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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

Local Researcher Wins ‘Making a Different World’ Award


amelie ramirez

Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio, has received the first-ever “Making a Different World” award from Latinas Contra Cancer for her dedication to improving health outcomes around cancer. Ramirez received the honor at the organization's 4th biennial cancer summit July 20-22, 2014, in San Francisco. “I am honored by this tremendous distinction from some of the key leaders in our nation’s growing effort to reduce cancer,” Dr. Ramirez said. “We are truly working hard to show how communities can reduce their risk for cancer, how to help patients navigate the health care system, and how to help cancer survivors.” Dr. Ramirez & Her Health Promotion Research Ramirez is an internationally recognized ...

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San Antonio Researcher to Create New Tool to Promote Screening for Colorectal Cancer


Colorectal Colon cancer awareness ribbon for men's health care Dr. Cynthia Mojica colorectal cancer screening

Some men are less likely to get screened for colorectal cancer and more likely to be diagnosed at harder-to-treat stages. That’s why Dr. Cynthia Mojica, a researcher at the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio, is creating tailored and language-relevant print-based tool to persuade men to get colorectal cancer screening. Mojica’s efforts are fueled by a new grant from the Health Science Center’s Mentored Research Career Development (KL2) Program in Clinical and Translational Science. “The grant award will give me training, mentorship and research support to help me bring the community into the research process to help create a tool that can change their behavior and lead them to get screened,” Mojica said. As part of the award, Mojica ...

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Jennifer Garcia-Davalos: Aspiring Doctor Works to Improve Population Health


Jennifer Garcia-Davalos cancer physician researcher

Laredo native Jennifer Garcia-Davalos grew up on the Texas-Mexico border, where the population suffers high rates of obesity, diabetes, and certain cancers. She has always wanted to help reduce those health issues. That’s why Garcia-Davalos, an aspiring physician and a master’s-degree student in public health at The UT School of Public Health, interned at the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at UT Health San Antonio. Over the past year, she helped the IHPR conduct research, mobilize community outreach, and inform, educate, and health in South Texas communities. “My internship at the IHPR gave me tools needed to succeed in my graduate studies and my future plans in the health and medical fields,” Garcia-Davalos said. “As a future physician, I want to ...

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Webinar 7/10/14: How to Help People Avoid Potentially Deadly Delays in Breast Cancer Care


cancer screening breast

Imagine that a woman's mammogram turns up an abnormality that is classified as "probably benign." Even though the chance of breast cancer is only 2-4%, a doctor typically would ask the woman to return for another screening within six months, just to be sure. However, some women experience delays, and appointments may be missed and they may skip subsequent screenings altogether. This can set the stage for confirmatory diagnoses at more advanced stages of cancer with lower survival probability. How can that be avoided? You're invited to a webinar that explores how patient navigators—trained healthcare workers who support patients and help them overcome barriers related to transportation, child care, insurance coverage, language, etc.—were able to reduce those potentially ...

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Olga Cardona: Cancer Survivor Makes a Career of Helping Others with Cancer


Guadalupe cornejo patient navigation promotora community health worker

A wave of shock swept over Olga Cardona as she listened to her doctor. “You have breast cancer.” Cardona knew nothing about cancer. She thought it was a death sentence. She was scared. She worried more when her insurance wouldn’t cover all chemotherapy. How could this be happening to me? A patient navigator calmed her fears. The navigator, a trained community health worker, taught Cardona what cancer is, got her in a breast cancer support group, and led her to resources to cover her treatment. Cardona, years later, now is in remission—and she became a promotora to promote health at the San Ysidro Health Center in California, where she was first diagnosed. “I wanted to pay it forward because I felt so grateful to everyone that had helped me through my ...

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New Program to Bring Patient Navigators, Breast Cancer Screening and Education to South Texas Women


Latino cancer patient smiling with doctor nurse clinic

Some women have low breast cancer screening rates. Even if they are screened, they delay confirmatory diagnosis and treatment because of costs, language issues, competing responsibilities, and more. That’s why Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, professor and director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at UT Health San Antonio, is offering the Navegando Salud patient navigator program, which trains bilingual community health workers to offer breast cancer screenings, education and other services to women in South Texas. Navegando Salud just received a one-year, $100,000 grant from the Avon Foundation. The grant was among 10 announced at the 12th Annual Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in Houston on April 13, 2014. “We’re honored to receive this grant, which will help ...

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How to Increase Participation in Potentially Life-Saving Cancer Clinical Trials


doctor with patient clinical trials outreach manual

Only 5% percent of Latinos participate in federal clinical trials, far less than their 19.5% makeup of the US population. This gives researchers fewer chances to find new cancer treatments for this population, which can benefit all people. What can a health agency do to get more people into clinical trials? A new guide, Clinical Trials Outreach: Program Replication Manual, developed by researchers at the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at UT Health San Antonio, was created to help health agencies reach into communities and increase participation in cancer clinical trials to better reflect the US population. With the guide, a health agency can: Learn about cancer clinical trials; Learn about donation of biospecimens (human materials such as skin, hair, and ...

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‘Breast Friends Forever’: A Unique Support Group for Young Women with Breast Cancer


BFFs breast cancer survivor suppport group

Amy Cleveland, fresh out of college and just starting a career in marketing, discovered a coarse lump in her breast while putting on some tanning oil. Only age 22, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. “It was a struggle for me because I was young and there was no one my own age I could relate to or confide in about having cancer. People always say, ‘My mom had that,’ or, ‘My grandma had that.’ But it’s tough for young people,” Cleveland said. Fortunately, Cleveland—now age 28 and free of cancer—found some “Breast Friends Forever,” thanks to a unique support group for young breast cancer survivors in San Antonio (63% Latino) developed by the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at the UT Health San Antonio and Susan G. Komen San Antonio. The ...

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