Flor Puentes

Flor Puentes serves as the Regional Director for Epidemiology for the El Paso area, or western region, at Compass Connections, a shelter for unaccompanied children. In this role, she manages local operations across two shelters in El Paso, having previously overseen an additional shelter in Driscoll. With about 30 years of experience in public health, Puentes earned her Bachelor's degree in Health Sciences from the University of Texas at El Paso in 2002, including a minor in psychology. She subsequently obtained her Master of Public Health from the UT Houston School of Public Health at the El Paso Regional Campus in 2012. Currently, she is working toward a PhD in Environmental Science, with an anticipated graduation in 2028. Puentes has authored or co-authored approximately four or five publications, including works from the 1990s and 2006 on rapid stool antigen tests for H. pylori infection in asymptomatic children, evaluation of a novel stool native catalase antigen test for Helicobacter pylori infection, and a promotores de salud intervention to reduce cardiovascular disease in a high-risk Hispanic border population.