Colorectal surgeon Dr. Valery Vilchez Parra receives 40 Under 40 Award
The National Hispanic Medical Association honored physician for leadership, commitment to Hispanic health
Orange, Calif. — UCI Health colorectal surgeon and researcher Dr. Valery Vilchez Parra has been honored by the National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA) with its 40 Under 40 Award for exemplifying leadership, innovation and commitment to advancing Hispanic health and health equity.
Vilchez Parra specializes in laparoscopic and robot-assisted surgical techniques to treat colon and rectal diseases at one of California’s largest academic health systems.
Fluent in Spanish, she is also a fierce advocate for diversity and inclusion in medicine, global health and healthcare equity. She is the founder of the UC Irvine Latino Physician Outreach Group, a mentor and contributor in the Program in Medical Education for the Latino Community (PRIME-LC), and a frequent speaker in Spanish-language media on the importance of colorectal cancer screening and prevention.
She is currently part of a phase 3 clinical trial team testing the effectiveness and safety of iltamiocel, a cellular treatment made from a patient’s own muscle cells, to treat obstetric injury-related bowel incontinence. She is the author or co-author of more than a dozen peer-reviewed research papers that have appeared in prominent medical journals and she has been an invited panelist and presenter at numerous national and international conferences.
Vilchez Parra is also an assistant professor in the Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery in the Department of Gastroenterology at the UC Irvine School of Medicine.
About UCI Health
UCI Health, one of California’s largest academic health systems, has been the clinical enterprise of the University of California, Irvine, since 1976. The 1,461-bed system comprises its main campus UCI Health — Orange, its flagship hospital, the UCI Health — Irvine acute care hospital and medical campus, four hospitals and affiliated physicians of the UCI Health Community Network in Orange and Los Angeles counties and a network of ambulatory care centers across the region. UCI Health — Orange provides tertiary and quaternary care and is home to the only Orange County-based National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, high-risk perinatal/neonatal program and American College of Surgeons-verified Level I adult and Level II pediatric trauma center, gold level 1 geriatric emergency department and regional burn center. Powered by UC Irvine, UCI Health serves 5.6 million people in Orange County, western Riverside County and southeast Los Angeles County. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter).