Dr. Marielena Vélez de Brown is Acting Commissioner of the Monroe County Department of Public Health and Medical Director of Starlight Pediatrics, a clinic dedicated to providing trauma-informed primary care to children involved with Monroe County Child Protective Services.

Dr. Vélez de Brown joined the health department as Deputy Commissioner of Public Health in 2016. She has continuously focused her work on historically underserved populations and health disparities, particularly for individuals with limited English proficiency.

Board certified in General Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Dr. Vélez de Brown received her medical degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. After training in Family Medicine, she earned her Master’s in Public Health from the University of Rochester Preventive Medicine and Public Health Residency program.

Dr. Vélez de Brown has been an invited speaker on topics such as domestic violence, breast cancer screening, diabetes, smoking cessation, nutrition, the impact of the ACA on communities of color, suicide prevention, the opioid epidemic, and COVID-19. She was named one of Rochester Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 honorees in 2019.

Dr. Vélez de Brown is a native of Philadelphia, PA. In her spare time, she enjoys camping, hiking, reading science fiction and Latin dancing.