John Paul Sánchez, MD, MPH,
is currently Director of the Elmhurst Hospital - San Juan Bautista School of Medicine - Ponce School of Medicine (ESP) Bilingual Medical Education Program; the first U.S. mainland bilingual (medical spanish / medical english) clinical electives experience for 4th year medical students in Queens New York City. Dr. Sánchez is a nationally respected academic physician and leader with distinguished contributions in education, research, clinical care, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and community engagement.
Formerly the Acting Vice President of the Office for DEI at the University of New Mexico, Dr. Sánchez has spearheaded initiatives to promote DEI throughout the academic system, focusing on capacity building and sustainable program development. Notably, he played a pivotal role in launching the first formal medical Spanish program at the university's medical school and co-created a Health & Health Sciences-wide Inclusive Excellence Council. He also served as former Dean of Universidad Central del Caribe School of Medicine in Puerto Rico.
With 25 years of dedication to diversifying clinical and academic medicine workforces and ensuring educational equity, Dr. Sánchez has received funding from prestigious organizations such as the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation, CDC, HRSA, and NIH. He has authored more than 75 journal articles and book chapters and is an Associate Editor for MedEdPORTAL, where he has significantly contributed to advancing DEI curricula content.