Adriana Perez is a board-certified adult nurse practitioner, associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania, School of Nursing; and Chair of the National Association of Hispanic Nurses (NAHN), Public Policy Committee. Her research promoting healthy aging in Latinas has been funded by the National Hartford Centers of Gerontological Nursing Excellence, NIH/NINR individual NRSA, Sigma Theta Tau, National Coalition of Ethnic Minority Nurses, and St. Luke’s Health Initiative. As a result of her work and because of the high relevance to environmental health policy, she was selected as a Congressional Fellow supported by the Atlantic Philanthropies and Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, Healthy Aging Program. Through this fellowship, Dr. Perez worked with Latino city planners, local policymakers, stakeholders and residents of all ages to inform environmental policies that promote healthy aging.
Currently, Dr. Perez serves as Principal Investigator for the “Hispanic Nurses Educating Multicultural Communities on the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act,” funded by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services through the “Partnerships to Increase Coverage in Communities,” Initiative. This project uses the ACA as a platform to promote primary care and preventive services through the leadership of bilingual, Latina nurses. Because of this groundbreaking work, Dr. Perez was invited by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to share this model and present to approximately 500 nurses that participated on a national call for action. Dr. Perez’s commitment to addressing health disparities is evident in her work with the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action. She consults with state action coalitions in developing sustainable workforce diversity action plans. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and was awarded the 2014 Dr. Janie Menchaca Wilson Award for Outstanding Leadership from NAHN, the 2014 Phoenix Business Journal Health Care Hero Award, and Arizona first ’s cohort of Leadership in Action Award by the Arizona Action Coalition. She served as appointed member of the American Organization of Nurse Executives Board of Directors and is current member of the UnitedHealth Group External Nursing Advisory Board.