Dr. José Rivera, principal
investigator, was born in Barranquitas, Puerto Rico, completing
his BS in Pharmacy from the University of Puerto Rico in May of
1976. He received his Doctor of Pharmacy degree and a Pharmacy
Residency Certificate from the University of Kentucky in June of
1979. In the following years he worked in a clinical/academic
setting at the University of Cincinnati and later at the
University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. He moved to El Paso in
1995 and served as Director of Pharmacy Services at Sierra Medical
Center, and later as a Critical Care Pharmacist at R.E. Thomason
General Hospital. He was a Clinical Associate Professor with the
UTEP Cooperative Pharmacy Program before becoming its director in
January of 2001. He is also Assistant Dean of the College of
Pharmacy at UT Austin.
Aside from his involvement in
academia, Dr. Rivera has extensive clinical experience, having
worked in various trauma centers in the U.S. He currently serves
on a number of committees, including the Financial Aid, Honors &
Awards, Residence, and College Steering Committees at the
University of Texas at Austin and is a member of the El Paso
City/County Board of Health.
Throughout his career, he has
presented at numerous local, state, and national conferences in
both the pharmacy and medical fields. He has also published a
number of articles as a result of his extensive involvement in
research. He is currently involved in various clinical research
projects with UTEP, the Paso Del Norte Health Foundation, Thomason
Hospital, and various drug companies, looking at the use of herbal
products and medications on the border as well as issues in
critical care and antibiotic therapy.
Dr. Rivera’s present goals include
to increase the number of pharmacists graduating from the program,
to offer students in El Paso the opportunity to enter the field of
pharmacy, and to continue conducting research related to
healthcare in the border population.
