Dr. Nelson Arboleda Named Director of the Americas at the United States Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Global Affairs

Nelson Arboleda, M.D., M.P.H., a graduate from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine’s Department of Public Health Sciences and a voluntary professor, was recently appointed as the Director of the Americas at the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Global Affairs. Dr. Arboleda previously spent five years working in the Epidemic Intelligence Service at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), was the regional director of the CDC Central American Office, as well as the director of the CDC in the Dominican Republic. 

“I will oversee all of our public health engagements and the U.S. Public Health Policy, with all of the Latin American countries including Canada,” Dr. Arboleda said.“I'll be working on issues related to Venezuela, issues relating to mass migration, and with issues in Mexico and the Caribbean, and more.”

To contribute to a safe and healthier world, the Office of Global Affairs fosters global relationships, coordinates international engagement across HHS and the U.S. government, and provides leadership and expertise in global health diplomacy and policy. One way that it maintains international engagement across HHS is through its International Relations Division, which is organized into five different offices representing Africa, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe-Eurasia, and Middle East-North America.

The Americas Office, where Dr. Arboleda will serve as a director, provides guidance on U.S. global health regarding Canada, Mexico, Central, and South America, the Caribbean, and the U.S.-Mexico border region. The objective of the office is to maintain key relationships and coordinate HHS engagement across these various regions, as well as to represent HHS with foreign correspondents and ministries, the private sector, and civil society.

“It’s exciting. It's interesting working throughout a region. I would say it's also challenging, but I think having had the exposure in Miami and at the CDC, I have the tools and the knowledge to be able to translate most of our needed collaborations with many of these governments,” Dr. Arboleda said. “I will also be working closely with the Pan American Health Organization and really overseeing their overall role throughout the Americas and what is of interest and of importance to the U.S. government.”

At the Epidemic Intelligence Service at the CDC, Dr. Arboleda worked on identifying and controlling disease outbreaks around the world for five years. He engaged and worked jointly with ministers of health around the world to address diseases, such as Ebola, Zika, HIV, and tuberculosis, to name a few.

"I was also being sent around the world. In a couple of instances, I was deployed to control polio in India, as well as to support the reform of the health system in Venezuela. I also worked in Thailand on seasonal influenza."

"With the exposure and education that I had at the Miller School, I was prepared with the tools and the knowledge to be able to work with many of these governments,” he added. “Having had the opportunity to be in Miami with so much international engagement opportunities was probably what took me down the path that I wanted to go thereafter, which is working in global health.

Since graduating from the Master’s of Public Health program in 2004, Dr. Arboleda has continued to excel and have given back to the Miller School through teaching the next generation of public health experts. “Dr. Arboleda has had an extraordinary trajectory. While in his previous roles within the CDC, he has generously given of himself to our graduate programs and research initiatives as a voluntary professor,” said Jose Szapocznik, Ph.D., professor of public health sciences, architecture, and education and psychological studies at the University of Miami. “He has created opportunities for our students to intern and conduct research with his country-based teams, partnering with a faculty in a broad range of innovative programs, and teaching MPH coursework building on his Hemispheric public health experience and expertise.”

Written by Amanda Torres

Published on June 27, 2019