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Cliff Despres

Cliff Despres, who has more than a decade of experience in journalism and public relations, is communications director for Salud America! and its home base, the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio.

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Articles by Cliff Despres

We’re Hiring Community Behavioral Health Faculty Members!


hiring community behavioral health faculty ihpr phs ut health san antonio

The Department of Population Health Sciences at UT Health San Antonio — home to the Salud America! program in the Institute for Health Promotion Research — is seeking two applicants for open-rank faculty positions in community behavioral health and biostatistics. The two positions will also serve in the Population Science and Prevention research program at the Mays Cancer Center, a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center at UT Health San Antonio. Go here to apply or learn more about the community behavioral health position. Go here to apply or learn more about the biostatistician position. "Our goal is to recruit two faculty members who will establish meaningful community-based and community-engaged research in our 38-county catchment area of South Texas," said ...

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#SaludTues Tweetchat 2/1: Changing the System for Nutrition Security, Healthier Hearts


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Many Latino families struggle to get enough food to feed their families. Even if they do get enough food, what they have access to is often unhealthy and nutritionally vacant. This contributes to a higher risk for adverse health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and other health conditions. We need nutrition security. This means having consistent access to and availability and affordability of foods and drinks that promote well-being, while preventing — and, if needed, treating — disease. In honor of American Heart Month in February and National Nutrition Month in March, let’s use #SaludTues on Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022, to discuss emerging strategies to change environments, systems, and policies to encourage nutrition security and healthier hearts for Latinos and ...

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Check Out Resources on Infection Control from CDC Project Firstline!


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We love our frontline healthcare workers. That's why we are excited to share Project Firstline, a training and education collaborative from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to ensure all healthcare workers, no matter their role or educational background, have the infection control knowledge and understanding they need and deserve to protect themselves, their patients, and their coworkers. Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio is working with the National Hispanic Medical Association to bring Project Firstline content to frontline healthcare workers. Project Firstline creates resources, including videos and shareable images, web buttons, posters, and print materials. They also have facilitator toolkits to help workers lead trainings even if they are not ...

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9 Holiday Actions for Health Equity


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Volunteering for Christmas and New Year’s helps other people. It gives the volunteer a nice emotional boost, too. So why not volunteer your "voice" or "actions"? We at Salud America! invite you to take these nine actions to promote health equity for Latino and all families this holiday season! 1. Share Stories of Latinos Who Changed Their Hearts and Got the COVID-19 Vaccine! To help move Latinos from vaccine hesitancy to vaccine confidence, Salud America! is uplifting the stories of real Latinos who overcame misinformation, got the vaccine, reconnected with family, and are helping end the pandemic. Share these “change of heart” heroes in English or Spanish! Rosa Herrera read on Facebook that the vaccine would inject her with a microchip. She learned that was a myth. ...

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Exploring the Severe Burden of Stomach Cancer among Latinos


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Stomach cancer, also called gastric cancer, disproportionately impacts Latinos. In fact, U.S. Latino men and women are twice as likely as their White peers to develop invasive gastric cancer, according to a 2021 report. But little is known about regional differences. That is why Dr. Dorothy Long Parma of UT Health San Antonio and her colleagues conducted a study to analyze gastric cancer rates for Latinos in South Texas, Texas, and the United States. "We found that overall stomach cancer incidence rates in Texas and South Texas were higher in Latinos than in non-Latino Whites, despite lower frequencies in the state and South Texas region compared to the United States," said Long Parma, assistant professor/research at the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) in the ...

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Get Help Quitting Smoking for the Great American Smokeout on Nov. 18!


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You don’t have to stop smoking in one day. Start with Day 1. On Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, you can join thousands of people who will begin their smoke-free journey with the Great American Smokeout. This annual event from the American Cancer Society encourages smokers to make a plan to stop smoking. Need help? Enroll in Quitxt, a free English or Spanish text-message service that turns your phone into a personal “quit smoking” coach from UT Health San Antonio. To join Quitxt, text “iquit” (for English) or “lodejo” (for Spanish) to 844-332-2058. “For the Great American Smokeout, we’re excited to share Quitxt to provide real-time help with motivation to quit, setting a quit date, handling stress, and much more, all on your phone,” said Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, ...

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Dr. Amelie Ramirez to Serve as Chair the Women in Cancer Research Council


Dr. Amelie Ramirez san antonio women's hall of fame

Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at UT Health San Antonio and a leading health promotion researcher, will serve as the 2021-2022 chair of the the Women in Cancer Research Council of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). The council organizes the activities of the members of the Women in Cancer Research group. This includes fostering career development, recognizing scientific achievements, and advising AACR leadership. Ramirez is currently serving a three-year term on the council through December 2022. “It is a great honor to serve as chair of this group for the 2021-2022 term. Despite the challenges we have seen during the pandemic, I am proud to say we are still making strides and progressing in the field of ...

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We Help UT Health San Antonio Do Everything it Takes



UT Health San Antonio is known for doing everything it takes. Everything it takes to treat COVID-19 patients, to change our teaching methods on a dime, to pass health provider exams on the first try, to partner in our community, and to find new cures for dreaded diseases. Our team at Salud America!, which is led by Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez at UT Health San Antonio, is excited to share the university's new “Everything It Takes” campaign. Ramirez is featured in the campaign. Visit EverythingItTakes.org. The campaign will have TV, radio, print, and digital ads. This includes Spanish-language materials, like this radio spot and this one. "We want all of San Antonio and South Texas to know that we’ll do 'Everything It Takes' to serve the health needs of patients in our region ...

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Award Winner: Éxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training



Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez’s Éxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program at UT Health San Antonio has been named a winner of Excelencia in Education’s “Examples of Excelencia.” The awards spotlight evidence-based programs that support Latino students in higher education. Éxito! was a finalist in 2018, 2019, and 2021. Excelencia in Education, a national group that promotes Latinos in higher education, announced the winning “Examples of Excelencia” on Oct. 28, 2021, in four categories—associate, baccalaureate, graduate, and community-based organizations. Watch the announcement. Éxito! won in the graduate category. "The four stand out programs are models of culturally responsive, asset-based efforts with evidence of effectiveness in recruiting, ...

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