Renowned Physician Dr. Maria L. Soto-Greene Receives Prestigious Honor for Outstanding Dedication to the Hispanic Center of Excellence

Maria L. Soto-Greene, MD, MS-HPEd, FACP, a distinguished physician and the vice dean of Rutgers New Jersey Medical School (NJMS), whose unwavering commitment has significantly contributed to the success of NJMS’ Hispanic Center of Excellence (HCOE), was honored at HCOE’s 30th Anniversary Celebration. The event, held on October 4, 2023, acknowledged her dedication and impactful contributions to HCOE, in which she also serves as director.

Established in 1991, HCOE has a primary goal of improving the health status of the Latino and other underserved populations. It has also created initiatives to enhance academic performance of Latinos and other individuals in underserved communities, bolstered recruitment, and retention of faculty, and increased the school’s diversity through the recruitment and retention of Latino faculty members, just to name a few of the center’s accomplishments.

“Since its inception 30 years ago, the Hispanic Center of Excellence at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School has given Hispanic students an unbelievable opportunity to become physicians by providing them with the educational support they need to fulfill their dreams.  This has been particularly profound for Hispanic students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds who might not otherwise have been able to go to medical school.  Dr. Maria Soto-Greene’s dedication and commitment to ensure educational equity for Hispanic students have resulted in having more Hispanic physicians practicing across the country who are language and culturally concordant with the largest minority group in the country,” said Debbie Salas-Lopez, MD MPH, inaugural HCOE Class, Senior Vice President, Community and Population Health, Northwell Health and Professor of Medicine at Zucker School of Medicine.