I am director of Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio. I have spent 30 years directing research on human and organizational communication to reduce chronic disease, cancer, and obesity health disparities affecting Latinos.
In the next few years, Latinos face a 142% rise in cancer rates. Latinos also experience cancer differently—from genetics to healthcare access to survivorship. That’s why Dr. Amelie Ramirez, director of Salud America! and the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio, partnered with the Mays Cancer Center to create the Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos (ASCL) biennial conference. Read the proceedings from the 2018 and 2020 ASCL Conferences. The 2022 ASCL Conference on Feb. 23-25, 2022, in San Antonio, Texas, welcomed over 250 prominent researchers, physicians, healthcare professionals, patient advocates, and students from across the globe to address cancer health disparities among Latinos. Conference sponsors included major supporters Genentech ...
This is part of the "Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos: 2022 Conference Proceedings," which summarizes findings and discussions of the 2022 Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos Conference on Feb. 23-25, 2022, in San Antonio, Texas.
Conclusion
To eliminate cancer disparities in Latinx populations, Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos brought together researchers, scientists, physicians, healthcare professionals, patient advocates, and students from across the US and Latin America. These presenters shared research advancements, identified gaps, developed actionable goals, updated clinical best practices, described effective community interventions, and detailed professional training programs aimed at addressing inequity. In the process, most of the speakers made ...
This is part of the "Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos: 2022 Conference Proceedings," which summarizes findings and discussions of the 2022 Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos Conference on Feb. 23-25, 2022, in San Antonio, Texas.
Using Science to Address Latino Health Disparities Research
Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable, M.D., is Director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Health disparities and social determinants of health Dr. Pérez-Stable began his presentation by discussing the ways in which science can reduce inequities in healthcare. First, standardized surveys, tools, and measurements are needed so that data can be combined, facilitating discovery through large data sets. ...
This is part of the "Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos: 2022 Conference Proceedings," which summarizes findings and discussions of the 2022 Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos Conference on Feb. 23-25, 2022, in San Antonio, Texas.
Transformative Strategies for Integration of Health Equity Principles in Science and Access in the US
Dr. Edith A. Perez is the Serene M. and Frances C. Durling Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and the Chief Medical Officer at Bolt Biotherapeutics. Her presentation outlined strategies for health equity as exemplified by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) Committee for Inclusion in Research, and the Health Equity Committee at Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C). The NASEM initiative, ...
This is part of the "Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos: 2022 Conference Proceedings," which summarizes findings and discussions of the 2022 Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos Conference on Feb. 23-25, 2022, in San Antonio, Texas.
Leading Pathways: The Hispanic/Latino Survivorship Study
Dr. Frank Penedo is Associate Director of Cancer Survivorship & Behavioral Translational Sciences at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami. The Leading Pathways study Dr. Penedo began by presenting a summary of Leading Pathways, a Hispanic/Latino survivorship study, a collaboration between the Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio and the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami. The study has five key aims, the ...
This is part of the "Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos: 2022 Conference Proceedings," which summarizes findings and discussions of the 2022 Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos Conference on Feb. 23-25, 2022, in San Antonio, Texas.
Novel Therapeutic Approach to Reduce Health Disparity in B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in Hispanic/Latino Children
Dr. Sinisa Dovat is Professor of Pediatrics, Pharmacology, and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine. He is also Four Diamond Endowed Chair and Director of Translational Research and Experimental Therapeutics in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Penn State University. B-Cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and Hispanic children B-Cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) ...
This is part of the "Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos: 2022 Conference Proceedings," which summarizes findings and discussions of the 2022 Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos Conference on Feb. 23-25, 2022, in San Antonio, Texas.
Cancer Screening in Puerto Rico Challenges and Opportunities to Address Health Disparities
Dr. Guillermo Tortolero-Luna is Director of the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences Program at the University of Puerto Rico Comprehensive Cancer Center. Cancer statistics in Puerto Rico Dr. Tortolero-Luna began by describing the cancer landscape in Puerto Rico. In 2012, malignant cancers became the cause of death with the highest age-adjusted mortality rate in the territory. The highest cancer sites among Puerto Rican men are ...
This is part of the "Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos: 2022 Conference Proceedings," which summarizes findings and discussions of the 2022 Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos Conference on Feb. 23-25, 2022, in San Antonio, Texas.
Updates in Genomics of Breast Cancer among Latina Women
Dr. Elad Ziv is a Professor of Medicine at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), with a research focus on human genetics of cancer susceptibility and hematological traits. Genomics explained To set the stage for his presentation, Dr. Ziv explained genomics in a lay-friendly way, describing it as a long series of letters. A change of one letter in this series, from an A to a G for example, can lead to anything from a change in height to a disease susceptibility. Not ...
This is part of the "Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos: 2022 Conference Proceedings," which summarizes findings and discussions of the 2022 Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos Conference on Feb. 23-25, 2022, in San Antonio, Texas.
COVID-19 Past, Present and Future
Dr. Carlos Del Rio is Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Global Health, and Epidemiology. He is also Executive Associate Dean of Emory University School of Medicine, and President-Elect of the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA). The continued presence of COVID Dr. Del Rio began by pointing out that the COVID pandemic is not over, despite gains made over the past year. At the time of his presentation, there were still two million global cases diagnosed daily, and close to 10,000 global ...
