Sheila Mota is the embodiment of resiliency. The Utah native has overcome a debilitating illness and the loss of her father to cancer, and is now committed to improving the delivery of healthcare and increasing the quality of life of those who “grew up on the wrong side of the train tracks.” She is a master’s-degree student in public health and healthcare administration at the University of Utah. She also is a health educator at the Health Advocate and Interactive Health, Inc., and is a certified medical assistant at Granger Medical Clinic in West Valley, Utah. She already has experience in front-line patient care and the design and implementation of programs to address health promotion and wellness, especially among the underserved. To further her training and ...
Araceli Guzman wants to make a difference for the Latino community. The California native is off to a good start. Guzman recently became her family’s first college graduate after earning a bachelor’s degree in public health promotion at California State University of Northridge. Now she is working on a master’s degree in public health, and gaining valuable research experience helping Latinos with disaster preparedness and working with Latinos in a reproductive health clinic. To further her training and education, Guzman applied for the Éxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program. The program, led by Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez at UT Health San Antonio with support from the National Cancer Institute, recruits 25 master’s-level students and professionals each ...
Thanks to her spiritual “Lita” who was a friend to all, Elena Martinez was taught to love all. And Martinez has already applied her caring attitude to the benefit of many people here in San Antonio, having actively participated in programs on obesity and cancer prevention, immunization education, health literacy, and youth mental health awareness. Martinez, a Dallas native, is currently a master’s-degree student in health and kinesiology at UT San Antonio. She earned a Certified Health Education Specialist status in 2013 and has helped plan and evaluate health initiatives and programs for all age groups in San Antonio. She also has played an active role in Building a Healthy Temple, a chronic disease prevention program at UTSA under Dr. Meizi He, since 2015. To further ...
Perseverance is the essence of Lizeth Tamayo’s character. She came with her family from Peru to the United States at age 4, and went from not knowing how to buy school supplies to now being a graduate student and Susan G. Komen Fellow. Tamayo is currently a master’s-degree student in public health epidemiology at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). As a Komen fellow at UIC, her research aims to better understand and eliminate health disparities in breast cancer. Tamayo’s parents paved the way for her, making sacrifices and struggling with language barriers to give her a better life in the United States. Now Tamayo is paving the way for her cousins and sibling by excelling in school. Her strong passion to solve Latino health disparities and break down cultural ...
“You’re not gonna know until you try.” That’s the motto Ashton Balarin’s parents used to grow her confidence, to try and reduce health disparities in her native Fiesta city of San Antonio. Balarin is certainly putting that motto to work. She graduated from UT San Antonio with a bachelor’s degree in public health, and is in her second year of graduate school for a master’s degree in health and kinesiology. As a graduate research assistant, Balarin also works on several projects, including a pilot study to reduce older adult men’s risk of getting prostate cancer by lowering their folic acid intake. She also wants to try to improve maternal health and breastfeeding rates in San Antonio. To further her training and education, Balarin applied for the Éxito! ...
Latinos are less likely than their peers to join potentially life-saving clinical trials. They often fear being treated like a guinea pig, are scared of being deported, and don’t trust doctors. Yuritzy Gonzalez Peña wants to change that. Peña wants to bust the myths about clinical trials among Latinos, and also boost community health by promoting beneficial policies and improved health systems. Peña, a native of Salem, Ore., earned her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in public health from Oregon State University. Because she understands the importance of evidence-based, practical, and multidisciplinary research, she is involved in many research projects. Her most recent projects have dealt with teen pregnancy in rural communities, chronic risk factors in migrant ...
Sylvia Peral knows the value of hard work. The native of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, learned it from her father, and worked two jobs to put herself through college. Peral also knows the crucial need to promote healthier lifestyles among low-income Latino families, who often face issues of obesity and disease. That’s why she is working hard to boost Latino health. She earned her bachelor’s degree in foreign languages with a concentration in Spanish in 2015 and her master’s-degree in public health with a concentration in health behavior in 2017 from the University of Alabama in Birmingham (UAB). She has spent the past three years working on a research program to address Latino cancer disparities at UAB’s Department of Preventive Medicine. She’s also interested in ...
“You’re never done, no matter how old you are. There’s always more you can do.” Eliani Uc, inspired by these words from her mother, has made the most out of the many changes and challenges in her life. In fact, the Mexico City native moved to San Antonio, learned a new language and culture, earned a bachelor’s degree in forensic science at Baylor University, earned a master’s degree in health in kinesiology at UT San Antonio, and now is pursuing her passion for nutrition and health promotion. Uc is currently a clinical registered dietitian at Methodist Healthcare System in San Antonio. Her research areas of interest are nutrigenetics, nutrigenomics, and their relation to cancer. To further her training and education, Uc applied for the Éxito! Latino Cancer ...
For Elidia Tafoya, calavera—the Spanish word for “skull”—has a positive connotation. It reminds her that opportunities in life are abundant. Tafoya is certainly taking advantage of growing opportunities to study health issues and promote healthy lifestyles among underserved populations. After earning her master’s degree in public health from San Jose State University in 2015, Tafoya has worked as a clinical researcher at Stanford School of Medicine. She manages several dermatologic projects, ranging from investigator-initiated, to industry, and federally funded clinical trials to test new therapies for skin conditions. Tafoya also has served as an advocate on a diabetes prevention program to reduce the risk of diabetes and minimize health disparities. Due to the ...
