Conference Speakers

Dr. Lester Martinez-Lopez is the President of Martinez Medical Consulting, LLC, a firm that provides consulting services in the health care industry. He is the former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs overseeing the DOD Military Health System and previously served as the President of the Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium, a national organization that fosters research and development collaboration, to include COVID-19 research, between the U.S. Army, industry, and academia. Previously he served as the Chief Medical Officer at Brandon Regional Hospital in Brandon, Florida. In 2006, he was the Senior Vice-President & Administrator (CEO) of the Lyndon B. Johnson General Hospital in Houston, Texas where he directed a 332 licensed-bed acute care teaching hospital.

In 2005, Dr Martinez-Lopez retired from the U.S. Army with the permanent rank of Major General as the first Hispanic to head the Army Medical Research and Materiel Command at Fort Detrick, Maryland. His responsibilities included directing the Army’s worldwide medical research, acquisition, and logistics program. He oversaw a vast research portfolio that included infectious diseases, biodefense and telemedicine research. In addition he directed the premier national biological and chemical defense laboratories and research program and led the development of the National Biodefense Campus at Fort Detrick, MD. Prior to these duties he was the Commanding General of the Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine at Edgewood, Maryland. In this assignment he directed a worldwide public health organization, responsible for preventive medicine, global medical surveillance, occupational and environmental health, and health risk communication. During his previous military career he was the commander of three distinct hospitals, he led the military response to two health disasters during Hurricane Mitch in Central America, and as the Chief Medical Officer of the United Nation’s Mission in Haiti.

Dr. Martinez-Lopez was born in Puerto Rico. In 1978, he graduated from the School of Medicine in the University of Puerto Rico and later on completed his Master in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University. He is a diplomat of the American Board of Family Practice and the American Board of Preventive Medicine.

He is a member of multiple professional organizations as well as a member and former member of multiple professional organization boards to include the National Alliance for Hispanic Health, the Puerto Rico Consortium for Clinical Investigation, and the Army Science Board.