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Octavio Vallejo

Community Health Program Manager, UCLA/Pacific AIDS Education and Training Center

Born and raised in Puebla, Mexico, Vallejo earned his M.D. in 1980 from the Autonomous University of Puebla and his M.P.H. in 1991 from the University of Miami. He worked as an epidemiologist at Hospital Infantil de Mexico Federico Gomez in Mexico City before arriving at UCLA’s Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention in 1994 as a fellow with the Fogarty International AIDS Training Program.

Who are your heroes in real life?
Humanitarian doctors who work with very ill people, ill people who deal with sickness with dignity and activists trying to fight injustice.

What is your favorite type of music?
Disco music. Barry White.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
My weak English capabilities. I would love to express myself better in English and sound like one of the characters in “Angels in America.”