San Antonio: Apply for Community Engagement Small Project Grant Funding


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The Institute for Integration of Medicine & Science (IIMS) at UT Health San Antonio and the UTSA College for Health, Community, and Policy (HCaP) wants to fund a new batch of one-year Community Engagement Small Project Grants.  The grants aim to help promote, develop, and expand community and scholarly research partnerships that benefit science and clinicians, according to the 2025 funding announcement.  Last year’s grants enabled five teams of researchers to translate scientific findings to benefit public health in San Antonio.  These projects covered topics such as HIV/AIDS, faith’s impact on criminal rehabilitation, artistic influence on young brain development, and more.  Now your team could be the next ones to improve community health by applying for a ...

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Expanding the Oncology Workforce


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This content is from the "Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos: 2024 Conference Proceedings." Inclusion in Action: Breaking Open the Leaky Pipeline to Create Pathways & Design Spaces that Improve Representation Dr. Idalid “Ivy” Franco is works in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard Medical School. The effect of oppression on workforce incorporation Dr. Franco’s presentation began by looking at the context and long-standing hurdles to recruitment, retention, and professional success of a workforce that resembles the US population. This historical context started with American slavery, followed by years of segregation, laying a foundation of decades of judgement and mistreatment. This lies ...

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ASCL 2024: National Cancer Institute (NCI) Panels


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This content is from the "Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos: 2024 Conference Proceedings." Adapting NCI’s Clinical Trials System to a Changed Clinical Research Environment Dr. James H. Doroshow is Deputy Director for Clinical and Translational Research at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). This plenary session occurred at 8:30 am., Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024, at the 4th biennial Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos conference. COVID’s impact on cancer clinical trials Dr. Doroshow’s presentation began by discussing the initial and continuing effects of the pandemic environment on cancer clinical trials. From the start of the pandemic, several aspects of clinical trials were altered, including informed consent and in-person study activities. One major ...

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How Cancer Centers Are Addressing Local Needs


UCM Oncology Food Pantry

More than 2 million people in the United States are expected to be diagnosed with cancer this year. No two among them will experience cancer exactly the same way. Even so, certain groups of people will share similar cancer experiences. Latinos face higher rates of cervical, liver, and stomach cancers. Black women with ovarian cancer don’t live as long as White women with the disease. People living in rural areas are less likely to get regular cancer screenings than those who live in cities. And people who live in areas where poverty has been the norm for decades are more likely to die of cancer than those living in more affluent areas. These patterns of worse outcomes among specific groups of people are called cancer differences. Although biological differences can contribute to ...

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How to Start Screening for the Non-Medical Drivers of Health


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To truly improve patient and community health, we must address the non-medical drivers of health, such as access to housing, transportation, and food that can make it harder for people to stay healthy. That’s where screening for the non-medical drivers of health (NMDoH) comes in. Screening for the non-medical drivers of health is a questionnaire given to patients in a healthcare setting to help providers identify their needs. These include issues like financial hardship, housing, and food. Patients can then be referred to helpful community resources. You can use the new Salud America! Action Pack, “How to Start Screening for the Non-Medical Drivers of Health,” to launch screening in your clinic, hospital, or healthcare system! The action pack, created by Dr. Amelie G. ...

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Why Millions of Texans Are Losing Medicaid Coverage


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Two million Texans lost their Medicaid health insurance coverage in part due to state errors after federal funding to Texas ended after the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recent article from ProPublica and The Texas Tribune. Many who feel “wrongly removed” are struggling to regain their coverage. “Texas’ zealousness in removing people from Medicaid was a choice that contradicted federal guidelines from the start,” according to the article. “That decision was devastating in Texas, which already insures a smaller percentage of its population through Medicaid than almost any other state and is one of 10 that never expanded eligibility after the passage of the Affordable Care Act.” If you’re struggling with a Medicaid application in Texas, you can share your story ...

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