Cristóbal Valdebenito, MA

Education

MA – University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
BA – The Ohio State University
Certified in Public Health (CPH) - National Board of Public Health Examiners

Cristóbal Valdebenito is a Program Coordinator for the HPV Cancer Prevention Program at St. Jude, a program that aims to reduce human papillomavirus (HPV) cancer deaths locally and nationally by increasing HPV vaccination rates.

"The HPV vaccine is one of the major breakthroughs in cancer prevention in the last two decades.  Yet, public awareness of the vaccine and the fact that vaccination can start at age nine has been low. Through my work at St. Jude, I hope to educate our communities about the importance of HPV vaccination, identify and overcome barriers to increasing HPV vaccination rates, and work alongside our partners to achieve our shared objective of cancer prevention."

Before joining the HPV team at St. Jude, Cristóbal worked for a reproductive and sexual healthcare organization, managing an education program for Spanish speakers and an HIV/STI prevention and early testing program focused on Southwest Tennessee and North Mississippi.

In 2021, he received the Invencibles Award from the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. This award honors Congressional Hispanic Caucus members, national and global Latino partners, and Planned Parenthood community leaders who have demonstrated leadership within Latino communities. 

Cristóbal received a BA in Biology from The Ohio State University and an MA in Language, Literature, and Translation from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He was awarded the Certified in Public Health credential from the National Board of Public Health Examiners. He graduated from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center certification program in motivational interviewing and is currently a Master of Public Health student at the University of Memphis.