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Latinos: Share Your Cancer Journey or Caregiver Experience 



Researchers at Texas Tech University are interested in learning more about you and your family caregiver's experience with cancer. The research team is seeking participation from people who are 18 or older, speak English, identify as Latino or non-Hispanic White, and have been diagnosed with any form of cancer at any stage. Caregivers who want to participate must be 18 years or older, speak English, and identify as Latino or non-Hispanic White.  If you or your loved one meets these qualifications, you may be eligible to take part in this study, which consists of three different surveys.  These surveys will be spaced out and take 30 to 45 minutes to complete, and can be done online, by mail, or over the phone with the help of a research assistant.  The first will be given ...

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La Representación Importa: The Need for More Latinos in Film, TV



After decades of being overlooked, a spike of positive representation of populations, such as Latinos, has swept into Hollywood and mainstream media. Latino pioneers like José Ferrer, Edward James Olmos, and Rita Moreno overcame adversity to play defining roles in an industry dominated by White actors, paving the way for future Latino actors and Latino-led projects to break from the mold. This success has led to a new wave of notable Latino standouts and projects. America Ferrera, a U.S.-born Latina of Honduran heritage, nabbed an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress in Barbie (2023). Pedro Pascal, born in Chile, delighted audiences in the titular role of The Mandalorian before taking the lead in HBO’s TV adaptation of video game series The Last of Us. Films such as ...

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All of Us Research Data Unlocks 275 Million New Genetic Variants



For the last few years, the National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program has mounted an unprecedented effort to collect health data from 1 million people of all ages and ethnicities across the country for use in impactful scientific research. In fact, the data has led researchers to a shocking discovery — 275 million previously unknown genetic variants, according to a recent news release. Nearly 4 million of the variants are in areas that may be connected to risk for disease. The variants, uncovered using data shared by nearly 250,000 All of Us participants, put researchers in a position to better understand genetic influences on health and disease, especially in communities often left out of research. NIH reported that half the genomic data came from Latino, ...

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Watch: Researchers, Find Data for Your Study in Free Virtual All of Us Convention



The All of Us Research Program is peeling back the curtain on its ground-breaking health data collection by hosting its annual All of Us Research Convention. On Wednesday, April 3, 2024, and Thursday, April 4, 2024, the free virtual conference will give attendees insight into how All of Us data is being used to fuel integral research that reflects the diverse country we live in. All of Us, created by the National Institutes of Health, is a historic effort to collect and study data from at least one million people living in the United States. “The goal of All of Us is to speed up health research discoveries, enabling new kinds of individualized health care, with a strong emphasis on diversity,” said Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, director of Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio, an All ...

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Apply Now: Research Chronic Disease in the Latino Community!



The Healthy Americas Foundation (HAF) is giving a few scholars funding to research chronic diseases in Latino communities with help from the All of Us Research Program. The new funding builds on HAF’s effort to improve Latino health by supporting researchers. In 2022-2023, Healthy Americas Research Consortium awarded $10,000 each to 10 scholars to help understand cervical cancer screening issues, experiences with accessing screening, and ways to increase Pap and HPV screening in Latino and other underserved communities. Projects utilized data from the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) All of Us Research Hub. NIH’s All of Us Research Program is a national campaign to collect and study data from 1 million or more Americans to help inform studies and accelerate research that ...

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The Devastating Cost of Cancer in Latinos



This year, over 2 million American will get a cancer diagnosis, including many Latinos. As one of the leading causes of death in Latinos in the U.S., one in five men and one in seven women who are Latino will die from the disease. Cancer also takes a heavy financial toll on patients, whose survival is dependent upon a variety of factors, including access to quality, often costly, healthcare treatments. Let’s explore the cost burden of cancer, and what to do about it. The Cost Burden of Cancer In 2018, patients and their families paid $5.6 billion out of pocket for cancer treatments, such as surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy drugs, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS). Americans spent a total of $183 billion on cancer-related healthcare in 2015 - an amount ...

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How Does Social Media Impact Teen Health?



35% of U.S. teens say they are using at least one of YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook “almost constantly,” according to Pew Research Center.  How does social media impact adolescent health?  There are complex benefits and harms, according to a new report that tackles the effects of social media on children and adolescents’ physical and mental health, from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM).  This is important for Latinos, 98% of whom own a smartphone and who are the highest-percentage users of Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, and WhatsApp among racial/ethnic groups.    “The use of social media—rather than having purely negative or positive impacts—is likely a constantly shifting calculus of the risky, the ...

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Dr. Amelie Ramirez: Address the Non-Medical Drivers of Health in Patients


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Where you live can have a big impact on your health. In fact, our health is influenced by a variety of non-medical drivers, such as the conditions in which we are born, grow, live, work, and age. These conditions are known as the non-medical drivers of health (NMDoH). Addressing NMDoH is key to improving health for Latinos and all people, said Dr. Amelie Ramirez, leader of Salud America! and the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio, in a panel presentation on Dec. 5, 2023, at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. "What we’re finding is that [issues with NMDoH can] negatively impact our health," Ramirez said. Screening for Non-Medical Drivers of Health (NMDoH) Studies suggest that NMDoH accounts for between 30-55% of health outcomes. NMDoH ...

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