John Billimek

John Billimek, PhD is a psychologist by training, a health services researcher, and the Vice Chair for Academic Affairs for the UC Irvine Department of Family Medicine.  With HELIOS, he studies various ways trust can be cultivated or undermined between community members and the health care system, and how underdeveloped trust contributes to inequities in health care and health outcomes.  As a co-Principal Investigator on multiple federal grants with community partners including Latino Health Access, RADIATE Consulting, MPNA GREEN, the OC Asian American and Pacific Islander Alliance, City of Santa Ana, the Coalition of Orange County Community Health Centers, and others, he is proud to help community-based organizations receive funding, agency and representation in their collaborations with the university.  With PRIME-LC, he is one of five Faculty Leads for the campus-wide UC PRIME Pre-Health Pathways Program, supporting the professional development of future professionals from historically excluded communities.  A former rugby player and the son of a community college professor and a registered nurse, “Dr. B” left Texas to find his dream job in Southern California, where he lives with his wife Donna, and two children Wyatt and Riley Rose.