Jose F. Florez-Arango, MD MS PhD

Dr. Jose Fernando Florez-Arango is a distinguished physician, educator, and health informatics expert with over 25 years of experience spanning clinical practice, academic leadership, research, and innovation. 

He currently serves as the Associate Director of Education and Training for the Center for Biomedical Informatics and Biostatistics (CB2) at The University of Arizona, where he leads curriculum development, accreditation efforts, and interdisciplinary initiatives in population health informatics.

Dr. Florez-Arango earned his MD from Universidad de Antioquia in Colombia, followed by a Master’s in Biomedical Sciences with a focus on Medical Informatics. He later completed a PhD in Health Informatics at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, supported by a Fulbright-Colciencias scholarship. His academic journey reflects a deep commitment to integrating technology into healthcare education and delivery.

Throughout his career, Dr. Florez-Arango has held faculty appointments at prestigious institutions including Universidad de Antioquia, Weill Cornell Medicine, Texas A&M University, City University of New York, and Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana. His teaching portfolio includes over 30 courses across six universities, impacting more than 5,000 students and generating over 210,000 student-hours of instruction. He has pioneered innovative educational programs in telehealth, mobile health, and clinical informatics, and has developed simulation-based training tools and multimedia learning platforms.

In clinical settings, Dr. Florez-Arango has served as an emergency physician and critical care transport specialist in Colombia, with extensive experience in disaster response and prehospital care. He also led the Colombian Red Cross’s Palliative Care Program and served as National Coordinator for Prehospital Volunteers.

His research focuses on human-computer interaction, workload reduction, and the design of intelligent clinical decision support systems. He has led and contributed to numerous funded projects, including international collaborations with the NIH, Open Society Foundations, and Microsoft Research. His innovations include HADA, a data-driven AI system for prenatal care, and GuideView, a multimedia tool for clinical guideline dissemination.

Dr. Florez-Arango is a prolific author with peer-reviewed publications in biomedical informatics, telehealth, and digital health. He has contributed to global health informatics frameworks and served on editorial boards and review panels for journals such as JMIR, Telemedicine Reports, and Frontiers. His leadership extends to international organizations, including the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA), International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA), and the American Telemedicine Association (ATA), where he has held roles such as Co-Chair, Liaison, and Chapter Chair.

A dedicated mentor, Dr. Florez-Arango has guided numerous students and professionals in research, teaching, and leadership, fostering the next generation of health informatics experts. His commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion is reflected in his service on institutional committees and mentorship programs, including AMIA’s DEI initiatives and the Latino Medical Students Association.

Dr. Florez-Arango’s work exemplifies the transformative power of technology in healthcare and education. His contributions continue to shape the future of health informatics, both in the United States and globally.