Lester Martínez López
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Lester Martínez López (born 1955) is an American government official and former Army general who serves as the
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs (ASD(HA)) is chartered under United States Department of Defense Directive (DoDD) 5136.1 in 1994. This DoDD states that the ASD(HA) is the principal advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Defense o ...
since 2023. While in the United States Army, Martínez López was the first Hispanic to head the Army Medical and Research Command at
Fort Detrick Fort Detrick () is a United States Army Futures Command installation located in Frederick, Maryland. Historically, Fort Detrick was the center of the U.S. biological weapons program from 1943 to 1969. Since the discontinuation of that program, i ...
,
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
. His responsibilities included overseeing the Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Disease, which develops antidotes and vaccines for diseases soldiers might face on the battlefield.


Early years

Martínez López was born in the city of Mayagüez, located on the western coast of
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
, but was raised and educated in the town of
Maricao Maricao () is a town and the second-least populous municipality of Puerto Rico; it is located at the western edge of the Cordillera Central. It is a small town set around a small square in hilly terrain, north of San Germán, Sabana Grande and ...
. In 1978, he graduated from the School of Medicine in the
University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico ( es, Universidad de Puerto Rico, UPR) is the main public university system in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a government-owned corporation with 11 campuses and approximately 58,000 students and 5,3 ...
.


Military career

In 1978, Martínez López joined the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
and was sent to
Fort Bragg Fort Bragg is a military installation of the United States Army in North Carolina, and is one of the largest military installations in the world by population, with around 54,000 military personnel. The military reservation is located within Cum ...
in
North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
, where he received his specialty training in family practice and commissioned a
Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
upon the completion of his training. He was part of a multinational force in the Sinai following the 1978 Camp David Accord. In 1983, he completed his MPH (
Master of Public Health The Master of Public Health or Master of Philosophy in Public Health (M.P.H.), Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH), Master of Medical Science in Public Health (MMSPH) and the Doctor of Public Health (Dr.P.H.), International Masters for Healt ...
) degree at the
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is the public health graduate school of Johns Hopkins University, a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. As the second independent, degree-granting institution for research in epi ...
with a focus in environmental health sciences. In 1995, Martínez López served as chief medical officer when U.S. forces were sent to
Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
, and three years later, in 1998, he oversaw military relief operations for 8,500 victims of
Hurricane Mitch Hurricane Mitch is the second-deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record, causing over 11,000 fatalities in Central America in 1998, including approximately 7,000 in Honduras and 3,800 in Nicaragua due to cataclysmic flooding from the slow motion ...
in Central America.


U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command

On March 22, 2002, Martínez López assumed the command of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command. The command's research includes vaccines for
dengue fever Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne tropical disease caused by the dengue virus. Symptoms typically begin three to fourteen days after infection. These may include a high fever, headache, vomiting, muscle and joint pains, and a characterist ...
,
anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium ''Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The sk ...
and
hepatitis Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), poor appetite, vomiting, tiredness, abdominal pa ...
; anti-virals for
smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
and countermeasures for environmental, biological and chemical hazards. As commander of USAMRMC, Martínez López managed more than 4,600 civilian, military and contract facilities at the Army's six medical research laboratories across the country, which include the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense, the U.S. Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory, the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research and the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine. Also under his command were more than half a dozen support centers through contracting, medical logistics management, health care facility planning and information technology management, included the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC), the U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity and the U.S. Army Medical Materiel Agency.Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
/ref>


USAMRMC Accomplishments

Among the major accomplishments of the USAMRMC while under his command are the following:U.S. Medicine
* The establishment of the Biodefense campus he National Interagency Biodefense Campusprojects. The project provided all the drugs and equipment for the medics worldwide. *The USAMRMC became the information management for the Army Medical Department. USAMRMC became one of the leaders in the country, if not the world, in telemedicine. Martínez López wrote the keynote for "Biomaterials for Military Medical Needs. On May 19, 2004, Martínez López was the recipient of the 2004 "Woodrow Wilson Award for Distinguished Government Service" from the Johns Hopkins University Alumni Association at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. At the
Delta Omega Delta Omega () is the honorary society for studies in public health, founded at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. History Delta Omega was founded in 1924 by two graduate students at the Johns Hopkins University B ...
Honor Society induction ceremony, he was the keynote speaker. Martínez López has been featured on the cover of "U.S. Medicine" magazine and on the cover of the December 26, 2002 issue of "Military Medical Technology" magazine.


Career after the U.S. Army

Martínez López retired from the U.S. Army in 2005 and was named the Senior Vice President & Administrator of Lyndon B. Johnson General Hospital Harris County Hospital District in
Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
,
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. He also served as the Chief Medical Officer at the Brandon Regional Hospital in
Brandon Brandon may refer to: Names and people *Brandon (given name), a male given name * Brandon (surname), a surname with several different origins Places Australia *Brandon, a farm and 19th century homestead in Seaham, New South Wales *Brandon, Q ...
, Florida. Martínez López belongs to various professional organizations, among them the American Board of Family Medicine and the American Board of Preventive Medicine. He is also a fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians. In 2019 Lester Martínez López was inducted to the Puerto Rico Veterans Hall of Fame.


Nomination for Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs

On November 17, 2021, the White House announced that President Biden intends to nominate Lester Martínez López for the position of
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs (ASD(HA)) is chartered under United States Department of Defense Directive (DoDD) 5136.1 in 1994. This DoDD states that the ASD(HA) is the principal advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Defense o ...
. On January 10, 2022, the White House submitted the nomination to the U.S. Senate, where it was referred to the Committee on Armed Services. The committee held a hearing on the nomination on February 15, 2022, and favorably reported the nomination to the full Senate on March 8, 2022. However, that nomination was stalled and returned to the President on January 3, 2023. He was renominated that same day and was submitted to the Senate. On February 2, 2023, his nomination was advanced to the Senate floor. On February 15, 2023, the
United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...
invoked cloture on his nomination by a 64–33 vote. On February 16, 2023, his nomination was confirmed by a 61–34 vote.


Military awards and recognitions

Among Major General Martínez López's military awards and recognition's are the following:


Notes


See also

* List of Puerto Ricans *
List of Puerto Rican military personnel Throughout history Puerto Ricans, including people of Puerto Rican descent, have gained notability as members of the military. They have served and have fought for many countries, such as Canada, Cuba, England, Mexico, Spain, the United States an ...


References


Further reading

*"Puertorriquenos Who Served With Guts, Glory, and Honor. Fighting to Defend a Nation Not Completely Their Own"; by : Greg Boudonck; ; {{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez Lopez, Lester 1955 births Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health alumni People from Mayagüez, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican military doctors Puerto Rican military officers Puerto Rican Army personnel Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Meritorious Service Medal (United States) United States Assistant Secretaries of Defense Biden administration personnel United States Army generals Living people Hispanic and Latino American people in Maryland politics 20th-century Puerto Rican physicians 21st-century Puerto Rican physicians