Completed his studies of medicine at Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara in Mexico and subsequently did his residence in Pediatrics at the National Institute of Pediatrics in Mexico City, and a fellowship in Pediatric Infectious Disease at Hospital Infantil de Mexico.From 1987 to 1993 carried out a post-doctoral fellowship in cell biology of parasites at New England Medical Center / Tufts University School of Medicine and served as Instructor in Medicine from 1988 to 1993 at New England Medical Center.  In 1990 was awarded the "Maxwell Finland" Young Investigator Award by the Massachusetts Infectious Diseases Society. Between 1993 and 1998 completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Pediatric Infectious Disease, Stanford University, and a fellowship in the cell & molecular biology of Toxoplasma gondii at Stanford University School of Medicine. From 1998 to 2005 served at different leadership positions at the Gorgas Memorial Institute for Health Studies in Panama, at Florida State University-Panama, and the Institute for Advance Scientific Investigations & High Technology Services of the Panamanian Science, Technology, and Innovation Council. Dr. Ortega-Barría is the author of +100 research articles, 38 textbook chapters on parasitology, pediatrics, infectious diseases, and vaccines, and is the co-inventor of 2 patents and 2 provisional patent applications in parasitology in the United States. Between 2006-2020 he was vice president and Director of Medical Affairs and Vaccine Research and Clinical Development of Latin America and the Caribbean at GlaxoSmithKline. As of January 2021, he became Panama`s  National Secretary for Science,Tecnhology and Innovation.