Claudia Martinez, MD

Hispanic Community Engagement Manager

Claudia Martinez graduated as a general practitioner at Universidad del Valle in Cali, Colombia. She worked with underserved communities as a primary care physician for ten years and was her father’s primary care partner during his years with Parkinson’s. When she and her husband moved to the US, Claudia completed the graduate certificate in gerontology at Arizona State University. In 2007 she was hired by the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center to start their Hispanic Outreach Program. During the following 15 years, she developed a comprehensive and culturally sensitive program for Hispanics living with Parkinson’s and their families that is currently considered the largest in the country.

Claudia is passionate about building collaborations, sharing resources, and empowering the underserved Hispanic Parkinson’s community. In the last seven years, she delivered a series of successful webinars and conferences that fostered the development of an international network for the Spanish-speaking Parkinson’s community. She was invited to present at the World Parkinson Congress Leadership Forum in 2016 and 2019.

Claudia loves to travel with her husband, Hernan, to enjoy nature and culture. She has multiple other hobbies but painting and taking care of her butterfly garden are at the top of her list. Every Fall, she brings monarch caterpillars from her garden to a safe enclosed environment in her house. There, they become chrysalises and later become monarch butterflies that Claudia loves to set free in her garden.

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