José Ramón Fernández-Peña

José Ramón Fernández-Peña, MD, MPA – Is the director of Health Professions Advising at Northwestern University where he leads the university's efforts to support students interested in pursuing careers in the health sector.  Previously, Dr. Fernández-Peña was an Associate Professor (now Emeritus) and the Associate Chair in the Department of Health Education at San Francisco State University where his work focused on health workforce diversity and cross-cultural communication in health. He founded the Welcome Back Initiative (WBI), a program to assist immigrant health professionals already living in the U.S. through the necessary steps to enter the U.S. health workforce. The WBI currently includes centers in nine states across the country. In 2011, he was recognized by the White House as a “Champion of Change” for his work on immigrant integration advising the White House Domestic Policy Council on the economic integration of foreign-trained professionals.