Rafael Samper-Ternent

Rafael Samper-Ternent is an Associate Professor and Associate Director for the Consortium on Aging at the UTHealth Houston School of Public Health in Houston, Texas. His work focuses on improving outcomes for Hispanic older adults with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) and their caregivers through cultural adaptation of evidence-based interventions, pragmatic clinical trials, and analysis of population-based aging studies.

• Education: MD from Javeriana University (2004), PhD in Health Services Research from UTMB (2012), Residency in Internal Medicine, Fellowship in Geriatrics (2016).

Research Interests include:

• Cultural adaptation of interventions for Hispanic ADRD patients and caregivers.
• Health disparities in older adults with multiple chronic conditions (MCC).
• Implementation science and pragmatic clinical trials.
• Analysis of large datasets like the Mexican Health and Aging Study and Health and Retirement Study.

Current Projects:

• Co-Principal Investigator for an IMPACT Collaboratory-funded pilot adapting Patient Priorities Care for Hispanic MCC/dementia populations.
• Site Project Manager and Co-Chair of the Clinical Sites Committee for the DCARE study, comparing dementia care models.

Affiliations:

• Center for Health Systems Research, Policy, and Practice.
• UTHealth Houston School of Public Health.