Daniel Carlos Hughes thought he wanted to be a chemical engineer. He worked at Dow Chemical for 23 years, moving up to a middle management position. But then he had a midlife crisis. Now he works as a kinesiologist focuses on sport and exercise psychology. He researches holistic interventions for cancer prevention and with an emphasis on exercise and stress in Latina breast cancer survivors as a faculty member of the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at UT Health San Antonio. While the career switch was risky and required many years of schooling, Hughes is glad to have found a calling where he can help cancer survivors live longer, fitter, better lives.
Hughes, a First Generation Mexican American in His Second Career
Hughes was born in Mexico City. His family ...
Cancer affects different people differently. For Latinos, the cancer survivorship journey is shaped by cultural and spiritual beliefs. Latinos also face struggles with barriers to care, screening, clinical trial participation, and patient-doctor communication. This is the focus of a new Spanish-language Facebook Live event, “Supervivencia: Viviendo a través y más allá del cáncer," set for 6-7:30 p.m. CST Monday, May 19, 2021. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) South Texas Chapter is sponsoring the event. Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio will host the event on its Facebook page. Register here for the Facebook Live event. The event will feature: Dr. José Cruz, MD, is a hematology and oncology expert with the Methodist Healthcare's Adult Blood and Marrow ...
One of the most dangerous forms of cancer is bladder cancer. This is especially true for Latinos, who experience lower rates of bladder cancer, but worse survival rates due to many factors, according to a new study led by UT Health San Antonio. “Latinos are vulnerable to poverty-related health conditions and may lack health insurance or financial means to pay for quality health care and use fewer preventive care services than other ethnic groups, which may be related to worse [bladder cancer] survival rates in Latinos,” according to Dr. Shenghui Wu of the Department of Population Health Sciences, who led the study along with Salud America! Director Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez and other researchers in the Department of Urology, the Mays Cancer Center, and the Institute for Health ...
Cancer impacts—and kills—too many people across the US, especially among Latinos. There are many reasons behind Latino cancer health disparities, including systemic racism and discrimination, cultural and language barriers, and a lack of clinical trial participation. As Latinos continue to deal with inequitable rates of cancer, as well as a lack of equitable care, we need greater action from all sectors to help in this issue. Let’s tweet with #SaludTues to raise awareness of challenges and solutions to Latino cancer disparities, and boost participation from the Latino community in clinical trials! WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: “The State of Latino Cancer”
WHERE: Twitter
WHEN: 1-2 p.m. ET (12-1 p.m. CT), Tuesday, May 4, 2021
HOST: Salud America! at UT ...
Did you know that Latinos represent 18.5% of the U.S. population, but are less than 10% of those in federal cancer and drug studies? This makes it hard for researchers to create treatments that work best for Latinos. To engage more Latinos in research, the Salud America! program at UT Health San Antonio has received a three-year, $650,000 grant from Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, to create Latino-focused recruitment strategies and systems for clinical trials in cancer treatment and Alzheimer’s disease. Salud America!, established in 2007, produces culturally relevant multimedia research, tools, and stories to fuel its digital network—over 400,000 moms and dads and health, community, and school leaders across the nation—to change systems and environments toward ...
January is Cervical Health Awareness Month. Each year, more than 13,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer in the United States. This cancer is hurting communities of color, with Latinas being at a high risk of being diagnosed. But cervical cancer is preventable. Stopping cervical cancer for all communities means education about the causes, prevention, and treatment of HPV and cervical cancer. Join #SaludTues on Jan. 19, 2021, at 1:00 PM EST to tweet about what we can do to stop cervical cancer. WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: “What Can We Do to Stop Cervical Cancer?”
DATE: Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2020
TIME: 1:00-2:00 p.m. EST (10:00-11:00 p.m. PST)
WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues
HOST: @SaludAmerica
CO-HOSTS: Cervivor (@IamCervivor), ...
Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, director of Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio, discussed Latina breast cancer in a livestream interview for the Alamo Breast Cancer Foundation at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium on Dec. 7, 2020. Watch the full interview (in Spanish). Ramirez has led Latina-focused breast cancer research for over 20 years. She has studied patient navigation, genetic testing, clinical trials, quality of life, and survivorship issues. "Cancer prevention is a critical way to save people’s lives today," said Ramirez, who also hosts the biannual Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos conference. "If we applied what we know works through prevention, we could reduce cancer by half."
Dr. Ramirez & Her Healthy Equity Research
Ramirez is an ...
By Myra Camino
Breast Cancer Survivor in San Antonio I am a 42 year-old mother of two beautiful little boys (6 and 9 years old). I am a wife and have been married for 11 years to the love of my life Richard. I have been a mentor with Big Brothers Big Sisters for over 15 years. I am currently mentoring my third little sister. Because of my work as a mentor I was chosen as the 2018 National Big Sister of the Year for Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. In August of 2016, at the age of 37, I was diagnosed with stage 3 invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) breast cancer. After 16 rounds of chemo I was re-diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. The cancer had spread to my spine. I was fortunate enough to have the cyberknife radiation, which took care of the cancer in my ...
Apply now for the 2021 Éxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program and optional $3,250 internships from the Institute for health Promotion Research (IHPR) at UT Health San Antonio! Each year, Éxito! recruits 25 U.S. master’s level students and professionals to participate in a five-day, culturally tailored Éxito! summer institute to promote pursuit of a doctoral degree and cancer research. COVID-19 postponed the 2020 Éxito! program. Now applications for 2021 are open with limited spots available. At the next Éxito! summer institute, set for June 7 -11, 2021, in San Antonio, participants will interact with Latino researchers, mentors, and doctoral experts. They will learn about Latino cancer, succeeding in a doctoral program, and the diversity of careers ...
