About
A clinical practitioner who became an analyst.
I trained as a dentist in Colombia, built a career as a dental assistant in Wellington, and returned to postgraduate study to formalise the analytical and policy training that frontline clinical work does not give you on its own. The combination is the work I want to do next.
Where I started
I grew up in Medellín, Colombia, and trained for four years as a dentist at Universidad de Antioquia. My degree was interrupted by a long strike at the university. After that, I completed a Diploma in Cosmetic Dentistry at Universidad de Buenos Aires, and then moved to New Zealand in 2015.
Ten years in Wellington's oral health system
For most of the past decade I have worked as a dental assistant across several Wellington dental practices. That work has given me a clear, day-to-day view of the workforce shortages in New Zealand's oral health system, how most dental care here is private and unaffordable for many of the people who need it most, and the everyday friction that public health data describes from the outside but that you can only really understand from inside a clinic.
I treat that decade as a real credential, not a stepping-stone to forget about. Very few people working on oral health policy in this country have spent that much time actually seeing what care looks like at the chair.
Transitioning to an analyst
I went back to study because I wanted to influence a wider range of health outcomes across New Zealand than I could reach one patient at a time. In 2025 I enrolled in the Postgraduate Diploma in Public Health at the University of Otago, and graduated with distinction. The programme included Public Health Policy, Applied Biostatistics (Regression Methods), Epidemiology, Hauora Māori, Health Protection, Health Promotion, and Global Health and International Health Systems. During the diploma I wrote distinction-level analyses of the US, Singapore, and Aotearoa health systems. I came out of the programme with practical skills in policy analysis, regulatory impact assessment, multivariable regression, health impact assessment, comparative health systems analysis, upstream health promotion, health equity work, and Te Tiriti-informed analysis.
Health Protection in particular (occupational and environmental health, biosecurity, and risk assessment) sits naturally alongside the decade I spent in a regulated clinical environment, where infection control, documentation, and audit readiness were daily. I bring both the academic framing and the operational instinct.
Returning to study after a long break in a second language was difficult; doing it well was the thing I am proudest of.
Where I'm from
I grew up in Medellín, a city I deeply love. The people are warm, the city has many green spaces, and its cafés and restaurants are still some of the things I miss most about home. But Medellín is also shaped by deep inequality, including high levels of homelessness among displaced Indigenous communities, an issue I explore in my essay on housing and hauora Māori.
Recognising the parallels between the colonial histories of Colombia and Aotearoa, and the very different ways these histories are acknowledged in public life, stayed with me throughout my studies and is a key reason I am drawn to public health research, analysis, and policy.
I approach Te Tiriti o Waitangi as a foundational framework for my work. As a non-Māori immigrant, I try to approach this space with humility about what I do and do not understand from the outside, while also recognising the responsibilities and importance the Crown places on anyone working within this system.
Beyond work
Although I love Medellín, Wellington has been home for a decade now, and I love almost everything about it apart from the wind. The outdoor lifestyle is hard to match, the people are warm, and for a small city it has a cultural and international scene that is surprisingly big. When I am not working I am usually outside somewhere with my family on the beautiful trails Wellington has to offer, drinking a nice coffee, or catching up with friends.
What I'm looking for
I am currently looking for a permanent or fixed-term analyst, policy, or research role in the Wellington public health system, in a university, or in a policy consultancy. I am also open to remote contract work for organisations outside New Zealand. My main interests are in oral health policy, tobacco control, environmental health, and quantitative health analysis, but I am not narrow about subject matter.
Languages
English (fluent, near-native after a decade in Aotearoa). Spanish (native).