Marco Antonio Quiroz 

CHCI Health Postgraduate Fellow  

Presented by Davita 

Hometown: Houston, Texas 

School: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health 

Degree: Master of Science in Public Health in Health Policy & Management 

Placement: Office of Rep. Emily Randall

Marco Antonio Quiroz (he/him) is the proud son of two Mexican immigrant parents who came to the United States in pursuit of El Sueño Americano (The American Dream). Raised in a lower working-class family on the east side of Houston, Marco qualified for free lunch in the public school system and grew up in a household that relied on Medicaid. From an early age, he witnessed his parents live paycheck to paycheck and struggle to find Spanish-speaking providers who could deliver culturally competent care. These formative experiences instilled in him a deep awareness of the systemic barriers Latino families often face and sparked a lifelong commitment to advocate for policies that uplift communities like his own. 

At the University of Texas at Austin, Marco began exploring the social and political determinants of health, recognizing that health and wellness are shaped not only by individual choices or medical care, but also by the broader social and economic conditions into which people are born. As a Health Policy Intern for the Wye River Group on Healthcare, he worked to advance sustainable funding streams for critical public health priorities in Texas. In this role, he gained firsthand experience with the Texas legislative process and contributed to the development of a bill that established the Mental Health, Substance Use, and Public Health Initiative Trust Fund to improve care coordination across the state. He also served as a Research Assistant in the Racial Equity and Free College Program Research Lab, where he collaborated with a team to examine how policy design, eligibility criteria, and application processes impact access to free college programs for racial minority students. As a first-generation student who benefited from a free college program, Marco brought personal insight into these barriers, and his research led to two publications in The Journal of Higher Education. 

While earning his Master of Science in Public Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Marco partnered with legislators of the Maryland General Assembly to develop innovative policy proposals aimed at expanding health insurance coverage for undocumented immigrants. He also served as a Research Fellow at the CDC’s Division of Overdose Prevention, where he examined the relationship between prescription opioid use, social determinants of health, and regulatory barriers to buprenorphine dispensing. Marco later served as a Health Policy Intern at the U.S. Senate HELP Committee, working under Senator Bernie Sanders on Medicare for All and prescription drug pricing initiatives. After graduating from Hopkins, he continued his public service at the U.S. House of Representatives, working alongside his Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia. 

As the CHCI Health Postgraduate Fellow, Marco brings a nonpartisan, evidence-based approach to policymaking, grounded in the lived experiences of vulnerable communities. He is committed to advancing bipartisan solutions that promote health equity and ensure every person can live a healthy and dignified life.