Christian Perez
Christian Perez is a technologist with a strong interest in working on the intersection between technology and public health policy. He is passionate about helping to educate policymakers on complex topics related to environmental health and technology issues by connecting to their constituents.
Christian is a current Ph.D. Candidate in Public Health with a concentration in Environmental Health Sciences at Florida International University (FIU). His dissertation focuses on utilizing machine learning techniques to understand the impact of environmental stressors on the human genome in individuals suffering from vascular diseases. He holds a Master of Public Health from FIU and a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences from Florida State University.
Christian has served as a National Science Foundation Doctoral Fellow at the Center of Research Excellence in Science and Technology in Aquatic Chemistry and Environment at FIU. In this position, Christian conducts research focused on Big Data Analytics (Causal inference from Bayesian Networks) utilizing transcriptomic data derived from individuals with vascular diseases associated with toxic environmental exposures. His work has been published in Toxicological Sciences and presented at numerous national conferences (National Hispanic Medical Conference, Society of Toxicology) to raise awareness of the public health implications of human-caused chemicals in our environment and better to detect them and understand their impacts. In this position, Christian also served as the Environmental Genomics Lab Manager and graduate assistant in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at FIU.
Christian also has significant experience in public health disease response, technology, and student government. As part of his Master's practicum, Christian developed a public health action plan to help combat the Zika Virus outbreak of 2016 utilizing GIS technology to determine the neighborhoods most prone to virus clusters at the Florida Department of Health. He served on the Technology Fee Council at FIU in charge of allocating funding to technology proposals best suited to advancing university initiatives while adhering to a strict budget. In his volunteer time, also has served as Vice-Chair of the Graduate and Professional Student Committee at FIU, helping to plan the 1st ever virtual graduate symposium during the 2020 Covid-19 outbreak. Christian proudly led the Environmental Health Student Association to combat campus food insecurity, raising over 500 pounds of food as donations to the student food pantry.
At TechCongress, he hopes to provide policymakers with his scientific and public health expertise. He will bring a relatable and data-driven approach to policymakers who need reliable solutions for their constituents.
Christian is originally from Miami, Florida, and is the son of first-generation Cuban immigrants who believed in the American dream. He is an avid reader of history and enjoys analyzing data trends in sports.
Christian is serving with Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and working on issues related to Medicaid data analysis, healthcare data privacy, and public health IT/surveillance modernization efforts.