Rafael Pérez-Escamilla, PhD
Professor of Public Health (Social and Behavioral Sciences)Cards
About
Titles
Professor of Public Health (Social and Behavioral Sciences)
Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health; Director, YSPH Global Health Concentration; Director, Maternal and Child Health Promotion (MCHP) Program
Biography
Rafael Pérez-Escamilla, Ph.D., is Professor of Public Health, and Director of the Office of Public Health Practice, the Global Health Concentration, and the Maternal Child Health Promotion track at the Yale School of Public Health. He is the PI of the Yale-Griffin CDC Prevention Research Center (PRC). His global public health nutrition and food security research program, supported with over $80 million in extramural funds, has contributed to improvements in breastfeeding and other maternal, infant and young child nutrition outcomes, iron deficiency anemia among infants, household food security, and early childhood development. He has co-led innovative mixed-methods implementation studies assessing the impact of community health worker person centered interventions on breastfeeding, type-2 diabetes, post-partum hypertension and mental health outcomes in vulnerable communities, including people of color in the U.S. He has published over 370 research articles, 3 books/monographs, and numerous journal supplements, book chapters, and technical reports. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine (elected in 2019) and of the United Nations Expert Group on Food Security and Nutrition Data and Statistics (appointed in 2025). He has been a senior advisor to maternal-child community nutrition programs as well as household food security measurement projects funded by the World Health Organization, the Pan American Health Organization, UNICEF, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), the World Bank, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Governments across world regions. He obtained his BS in Chemical Engineering from the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City and his MS in Food Science and his PhD in Nutrition from the University of California at Davis. His postdoctoral training at UC Davis focused on the link between nutrition and early childhood development.
Appointments
Social and Behavioral Sciences
ProfessorPrimary
Other Departments & Organizations
- Becoming Breastfeeding Friendly
- Center for Brain & Mind Health
- Center for Methods in Implementation and Prevention Science (CMIPS)
- Climate Change and Health
- Global Health Studies
- InnovateHealth Yale
- Maternal and Child Health Promotion (MCHP) Program
- Obesity Research Working Group
- Office of Community & Practice (OC&P)
- Social and Behavioral Sciences
- Yale Institute for Global Health
- Yale School of Public Health
- Yale Ventures
- YSPH Global Health Concentration
Education & Training
- Postdoctoral fellow
- University of California at Davis (1994)
- PhD
- University of California at Davis, Nutrition (1991)
- MS
- University of California at Davis, Food Science (1985)
- BS
- Universidad Iberoamericana, Chemical Engineering (1982)
Research
Overview
Medical Research Interests
Public Health Interests
Academic Achievements & Community Involvement
News & Links
News
- September 16, 2025
New report calls for national breastfeeding strategy
- September 12, 2025Source: The 19th
The government wants more people to breastfeed. Experts say paid parental leave could help.
- July 11, 2025Source: The Lancet
Mexico's junk food and soda taxes
- January 13, 2025
Rafael Pérez-Escamilla: Promoting active engagement in collaborative classes
Get In Touch
Contacts
Locations
Office of Public Health Practice
Academic Office
135 College Street, Ste Room 216
New Haven, CT 06510