Bio

Dr. Alfonso Rojas-Álvarez is an Assistant Professor at The University of Texas at El Paso, where he studies public health policy. His research examines how the differentiated implementation of public health policies contributes to health disparities among vulnerable groups such as Hispanic communities, border populations, and older adults with chronic conditions.

Awards and Honors

• Rising STARs Program Award - The University of Texas System (01/01/2024-12/31/2024)
• Best Poster Award - International Conference of Aging in the Americas (01/01/2023-12/31/2023)
• Ashbel Smith Fellowship - The University of Texas at Austin (01/01/2021-12/31/2021)
• C.B. Smith, Sr. Centennial Chair Fellowship - The University of Texas at Austin (01/01/2021-12/31/2021)
• Dissertation Research Fellowship - UT Austin Latino Research Institute (01/01/2021-12/31/2021)
• President’s Award for Global Learning - The University of Texas at Austin (01/01/2021-12/31/2021)
• University Graduate Continuing Fellowship - The University of Texas at Austin (01/01/2021-12/31/2021)
• Research Fellowship - UT Austin Office of Graduate Studies (01/01/2020-12/31/2020)
• Graduate Development Award - The University of Texas at Austin (01/01/2019-12/31/2019)
• President’s Award for Global Learning - The University of Texas at Austin (01/01/2019-12/31/2019)
• Barbara Jordan Development Fellowship - The University of Texas at Austin (01/01/2018-12/31/2018)
• Graduate Recruitment Fellowship - The University of Texas at Austin (01/01/2016-12/31/2016)

• Ph D in Public Policy, The University of Texas at Austin (2022)
• MS in Statistics and Data Science, The University of Texas at Austin (2019)
• Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley (2015)
• BS in Political Science, Universidad de Costa Rica (2010)

Publications

• Air Pollution and Safety Incidents: A Health Policy Case Study with Property and Violent Incidents in Medellín, Colombia, 2017-2019 International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development 17 1 (2025), Alfonso J. Rojas Alvarez.
• Do Older Mexican Americans With Dementia Benefit From Living Closer to the Border? Evidence From the HEPESE. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Science Special Issue: Latinos Living with Dementia (2025), Alfonso J. Rojas Alvarez, Anna Bokun.
• A comparison of rural–urban differences in out-of-pocket expenses among older Mexicans with diabetes Front Public Health (2022), Alfonso J. Rojas Alvarez, Christian Vasquez, Mariana Lopez-Ortega, Jacqueline Angel.
• The Intersection Between the Dwelling Environment and Health and Wellbeing in Impoverished Rural Puebla, Mexico Journal of Rural Studies 84 (2021), Peter Ward, Andrea Sandoval, Alfonso J. Rojas Alvarez, Melanie Ruiz.
• Understanding community health needs and forging an academic global health partnership in Puebla, Mexico: a mixed-methods study The Lancet Global Health 8 S13 (2020), Veronica Remmert, Christina Ciaburri, Andrea Sandoval, Claire Stephenson, Alfonso J. Rojas Alvarez, Eder Hernandez, Luis Hernandez, Peter Ward, Ricardo Ainslie, Tim Mercer.

Presentations

No info available.

• UTEP FIRST: United Toward Equity and Progress: Faculty Institutional Recruitment for Sustainable Transformation