Dr. Hermes Florez is Professor of Public Health Sciences & Medicine at the University of Miami (UM) Miller School of Medicine and Director of the Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center (GRECC) at the Miami Veterans Affairs (VA) Healthcare System. He is a physician-scientist trained in internal medicine, endocrinology & geriatrics, as well as in epidemiology and public health. He graduated summa cum laude from the University of Zulia in Venezuela.
In 1996 he joined the Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group at UM-DRI and has been part of the Aging Working Group in this National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded multi-center clinical trial. In addition, Dr. Florez is the Miami Principal Investigator of the VA-funded Million Veteran Program (MVP), the largest genomics initiative in the U.S. and Miami Co-Principal Investigator of the NIH-funded GRADE, a comparative effectiveness research study in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Dr. Florez has a research interest on the prevention and management of cardiovascular disease and diabetes and has been actively involved in the evaluation of patients at high-risk for diabetes and other age-related diseases in studies funded by the Pan American Health Organization, the American Heart Association, and the International Diabetes Federation – Bringing Research in Diabetes to Global Environments and Systems (IDF-BRIDGES). He is also working in the translation of diabetes prevention as part of the MOVE weight management program, supported by the VA National Center for Health Promotion & Disease Prevention and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Dr. Florez was the Associate Program Director (2004-2008) and then Program Director (2009-2010) of the Fellowship Training Program in Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism. He also served as GRECC Associate Director for Clinical Affairs (2008-2012) before becoming the Director of this federally-funded Center of Excellence in Geriatrics in November of 2012.
In June of 2012, Dr. Florez was appointed Director of the Division of Epidemiology and Population Health Sciences supporting the training of future healthcare leaders through the MPH, MD/MPH and the Epidemiology PhD programs at UM. He also served as Chief of the Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine (2013-2015) and more recently was appointed National Co-Chair of the GRECC Directors Network with the purpose of coordinating initiatives among these 20 Geriatric Centers of Excellence to promote healthier aging in the US population.
Dr. Florez is a member of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) Professional Practice Committee, where he leads the team that is developing guidelines for diabetes management in older adults.
- Symposia Chair – Health Equity in Latin America