Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, MD, PHD

Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, MD, PhD is Professor of Clinical Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, Davis. He is the Founding Director of the Center for Reducing Health Disparities at UC Davis Health and the Director of the Community Engagement Program of the UCD Clinical Translational Science Center (CTSC). He is a past member of the National Advisory Mental Health Council (NAMHC), National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and Past Chair of the Board of Directors of Mental Health America. He is a member of the National Advisory Council of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA) - Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), and board member of the California Health Care Foundation, Physicians for a Health California, and the Public Health Institute. Over the last 25 years, he has held several World Health Organization (WHO) and Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) advisory board and consulting appointments and is currently a member of the Executive Committee of WHO’s World Mental Health Survey Consortium (WMH) and its Coordinator for Latin America overseeing population-based national surveys of Mexico, Colombia, Peru, and Argentina a regional survey of Brazil, and two surveys of Medellín, Colombia.

Dr. Aguilar-Gaxiola is the author of over 190 scientific publications. He is the recipient of multiple international, national, state, and local awards, including a distinguished member of the Top 10 U.S. Latino Physicians in the May 2016 issue of Latino Leaders Magazine. More recently, he received the Ohtli Award, the highest honor granted by the Mexican government to individuals who have dedicated their lives to improving the well-being of Mexicans, Mexican Americans and other Latinos in the US and abroad. This past month, he was distinguished by the National Hispanic Science Network with the 2021 National Award of Excellence in Research by a Senior Investigator award and by the National Latino Behavioral Health Association with the 2021 Lifetime Award for the Advancement of Latino Behavioral Health.

Dr. Aguilar-Gaxiola is currently serving as co-chair of the Steering Committee of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) Assessing Meaningful Community Engagement in Health and Health Care.