{"id":106567,"date":"2022-05-06T13:00:02","date_gmt":"2022-05-06T18:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/?post_type=uwmnewsvideo&#038;p=106567"},"modified":"2026-04-14T12:15:40","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T17:15:40","slug":"uwm-alumna-impacts-millions-by-guiding-puerto-ricos-public-health-response","status":"publish","type":"uwmnewsvideo","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/video\/uwm-alumna-impacts-millions-by-guiding-puerto-ricos-public-health-response\/","title":{"rendered":"UWM alumna impacts millions by guiding Puerto Rico\u2019s public health response"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As a member of the Puerto Rican Governor\u2019s Scientific Advisory Board and leader at Ponce Health Sciences University,\u202fKenira Thompson\u202f(\u201998 MS Experimental Psychology, \u201901 PhD Experimental Psychology) has impacted the lives of millions of people she\u2019s never met. After Hurricane Maria struck in 2017, she brought U.S. doctors and supplies, and set up a field medical station. Then, as COVID-19 hit, Thompson helped set up the first on-site COVID-19 testing facility and freezer farm for the Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. By creating this facility, the island\u2019s main vaccine storage and distribution hub, 2.7 million people were able to be vaccinated. Thompson also serves on the steering committee for the Group on Research Advancement and Development of the Association of American Medical Colleges. Thompson received the distinguished alumni achievement award at the 2022 UWM Alumni Association Awards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As a member of the Puerto Rican Governor\u2019s Scientific Advisory Board and leader at Ponce Health Sciences University,\u202fKenira Thompson\u202f(\u201998 MS Experimental Psychology, \u201901 PhD Experimental Psychology) has impacted the lives of millions of people she\u2019s never met. After Hurricane Maria struck in 2017, she brought U.S. doctors and supplies, and set up a field medical [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":399,"featured_media":106568,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","class_list":["post-106567","uwmnewsvideo","type-uwmnewsvideo","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.5 (Yoast SEO v27.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>UWM alumna impacts millions by guiding Puerto Rico\u2019s public health response - UWM REPORT<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/video\/uwm-alumna-impacts-millions-by-guiding-puerto-ricos-public-health-response\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UWM alumna impacts millions by guiding Puerto Rico\u2019s public health response\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As a member of the Puerto Rican Governor\u2019s Scientific Advisory Board and leader at Ponce Health Sciences University,\u202fKenira Thompson\u202f(\u201998 MS Experimental Psychology, \u201901 PhD Experimental Psychology) has impacted the lives of millions of people she\u2019s never met. After Hurricane Maria struck in 2017, she brought U.S. doctors and supplies, and set up a field medical [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/video\/uwm-alumna-impacts-millions-by-guiding-puerto-ricos-public-health-response\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UWM REPORT\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-14T17:15:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2022\/05\/AA_750_01_KT.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@UWMNews\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/video\\\/uwm-alumna-impacts-millions-by-guiding-puerto-ricos-public-health-response\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/video\\\/uwm-alumna-impacts-millions-by-guiding-puerto-ricos-public-health-response\\\/\",\"name\":\"UWM alumna impacts millions by guiding Puerto Rico\u2019s public health response - 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