Robert Ferrer, MD, MPH
Community Engagement Director
Dr. Ferrer is the Director for Community Engagement at the IIMS and the Dr. John M. Smith, Jr. Professor and Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at UTHSA. Dr. Ferrer’s research interests include understanding and improving the public health impact of primary care; addressing social determinants of health; and creating new models of primary care practice. He is active in community health initiatives including the Texas Community-Engagement Alliance (CEAL) Consortium where he serves as the PI for the Bexar County CEAL project. Additionally, he is the former chair of the leadership team for San Antonio’s Communities Putting Prevention to Work grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Ferrer is a board member of the Bexar County Health Collaborative, serving as board chair for 2016 and 2017. In 2018 Dr. Ferrer was inducted into the National Academy of Medicine for his innovative application of the capability framework that provides a practical and positive method for addressing the social and environmental determinants of health in participatory interventions that integrate primary care and community health.