Dr. Marina Del Rios

Marina Del Rios, MD, MS is an emergency medicine physician and associate professor of emergency medicine at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. She is a health services researcher with a special interest in resuscitation science, social emergency medicine, and population health. She is a physician on the frontlines working as a nocturnist in the emergency department during the COVID19 pandemic, first in the University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago and now in the University of Iowa Hospital in Iowa City. Her research has received competitive funding from the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association, Medtronic Philanthropy, and the Pritzker Traubert Family Foundation. Dr. Del Rios has a deep commitment to service, spending her time outside of her clinical, research, and teaching responsibilities as a volunteer for multiple health and community service agencies. She is a founding member of the Illinois Heart Rescue Project, a state-wide quality improvement project with the mission to ensure that every victim of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest receives evidence-based care in the field, en route to, and in the hospital. She serves as the Vice Chair of the Science Subcommittee of the Emergency Cardiovascular Care Committee of the American Heart Association. She volunteered with the Illinois Department of Public Health COVID19 Health Equity Task Force, the Restore Illinois Health Justice Workgroup, and the city of Chicago Racial Equity Rapid Response Team. She is a member of the Puerto Rican Agenda’s Health Committee and a board member of the Illinois Medical Professionals Action Collaborative Team. Dr. Del Rios also serves as a health and policy consultant with Illinois Unidos, a cross-sectoral partnership of elected and appointed officials, health professionals, and leaders of community-based organizations that aims to stop the transmission of COVID-19 and address the pandemic’s devastating public health and economic impact in Latine communities. You may recognize her from appearances in national and international outlets advocating for the Latine community during the COVID19 pandemic. Her advocacy led to her being selected as the first person in the state of Illinois to be given the COVID19 vaccine and to her recognition as one of Negocios Now 2020 Who’s Who in Chicago Hispanic Power, as one of Chicago Crain’s Business 2020 Notable Health Care Heroes, and as the 2021 Spirit of Hope by Association House.