Tampa, FL (July 21, 2005)-- Susanna Martinez has joined the USF Health team as the new Director of Media Relations. In her new role, Martinez will promote University of South Florida faculty in public health, nursing, physical therapy and medicine, including 400 faculty physicians. In addition, the 30-year-old will lend her media expertise to branding efforts for USF Health, including on-camera work and streaming video on the USF Health website, www.hsc.usf.edu.

USF's physician faculty treats Moffitt Cancer Center patients, about 60% of Tampa General Hospital patients and additional patients at affiliated hospitals.

From April 2003 to June 2005, Martinez served as Communications Director for the City of Tampa, where she provided information to the media and the public, as it related to the City of Tampa's administration initiatives, events and programs. She also appeared on CTTV Channel 15 as the host for the city's flagship television show Spotlight Tampa.

Prior to her position with the city, Martinez was an on-air television news reporter for Bay News 9. In 1997, she helped launch the 24-hour news channel and for six years she brought major news stories into the living rooms of millions of viewers throughout the Tampa Bay market.

Martinez lends her media expertise to several non-profit agencies. She sits on the Board of Directors for the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay and is on the public relations and marketing committees of Metropolitan Ministries, Paint Your Heart Out Tampa, the Tampa Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Junior League of Tampa. She was named Hispanic Woman of the Year in Media in 2001, and in 2003 Martinez received one of the Tampa Bay Business Journal's 30 under 30 awards, recognizing 30 people under the age of 30 who have excelled in their field. Martinez graduated from the University of Kentucky with a B.A. in Journalism.

Media representatives can reach Susanna Martinez at USF Health via email at smartin1@hsc.usf.edu or by calling (813) 974-3300.