 Beginning her career in New York State, Perez had a series of short stints in public service for the first 10 years after graduating.While working at the New York City Department of Public Health, she began programs for adolescent parents and those adolescents at risk of substance abuse and HIV/AIDS.She became an activist for AIDS research in the Black community in New York City and has also researched racial inequality and injustice in medical treatment, including in analgesia, and the long-term effects of this disparity.