Dr. Valdez joined the National Office of Public Health Genomics in April 2006 and is the acting team lead for the Genomics and Family History Initiative team. He is a biologist with the equivalent of a BS degree (LIC) in Human Population Biology from Simón Bolívar University, Venezuela. He earned a master’s degree in Human Genetics from the Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research (Cum Laude), and a PhD in Physical Anthropology from Penn State University. His post doctoral work was in clinical epidemiology at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (San Antonio Heart Study). He has served on the research faculty at Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana (Bogalusa Heart Study). Dr. Valdez was previously with CDC’s Division of Diabetes Translation for 10 years as an epidemiologist for the Epidemiology and Statistics Branch.