Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs
Dr. Lester Martinez-Lopez is currently serving as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs. In this role, he is the principal advisor to the Secretary of Defense and the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness for all Department of Defense health and force health protection policies, programs, and activities.
Dr. Martinez, a family medicine physician, retired from the Army as a Major General and was the first Latino to head the Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, where he directed the Army’s worldwide medical research, acquisition, and logistics program. His experience in military medicine also includes tours as the Commanding General of the Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine, where he directed a worldwide public health organization, and command of three military hospitals. After retiring from the Army, he served as the Chief Medical Officer at the Brandon Regional Hospital in Florida and Senior Vice President and Administrator of the Lyndon B. Johnson General Hospital in Texas.
Dr. Martinez graduated from the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine with a Doctor of Medicine degree, and earned a Master of Public Health degree from Johns Hopkins University.
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Article Around MHS
Jul 13, 2023
During his first overseas tour, the Honorable Dr. Lester Martinez-Lopez, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs (ASD for Health Affairs), visited Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC), as part of a larger visit to Europe, July 10, 2023.
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Last Updated: March 01, 2023