Our Staff
Raudel Bobadilla, MPH, CHW-I
Program Manager
Raudel Bobadilla is a Program Manager and Community Health Worker Instructor (CHW-I) who serves as the Program Manager for the UT Health San Antonio South Central AIDS Education and Training Center (AETC). He has built a vital skill set for engaging and partnering with communities, care providers, and clinics to improve the population’s health. He has collaborated with community members, leaders, and organizations to connect the public to services and research opportunities in multiple projects. Mr. Bobadilla brings considerable experience as the Program Coordinator and Case Manager for the STOP HCC-HCV program, a CPRIT-funded grant to implement HCV screening and linkage to treatment in rural FQHCs. He helped create innovative treatment pathways within 18 clinics across 14 counties in South Texas. Mr. Bobadilla also serves as the CHW Manager for the TACKLE HIV/HCV Co-infection project. He manages a team CHWs throughout South Texas to improve patient navigation and ensure movement through the HCV and HIV care continuum. Through close collaboration with each clinic, Mr. Bobadilla trains staff in program protocols, adapts the care model to each site’s context, and serves as lead contact between clinic partners and the research team.
James Bridges, BA
Database Analyst – Senior
James Bridges has worked in data management for over 34 years. Previously at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute, Mr. Bridges helped develop PEDSYS a pedigree-based database. He built and maintained several data files for pedigree information retrieval and analysis. He also coordinated data from several different laboratories and institutions for large program projects. Within the TACKLE project, Mr. Bridges builds and manages several REDCap databases and is responsible for coordinating and managing electronic medical record software modifications necessary for project data collection. Mr. Bridges has also been involved in innovative ways of utilizing REDCap for the UT Health San Antonio ECHO program.
Julio Cerroblanco, MBA, CHW
Research Associate – Senior
Julio Cerroblanco serves as a Program Coordinator for the UT Health San Antonio STOP HCC-HCV program. After completing his BS in Biology at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Mr. Cerroblanco went on to work with marginalized aging populations of San Antonio to work towards improving quality of care and better understand aging in trauma exposed individuals. Recently, he has work on connecting with care for hepatitis C and training the rural healthcare workforce on HCV. He brings with him a robust skill set on engaging rural clinics, health disparities research, and community engagement.
Maria Gutierrez, MPH
Project Manager – Associate
Maria Gutierrez is the Program Coordinator for the UT Health San Antonio South Central AETC and co-leads the UT Health San Antonio ECHO Superhub and Service Center. After completing her BS in Community Health from The University of Texas at San Antonio, Ms. Gutierrez dedicated 5 years to working with marginalized populations in the nonprofit sector before joining ReACH. Her experience includes comprehensive and culturally competent education to empower communities to prevent the spread of HIV and STI’s. Most recently, she had been navigating patients with HIV/HCV through the continuum of care for the TACKLE HIV/HCV Project. Her skill set includes the prevention and management of infectious disease, distribution of project specific HIV/HCV education and providing access to quality care for underserved communities.
Ludivina Hernandez, CHW-I
Community Outreach Coordinator
Ludivina Hernandez is a Community Health Worker/ Promotora, working with underserved communities in San Antonio and South Texas. In this role, Ludy uses her extensive background in outreach and engagement to serve as a liaison between community groups and the ReACH Center as well as the South-Central Area Health Education Center (AHEC). She serves as a Case Manager for several UT Health San Antonio initiatives in San Antonio, South Texas, and the Rio Grande Valley to screen, manage and treat hepatitis C virus (HCV) within primary care. In addition to her role as an HCV Case Manager, Ludy is currently collaborating with UT San Antonio (UTSA) on a project to promote food as medicine and offer simple, realistic strategies for improving health in her community.
Keito Kawasaki, MPH
Research Associate
Keito Kawasaki is a research associate/ epidemiology assistant for the Targeted Access to Community Knowledge, Linkage to treatment and Education (TACKLE) HIV/HCV co-infection in people of color program and assists with ECHO session planning and coordination at Center for Research to Advance Community Health (ReACH). Keito earned her Master of Public Health degree from Tulane University and Bachelor of Science degree in biology from the University of California in Los Angeles. Prior to coming to the United States, she lived in Japan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan. She embraces diversity and is eager to contribute to improving access to quality health care for all regardless of their race, ethnicity, age, gender, and socio-economic status.
