Daniel Derksen
Daniel Derksen, MD is the University of Arizona Health Sciences Associate Vice President for Health Equity, Outreach & Interprofessional Activities. He is a tenured Professor of Public Health in the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health with joint appointments in the College of Medicine and the College of Nursing. His current service, education and research activities include informing legislative, regulatory and program policy to improve access to health care and health insurance coverage; narrowing health disparities; developing, implementing and evaluating interprofessional service-learning sites; and working to assure a well-trained and distributed health workforce to meet the health needs of all Arizonans.
Dr. Derksen was born in Phoenix, attended the UArizona for both his B.S. (1979) and M.D. (1984) degrees, completed his family medicine residency at the University of New Mexico (1987), and served on the UNM School of Medicine faculty for 25 years. He returned to the UArizona in 2012. In 2018 he was awarded the UNM Napolitano Alumni Award and in 2019 the UArizona College of Medicine Alumnus of the Year.
Dr. Derksen completed a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellowship in 2007-08 with U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman (NM). He researched and drafted provisions to improve the supply and distribution of the nation’s health workforce included in Title V of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) including Teaching Health Centers.
Working for Governor Martinez as Director, NM Office of Health Reform in 2011-12, he was PI of the CMS Health Insurance Exchange grant, establishing what is now Be Well New Mexico which has 45,000 enrollees.
Dr. Derksen directs the Arizona Center for Rural Health and is Principal Investigator (PI) of grants including the State Office of Rural Health funded by HRSA and the State of Arizona, the Rural Hospital Flexibility Program, and ADHS–AzCRH Intergovernmental Services Agreements of federally funded initiatives: the SAMHSA First Responders and the CDC Overdose Data to Action initiatives. He is Senior Advisor and PI for State and HRSA funded and designated AzAHEC Program that is directed by Leila Barraza JD, MPH. In his 30-year academic career he has been PI of federal, foundation and state grants of more than $75 million.