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 about 10 years and was the primary care partner for her father during the years that he lived with Parkinson’s disease. When she and her husband moved to the United States, 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 disease 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 PD community. In the last 7 years she delivered a series of successful webinars and conferences that fostered the development of an international network for the Spanish speaking PD community. She was invited to present at the World Parkinson Congress Leadership Forum in 2016 and 2019. In 2020 and 2021 she delivered 2 national conferences (Hispanic Outreach Leadership Conference) to share her knowledge with leaders committed to serve the Hispanic PD community in the USA.
Claudia loves to travel with her husband Hernan to enjoy nature and culture. She has other multiple 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 first become chrysalises and later turn into monarch butterflies that Claudia loves to set free in her garden.