Association of American Medical Colleges, Chief Scientific Officer

The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) has named Elena Fuentes-Afflick, MD, MPH, as its next Chief Scientific Officer. Fuentes-Afflick will succeed Ross McKinney, Jr., MD, who retired from the AAMC in 2023 after more than 40 years of distinguished service in academic medicine. 

Fuentes-Afflick is currently a professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and vice dean for the UCSF School of Medicine at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. Her scholarly work has focused on Latino health, immigrant health, health disparities, and diversity in academic medicine. She has held national leadership roles as council member and president for the Society for Pediatric Research as well as for the American Pediatric Society, and she has been inducted into the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2023, Fuentes-Afflick received the Joseph W. St. Geme, Jr. Leadership Award from the Federation of Pediatric Organizations for sustained, impactful contributions to child health.

Fuentes-Afflick holds undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree in public health (epidemiology) from the University of California, Berkeley. She completed her pediatric residency and chief residency at UCSF and pursued a research fellowship at the Phillip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies.

You may read the full press release here.

Ariannah Mirick and John Muckle led this search with Gigi Mensah, and Maddie Ruth.