Precious Fortes, MD, MHS (Chair)

Hi everyone! I grew up in the southside of Stockton, California in a very diverse community. I attended Johns Hopkins University for undergrad and then received my masters at the Johns Hopkins School of public health. I enjoyed my time in Baltimore, MD working at the health department and mentoring youth at the Mi Espacio program. Before starting medical school, I worked on cancer disparities research at el Centro Comprensivo de Cancer Universidad de Puerto Rico. I also worked as a teacher for two years at the Health Careers Academy in my hometown. I am very passionate about mentoring and working on programs to address health disparities.

I decided to go into Pathology because I enjoy helping patients behind the scenes through diagnosing cancer, working on transfusion medicine projects and providing data to Clinicians to best treat their patients. I would like to better bridge my background in public health and work on health disparities with the field of Pathology.

Through the MHO I plan to work on efforts to better support URM’s in medicine, increase diversity at UCLA Health and participate in community events to support underserved minority patients in LA.

Outside of medicine, I love spending time with my three amazing children and partner. I value the diversity of food in Los Angeles and enjoy exploring all of the taco trucks.