Marcos Moreno (physician) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Marcos Moreno
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Moreno in 2017
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Marcos Antonio Moreno
September 27, 1994 (age 30) Pascua Yaqui Reservation, Southern Arizona, U.S.
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| Nationality | Pascua Yaqui, American |
| Education | Cornell University Ithaca, New York Neuroscience, B.S. 2017, UND-SMHS Grand Forks, North Dakota Doctor of Medicine, M.D. 2021, Yale University New Haven, Connecticut Residency |
| Known for | Medicine, Public Health, Research |
| Awards | Morris K. Udall Health Care Award, Henry Ricciuti Award, Solomon Cook Award |
Marcos Antonio Moreno is an American doctor, public health champion, and medical researcher. He is part Mexican and Native American. He is also a citizen of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe from their reservation in southern Arizona.
Marcos Moreno was the first person from the Pascua Yaqui Reservation to graduate from an Ivy League University. He is also the only Doctor of Medicine from his community. He studied Neuroscience at Cornell University. He later earned his medical degree from UND-School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Currently, he is a resident doctor at Yale University.
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Medical Research
Marcos Moreno has done important research in different areas of medicine.
Brain and Behavior Studies
While at Cornell University, Moreno helped study how a person's money situation affects how they think about having enough resources. He also worked in a lab that looked at how stress changes the brains of mammals.
He also spent time at the University of Arizona. There, he researched how certain brain chemicals affect addiction pathways.
Addiction Research
During medical school, Moreno worked with Larry Burd. Mr. Burd is a leading expert on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Moreno helped research addiction with him.
Understanding PRES
Moreno has also contributed to research on a rare brain condition. It is called Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome, or PRES. Doctors do not fully understand this disease.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Moreno and his team saw a patient. This patient got sick with SARS-CoV-2. They were treated with a medicine called tocilizumab. Later, the patient developed PRES. Moreno and his team were among the first to write about this connection. Many similar cases have been reported since then.
Public Health Work
Marcos Moreno is very active in public health. He works to improve health for communities both overseas and in the United States.
Global Health Missions
In 2013, Moreno helped start a chapter of the Global Medical Brigades. This group works with St. John's University. The next year, Moreno and his group began trips to Ghana in West Africa. They provided medical care and health education to villages that did not have much access to doctors. They also helped set up health programs.
After Ghana, they made more trips to Latin America with the same goals. The Global Medical Brigades is the largest student-run organization in the world. They have chapters in many countries.
Helping the Pascua Yaqui Tribe
Moreno has also helped his own Pascua Yaqui Tribe. Starting in 2014, he assisted with their first Community Health Needs Assessment. This project helped the tribe plan and gather information about their community's health.
This work was a big step toward the tribe getting national accreditation. This means they met high standards for public health. The tribe achieved this goal in 2019. Today, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe is one of only six tribal health facilities in the U.S. to have this special status. It is the only one in the Four Corners Region. This accreditation helps the tribe track health progress. It also improves access to care and living standards on the reservation.
Covid-19 Pandemic Efforts
The Covid-19 pandemic greatly affected many Indigenous communities. Moreno's reservation community was hit hard early on. He played a big part in the tribe's vaccination efforts. He appeared in several media campaigns. He encouraged his fellow tribal members to get vaccinated as soon as they could.
At first, some people in the Yaqui community were unsure. But Moreno and the tribe's strong outreach worked. The Pascua Yaqui Tribe's Covid-19 Task Force helped their community achieve high vaccination rates. These rates were impressive compared to other groups in America.
Moreno and his team even received national recognition for an article. It was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. They wrote about how communities helped increase vaccination rates. Many of these ideas were used in Moreno's own community. This led to Native Americans having the highest Covid-19 vaccination rates in the United States.
Environmental Health Policy
In 2022, Moreno helped write an important article in The Lancet. This article was led by his former colleague, Victor Lopez-Carmen. It showed evidence of "environmental violence" against Yaqui communities. This was happening in the Rio Yaqui Valley of Sonora, Mexico.
The article collected data showing health problems, birth defects, and slow development in children. It also found high levels of pesticides in people's blood. The article criticized a U.S. law. This law allows pesticides not approved in the U.S. to be made here and sent to other countries. Many of these pesticides are used in the Rio Yaqui Valley.
Native American Community Health
Moreno has written a lot about the challenges faced by Native American communities. One of his main writings is a chapter called America’s Forgotten Minority. It is in the book Global Indigenous Youth: Through Their Eyes. This book was published in 2019. It was a project by the United Nations and Columbia University. The goal was to share information about Indigenous Peoples from the viewpoint of young people.
Moreno was one of two authors chosen to represent North America in this book. He was the only author from the United States. He attended the book launch at the United Nations in New York City. He spoke about his chapter and the need to help Native American communities grow. He also wrote another chapter called Bridging the Gap. This was in the book American Indian Health Disparities in the 21st Century, published in 2021.
Awards and Honors
Marcos Moreno has received several important awards for his hard work and dedication.
In 2016, Moreno received the Morris K. Udall award. This award recognizes college students in the U.S. for their work in environmental activism, public policy, or healthcare. It also comes with a $7,000 prize.
Also in 2016, The Cornell Daily Sun reported that Moreno joined the 125th tapping class of Quill and Dagger. This is one of the oldest honor societies at Ivy League universities. The names of new members are now public. They are printed in Cornell's newspaper and in a book. The group is rumored to have a lot of influence at Cornell and in the U.S. Government.
In 2017, Cornell University gave Moreno the Henry Ricciuti Award. This award recognized his excellent research, leadership, and community service. Also in 2017, he received the Solomon Cook Award. This honor is given to only one Cornell undergraduate student each year for their research and scholarship.
Because of his commitment to helping underserved communities, Moreno was named a National Health Service Corp Medical Scholar in 2017. This honor came from the United States Department of Health & Human Services.