Sarah Lill, MA
Director, Research Operations
Sarah Lill serves as the Manager of Research Operations for the Center for Research to Advance Community Health (ReACH) at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Ms. Lill holds a BA in Communication Studies from Randolph-Macon Woman’s College and an MA in Arts Management from George Mason University. Ms. Lill has provided overall management and oversight of financial and administrative operations of the ReACH Center since 2016 and has over a decade of experience in financial and budgetary management, strategic management, entrepreneurship, and public relations in non-profit and higher education settings.
Taylur Loera, BS
Research Assistant
Taylur Loera is a Research Assistant at the Center for Research to Advance Community Health (ReACH) and also serves as an ECHO IT Specialist for the UT Health San Antonio ECHO program. Taylur earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Texas A&M University-San Antonio and is currently pursuing her Master’s degree at Texas State University. In her role as a Research Assistant, Taylur has contributed to projects aimed at advancing health equity, and expanding access to resources for underrepresented communities.
Sophia R. Martinez, BS, CHW
Community Outreach Coordinator
Sophia R. Martinez serves as the Community Outreach Coordinator and a certified Community Health Worker (CHW) at the Center for Research to Advance Community Health (ReACH) and the South Central Area Health Education Center (AHEC). She holds a Bachelor of Science in Public Health with a concentration in Epidemiology and Disease Control and a minor in Sociology from The University of Texas at San Antonio. In her dual roles, Ms. Martinez leads and supports a variety of community-based initiatives and oversees the coordination of the Community Health Worker Certification Course through South Central AHEC. She is actively involved in interprofessional workforce development by engaging with community members, students, interns, and health professionals. Her work focuses on improving public health through education, outreach, and collaborative training programs. Ms. Martinez is passionate about advancing public health education and addressing health disparities through innovative, community-driven approaches. Her dedication to community engagement is reflected in her contributions across both ReACH and South Central AHEC.
Angela Reilly, MS
Community Outreach Coordinator Sr.
Angela Reilly is a Community Outreach Coordinator-Senior for the UT Health San Antonio AETC Program and co-leads the UT Health San Antonio ECHO Superhub and Service Center. After completing her B.S. in Public Health at the University of Texas at San Antonio, she went on to gain clinical experience in the dental field. Driven by her passion for education and public health, she earned a Master of Science in Health Informatics and Analytics degree from Tufts University School of Medicine. Angela is eager to contribute to initiatives focused on reducing health disparities, improving health literacy among the most vulnerable populations, and increasing positive patient outcomes through outreach and data analysis.
Karen D. Morado, BA
Research Area Specialist – Associate
Karen D. Morado is a Research Area Specialist at the Center for Research to Advance Community Health (ReACH) and also serves as an ECHO IT Specialist for the UT Health San Antonio ECHO program. Karen earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a minor in Business from the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). Since joining the ReACH team, her work has focused on community-based research, recovery support services, and diabetes research —areas that reflect her strong commitment to improving health outcomes in underserved populations.
Raquel Romero, MD, MPH, CDCES
Clinical Information Analyst, Intermediate
Dr. Raquel Romero is a bilingual foreign medical graduate physician with a Master of Public Heath from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. She is certified by the National Certification Board for Diabetes Educators as a Diabetes Educator as well as a Texas State Community Health Worker Instructor. For the past 20 years, she has been working for UT Health San Antonio as a primary care practice facilitator in the 38 counties of South Texas. Her projects focus on improving health outcomes for underserved and rural community clinical quality improvement strategies. Dr. Romero has devoted her professional career to helping develop strategic plans to increase the capacity of primary care physicians in community-based settings to work towards health improvement in their patient populations. She focuses on optimizing provider-patient relationships. As a trained physician, she works closely with primary care practices and facilitates projects within the daily practice to improve the quality of service delivery. Additionally, she works with community stakeholders on health initiatives that are high priorities in the community. In 2019, she joined the TACKLE HIV/HCV and ECHO teams as the ECHO Outreach Coordinator to help build awareness among health professionals about the ECHO initiative.
