CDC Foundation Honors Ninez Ponce for Data Equity and Racial Health Disparities Research

Ninez A. Ponce, professor of health policy and management at the University of California, Los Angeles, has received the 2024 Elizabeth Fries Health Education Award from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Foundation. She was recognized for her scholarship and advocacy for data equity which has contributed to the understanding of racial and ethnic health disparities, particularly for Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities.

Dr. Ponce has been a faculty member with the Fielding School of Public Health at the University of California, Los Angeles for over a decade. She currently serves as the Fred W. & Pamela K. Wasserman Endowed Chair for the department of health policy and management. She also serves as director of the Center for Health Policy Research and principal investigator for the California Health Interview Survey, the nation’s largest state health survey. As a professor, she teaches courses in applied research methods, health policy, and health economics. Her research is dedicated to the elimination of racial, ethnic, and social disparities in health care.

In addition to her service to the University of California, Los Angeles, Dr. Ponce is a member of the National Academy of Social Insurance and the associate editor for diversity, equity, and inclusion for the Journal of the American Medical Association Health Forum. Additionally, she serves on the data disaggregation workgroup for the White House Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander Commission.

Dr. Ponce completed her undergraduate education at the University of California, Berkeley. She received her master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University and her Ph.D. in health services from the University of California, Los Angeles.