Latino public health communities. He is most proud of his work that returns knowledge and tools to the communities that he supports, locally and nationally.