Robert J. Lucero, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN, FACMI, is the Inaugural Audrienne H. Moseley Endowed Chair in Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion; Professor at the UCLA School of Nursing, and Faculty Affiliate at the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center.

Dr. Lucero is an interdisciplinary scientist and has achieved measured and sustained impact with his research, which focuses on improving health outcomes of vulnerable populations using innovative health systems and informatics approaches. His practice-based research leverages electronic patient, clinical, and administrative data and AI methods as well as the clinical and consumer expertise of health care providers, families, and patients. He is known for his scientific contributions to enhancing the quality of care for hospitalized older adults and improving self-management of chronic health conditions among Hispanic, African-American, and LGBTQ+ populations. He has a distinguished record of peer-reviewed publications in nursing, interdisciplinary health systems and biomedical informatics journals. He is the author of three licensed clinical decision support algorithms for the prevention of community-based falls among older adults. He has received over $9 million USD in external funding as principal investigator and contributed as a co-investigator on externally funded projects totaling nearly $14 million USD primarily from the US National Institutes of Health. He is currently funded by the National Institute on Aging, and is an Editorial Board Member of BioMed Central (BMC) Geriatrics. As a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, the American College of Medical Informatics, and the New York Academy of Medicine, his leadership and impact as a scientist has been recognized nationally and internationally for its significant and sustained contributions to the fields of nursing and medical informatics.

As a leader of interprofessional education, Dr. Lucero is deeply committed, to advancing health globally by training future nurse and interdisciplinary scholars to deliver high-quality care, conduct cutting-edge research, and lead health care systems and informatics discoveries and innovations. He is a member of the International Network of Migrations, Nursing and Health in the Americas. Most recently, he co-authored a report on the impact of migration of Latin American nurses on the United States from 2010-2019. He has co-authored over 30 articles with his mentees. His commitment to educating future scientist has been recognized by receiving AcademyHealth’s Interdisciplinary Research Group on Nursing Issues’ Research Mentorship Award. His commitment to creating a vision and leading transformation in equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) has been ongoing for more than 25 years, most recently recognized through his role as Associate Dean for EDI at the UCLA School of Nursing. He led increasing student access and enrollments in academic programs and strengthened and built new campus, UC System, and community partnerships and collaborations. His expertise and leadership in EDI have been acknowledged nationally with his appointments as a member of the American Academy of Nursing’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity Committee; Chair of the American Medical Informatics Association’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee; and Co-Lead of AcademyHealth’s Emerging Diversity Leaders program.

Rocco De Bernardis