Kristina Mena

Kristina Mena is a Professor and Regional Dean for the El Paso campus of the UTHealth Houston School of Public Health. She also serves as Chair of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences and holds the Jane Dale Owen Chair in Environmental Health Protection. Her career spans over 30 years in disease transmission research through water and food using risk assessment and epidemiological studies.

Dr. Mena’s work has informed critical public health strategies, including mitigation plans for athletes at the 2016 Rio Olympics and ongoing evaluations of health risks for children on oil spill-impacted beaches. She collaborates with NASA to design health risk-based mechanisms for food growth in space, addressing unique challenges in environmental microbiology and public health.

She holds leadership roles on national advisory boards, including the USEPA Science Advisory Board and Drinking Water Committee, and serves as Chair of the El Paso Public Service Board and a member of the University Medical Center Board of Managers.