David Gimeno Ruiz de Porras, PhD, MSc, LPsy
Chair, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health
Professor
David Gimeno Ruiz de Porras, PhD, is Professor and Chair of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at UT School of Public Health San Antonio. Dr. Gimeno is a trained psychologist and social and occupational epidemiologist with a Master’s in Occupational Hazards Prevention and a PhD in Public Health. Before joining the UT School of Public Health San Antonio, he was Professor at the UTHealth Houston School of Public Health within the Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics, and Environmental Sciences and the Director of the Southwest Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, the NIOSH Education and Research Center at UTHealth Houston, where he had led doctoral training programs in occupational epidemiology and Total Worker Health©. Prior to that, Dr. Gimeno was a Senior Research Fellow on the Whitehall II study in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College London Medical School, where he further developed his research expertise in the social and cultural determinants of occupational injuries and illnesses.
Dr. Gimeno’s research focus is to develop a comprehensive picture of the impact of adult life exposures, especially those in the occupational setting, through corresponding psychosocial, behavioral, and biological pathways on disease and functional decline. His research interests include the impact of work on a range of physical and mental health outcomes, work-related lost productivity, return-to-work, and cross-national survey studies of working and employment conditions and health, working with large, longitudinal data, and a focus on vulnerable workers.
Dr. Gimeno’s teaching experience includes courses in research methods related to environmental and occupational health, as well as capstone courses for Master of Public Health students specializing in epidemiology and environmental and occupational health sciences.
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Professional Background
Education
- 2003 - Ph.D. - Public Health - Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
- 1999 - Advanced Technical Degree - Occupational Risk Prevention: Applied Ergonomics and Psychosociology - Employment and Industry Department of the Government of Catalonia
- 1999 - MSc. - Occupational Hazards Prevention - Universitat Pompeu Fabra and Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- 1997 - Licentiate [BSc+MSc] - Psychology - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
Training
- 2003 - Social and Occupational Epidemiologist with a Ph.D. in Public Health - Universitat Pompeu Fabra
- 1999 - Master in Occupational Hazards Prevention (UPF and UB) -
- 1997 - Trained psychologist - Universitat de Barcelona
Highlights
Awards
- GRASP (Guiding Researchers and Advocates to Scientific Partnerships, https://graspcancer.org) Advocate Choice Award to the poster by Halpern M & Gimeno Ruiz de Porras D on the Association of Employment Characteristics and Food Insecurity Risks among Women with Breast Cancer, presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, Organized by the AACR-American Association for Cancer Research and UT Health San Antonio Mays Cancer Center, in San Antonio, TX, USA, on December 2024.
- Harrison C. Spencer 2023 Award for Outstanding Community Service given by the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH) to the UTHealth SPH Texas Epidemic Public Health Institute (TEPHI). Contribution as member of two TEPHI working groups: “Business and Food Chain Preparedness” and “Rural Healthcare.”
Appointments
- 2023 - present - Chair - Department of Environmental & Occupational Health - UT San Antonio School of Public Health
- 2023 - present - Professor - UT San Antonio School of Public Health
- 2020-2023 - Director, Southwest Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, the NIOSH Education Research Center - The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, School of Public Health, Texas
- 2018-2023 - Full Professor - Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics and Environmental Sciences, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, School of Public Health, Texas
- 2003 - present - Senior Researcher - Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red (CIBER) en Epidemiología y Salud Pública [Biomedical Research Centre Network for Epidemiology and Public Health] (CIBERESP), Institute of Health Carlos III, Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain
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- Research & Grants
- Service
- Publications