M. Ricardo Calderón, M.D., M.P.H.

Dr. Calderón is a physician executive with extensive experience designing, implementing, managing and evaluating medical, public health, pharmaceutical and community development programs at local, national and international level.  Dr. Calderón received a physician and surgeon’s degree from the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC 1981) and a master's degree in public health from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA 1984).  He received training at the doctoral level in health services management and infectious disease epidemiology (UCLA 1987), and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in preventive medicine and epidemiology research at the University of Southern California (USC 1991).

Professional Experience

Dr. Calderón has more than 20 years of work experience in 19 countries planning, directing, implementing and evaluating health sector restructuring,  strategic planning, leadership and human resource development, national workforce retraining, and public health and medical programs, including technical assistance in primary health care; maternal, child and adolescent health; reproductive health and family planning; nutrition and food programming; infectious and chronic disease prevention and control; epidemiological surveillance and outbreak control; health promotion, wellness and disease prevention; pharmaceutical assistance; nutritional medicine and cellular nutrition; hospital administration; and HIV/AIDS/STDs.

Dr. Calderón also trained in Executive Leadership & Strategic Management (American Management Association 1998 & 2000), Future-Focused Leadership (Los Angeles Training Academy & California State University, Northridge, 2001), and Public Health Leadership (University of North Carolina, 2003/04).  He is currently the Area Director & Public Health Officer for the San Gabriel Valley (SPA 3) & Metropolitan (SPA 4) Service Planning Areas at the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services.  In this capacity, he is the principal program official responsible for providing policy leadership and directing the delivery of core public health functions and clinical services to protect, maintain and improve the health of more than 3.5 million people.

Dr. Calderón was formerly the Senior Administrative Director at the Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California (USC, 5/2001 – 6/2008).  In this capacity, he served as an Adjunct Associate Professor in Preventive Medicine, Founding Director, MPH Global Health Leadership Track, and Regional Director, Latin America & the Caribbean. His teaching and research interests focus on global health systems, international technical cooperation, health sector reforms, public health leadership development, chronic disease prevention and control, and applied public health practice through strategic planning and management. 

In brief, Dr. Calderón’s expertise includes top level leadership, visionary and management skills; restructuring and reengineering of health care services; formulating and implementing strategy; managing corporate culture and change; organizing and deploying resources; developing human resources and institutions; and small to large scale international technical assistance and training programs to enhance the effectiveness of public health systems to effectively address 21st Century threats. 

Education

A native Guatemalan and citizen of the USA, Mr. Calderón received a physician and surgeon’s degree from the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC 1981) and a master's degree in public health from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA 1984). He received training at the doctoral level in health services management and infectious disease epidemiology at UCLA (1987), and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in preventive medicine and epidemiology research at the University of Southern California (USC 1991).

Selected Publications