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Latinas have lower cancer screening rates than their peers in South Texas and the nation.
To find out why, we conducted a Zoom webinar — “Ladies, Why Should You Get Screened for Cancer?” — at 1 p.m. CT on Oct. 4, 2022.
This webinar featured guest speakers and patient advocates to help health care professionals and the Latino public to help health care professionals and the Latino public understand the cultural and other barriers to cancer screening and demystify screening tests. Speakers also shared testimonials of their cancer journey and why they get screened.
This is the sixth and final webinar of a series, “Let’s Address Health Equity Together.”
The series is a collaboration of the Salud America! program at the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio, the Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio, and Genentech.
Learn about the Speakers for this Webinar on Clinical Trials
Here are the panelists for the webinar, which will follow a question-and-answer discussion session format moderated by Dr. Amelie Ramirez.
Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez is an internationally recognized researcher in Latino health promotion and behavioral change. She is director of Salud America! and its home base, the Institute for Health Promotion Research in the Department of Population Health Sciences at UT Health San Antonio. She has spent over 30 years directing research on human and organizational communication to reduce chronic disease and cancer health disparities affecting Latinos, including cancer risk factors, clinical trial recruitment, tobacco prevention, obesity prevention, and promotion of health equity. She also is associate director of cancer outreach and engagement at the NCI-designated Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio.
Dr. Marcela Mazo Canola is a specialist in hematology/oncology at the NCI-designated Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio. Dr. Mazo obtained her medical degree from CES University in Medellin, Colombia in 2007. She then attended UT Health San Antonio, where she completed a year of research followed by her internship and residency in internal medicine, then fellowship in hematology/oncology. In 2012, she was awarded Outstanding Resident Medicine Clerkship at the university. Her research interests are solid tumors malignancies in the Latino population, as well as the different health disparities that affect our community. Dr. Mazo has certifications in the American Board of Internal Medicine, Hematology and Medical Oncology. She is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the American Society of Hematology (ASH).
Debbie Denardi was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer in 2010. A native of Buenos Aires, Argentina, she was only 48 years old at the time. Due to a family history of multiple cancers, including breast cancer, which took the life of her mother at age 44, her oncologist recommended genetic testing, which revealed the BRCA1 genetic mutation. After a diagnosis of triple-negative breast cancer, multiple treatments, and surgeries, she is cancer free. She is passionate about encouraging anyone with a family history of cancers to get genetic testing. She is a volunteer and board member of FORCE (Facing Hereditary Cancer Empowered). She volunteers with many organizations to advance research for hereditary cancer patients. She also is passionate about access to care for our Latinx community. She is a 12-year survivor and mother of two sons (ages 25 and 27).
Dr. Tania Szado is Principal Oncology Medical Science Director, US Medical Affairs, Scientific Collaborations & Alliances, at Genentech. She started with Roche in Basel as a lab head in preclinical toxicology in 2007 before moving to Roche in the UK where she joined the Perjeta clinical development team for four years. After the Roche-Genentech merger, Tania transferred to Genentech in SSF where she worked her way up to Principal Clinical Scientist on the Perjeta team and worked as the safety leader for the Perjeta ODAC. She joined the Oncology Leadership Team in December 2014 where she stayed for the next 5 years as chief of staff to the head of Product Development in Oncology at Roche-Genentech. Tania moved to USMA almost 3 years ago where she led the strategic development of the a tumor agnostic, biomarker driven phase II study in the US community sites and leads the OneOncology partnership in addition to recently joining scientific collaborations where she supports NCI studies in various cancers. Tania holds a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Therapeutics from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada and did a 3 year postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Cambridge, UK.
Behind the Webinar Series on Health Equity
The “Let’s Address Health Equity Together” webinar series is a collaboration of the Salud America! program at the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio, the Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio, and Genentech.
Salud America! is a national Latino-focused organization that creates culturally relevant and research-based stories, videos, and tools to inspire people to start and support healthy changes to policies, systems, and environments where Latino children and families can equitably live, learn, work, and play.
The Mays Cancer Center, also known as the UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center, has a mission to decrease the burden of cancer in San Antonio, South Texas and beyond. We bring South Texas a level of exceptional care that is comparable with the nation’s most respected programs. More patients put their trust in our program because we have a unique understanding of our community’s cancer care needs. We excel in delivering advanced therapies.
Founded more than 40 years ago as the first biotechnology company, Genentech is dedicated to the rigorous pursuit of science and the development and delivery of life-changing medicines for people facing serious diseases. Headquartered in South San Francisco, California and a proud member of the Roche Group, our community is united by a common purpose and sense of urgency to transform the future of healthcare. Learn more at gene.com.
By The Numbers
142
Percent
Expected rise in Latino cancer cases in coming years
