Omar Martinez, JD, MPH, joined as the Center’s third Research Fellow on September 1.

Martinez is an assistant professor at Temple University’s School of Social work in the College of Public Health.

As a CPHLR Fellow, Martinez and his co-principal investigator Miguel Muñoz-Laboy plan to collaborate with the Center and Center Director Scott Burris to execute the first federally funded study of medical legal partnerships (MLPs).

Through a two-year, $275,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health, the study will survey those in MLPs across the country; after the survey, they will interview healthcare providers, attorneys, and their clients—both in groups and individually—to assess the impact of the MLP on HIV care continuum outcomes. Then, they’ll apply those findings to the development of an MLP model for people who are HIV positive.