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Dr. Patricia Chalela, a researcher at the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at UT Health San Antonio, has been named the IBC Foundation Endowed Professorship in Health Promotion Research.
The International Bancshares Corporation (IBC) Foundation is a private foundation affiliated with IBC and its subsidiary banks. It is dedicated to supporting charities that enrich the community and improve the health and wellness of people in Texas and Oklahoma. The foundation made a $2 million donation that established four endowed professorships at UT Health San Antonio.
Dr. Chalela’s endowment, which is for $500,000, aims to help her advance novel research in health promotion.
“I am deeply honored and sincerely grateful to be nominated as the recipient of the IBC Foundation Endowed Professorship in Health Promotion Research,” Dr. Chalela said.
“This recognition is not only a personal milestone but also a significant opportunity to advance vital research that can make a real difference in the lives of Latina breast cancer patients. The funding from the IBC Endowment will play a crucial role in supporting my new HT Helper study aimed at promoting adherence to hormone therapy among this underserved population.”
Dr. Chalela and Her Start in Public Health
Dr. Patricia Chalela is associate professor at the IHPR, the team behind the Salud America! program.
After receiving her bachelor’s degree in community health in Colombia, Dr. Chalela studied community eye health in London.
“Once I studied community eye health, one of my first jobs when I came back to Colombia was the director of the Community Eye Health Department at an ophthalmic clinic that grew a lot and became a multidisciplinary hospital. Then I became the director of the Preventive Medicine Department over there,” Dr. Chalela said.
Then, in 1991, after doing a three-month long internship with the Pan American Health Organization, Dr. Chalela met Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez.
Dr. Ramirez, who was working at the South Texas Health Research Center at the time, encouraged Dr. Chalela to pursue her dream to get a master’s degree in public health.
“She welcomed me, motivated me, and supported my academic goals,” Dr. Chalela said. “Her team members were always caring and supportive. That made a big difference for me. With her mentorship, I completed my MPH and my doctoral degree focusing on health promotion and epidemiology.”
Upon completion of her doctorate degree, Dr. Chalela joined Dr. Ramirez at Baylor College of Medicine working on health communication and health disparities research.
She later joined Dr. Ramirez when she founded the IHPR at UT Health San Antonio in 2006.
Dr. Chalela and Her Work in Health Promotion Research
Dr. Chalela has become an accomplished scientist.
At the IHPR, Dr. Chalela helps reduce lung cancer with Quitxt. This bilingual text-message service helps Latino young adults quit smoking, funded by the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas
Dr. Chalela also helps enable Latinos to volunteer for cancer and Alzheimer’s clinical trials. She also oversees the South Texas site of the Avanzando Caminos study on Latino cancer survivorship.
She also is a research scholar for the “Avanzando Equidad de Salud: Latino Cancer Health Equity Research Center.”
The center, led by Dr. Ramirez and supported by a 4-year, $4.08-million grant from the American Cancer Society, is a response to cancer inequities facing Latinos in South Texas. The center is uniting South Texas research scholars and the community to reduce health disparities across the cancer care continuum.
“I’m proud to be part of a team of researchers led by Dr. Amelie Ramirez,” Dr. Chalela said. “Dr. Ramirez and I are committed to investigating the causes of health inequities among Latinos in South Texas and throughout the nation and using our skills to create sustainable change.”
By The Numbers
142
Percent
Expected rise in Latino cancer cases in coming years
