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Jacquelin Cordero: Health is a Social Justice Issue


CorderoJacquelin exito participant 2018

Jacquelin Cordero grew up on the borderplex (Cd. Juárez, Chih., MX – El Paso, Texas, US). As such, she’s very conscious of the impact of economic and societal differences and how it increases the disparities in her community. Cordero views adequate, accessible, and available health services as a human right and social justice issue. With the support of her parents, encouragement from her sisters, and a little pinole to energize her, she wants to use public health to address important mental health issues such as suicide prevention and substance use disorder. Even after dropping out of high school, she has always found a way to keep going, and that includes currently working on her graduate certificate of public health and master’s degree in social work at the University of ...

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Rossmary Marquez: From Political Turmoil to Public Health Promotion


MarquezRossmary Exito 2018 participant

With a strong support network and a tenacious spirit built from escaping political turmoil in her native Venezuela and moving to the United States a decade ago, Rossmary Marquez is persistent in her efforts to improve people’s health. Marquez completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Oregon and graduated from Texas A&M with a master’s degree in public health. Her research interests include immigration, health disparities, and minority health. Before starting her master’s degree studies, Marquez worked for the CDC as an emergency risk communicator and was involved in the Ebola and Zika response. With the Venezuelan charm as a continual reminder of her roots and her path, Marquez goes the extra mile to talk with people about their experiences and how that ...

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Natalie Alfaro-Perez: Hard-working Advocate for Latino Health


PerezANatalia exito participant 2018

Natalie Alfaro-Perez wasn’t spoiled growing up. In fact, her parents already had her mowing the lawn at age 8, among other chores. This instilled in her a hard-working attitude and created in her a determination to achieve success. She has put those values to work as a public health student and health educator in a federally qualified health center, and she’s pushing for more progress as a health equity advocate. Alfaro-Perez received her bachelor’s degree in health science from California State University Sacramento, and is currently working on her master’s degree in public health from California State University, Northridge. In her work as a health educator, she is able to provide education to patients regarding chronic illnesses, and weight management. To further ...

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Ramirez Named to National Committee on Science Communication


amelie ramirez health equity in 2014

Congratulations to Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, director of Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio! Ramirez was named to the National Academies of Medicine's Standing Committee on Advancing Science Communication Research and Practice on Nov. 7, 2018. The committee's mission is to engage partners to advance the field of science communication. That means building a more coherent knowledge base about approaches to communicating science, making it easier for science communication practitioners to access and use research to inform their practice, and supporting individuals and groups in communicating science outside the scientific enterprise. On the committee, Ramirez joins other practitioners and researchers from groups like Pew Charitable Trusts, America Public Health Association, and ...

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Emanuelle Dias: Using Research & Advocacy to Help At-Risk People


Éxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training, Emanuelle Dias

Emanuelle Dias, a proud Brazilian who grew up in Florida, has seen cancer affect her mom and grandma, which has driven her to dive into public health. Dias is a public health graduate student concentrating in public health education at the University of South Florida. She wants to work with at-risk communities and believes that both research and advocacy have the power to make a true impact in these communities. Dias wants to employ her patient demeanor and strong listening skills to accomplish her dreams of improving patient-provider communications and advocating for people in the community and sharing the human experience with one another. To further her experience and education, Dias applied for the Éxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program. The Éxito! ...

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Apply Now: Latino Cancer Research Training and Internships



Apply now for the 2019 Éxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program and optional $3,250 internships at the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at UT Health San Antonio, the organization that also runs Salud America!. Each year, the Éxito! program 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. At this next Éxito! summer institute, set for June 10-14, 2019 in San Antonio, participants will interact with Latino researchers, mentors, and doctoral experts to learn about Latino cancer, succeeding in a doctoral program, and the diversity of careers in cancer research. Ten optional internships also are available ...

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John Hernandez & Team Win Award for Creating Trauma-Sensitive Schools


John Hernandez san antonio ec isd trauma award

John Hernandez cares so much about students who experience trauma, such as neglect, that he started a committee and a system to identify, track, and support these kids and prevent drop-outs at East Central ISD in San Antonio. We at Salud America! were so inspired we nominated Hernandez and the committee for the 2018 Crystal Star Award. Now they've won! Hernandez and his committee, called EC Cares, received the Crystal Star Awards of Excellence in Dropout Recovery, Intervention, and Prevention in October 2018 from the National Dropout Prevention Center at their conference in Columbus, Ohio. Every year, the Center brings national recognition to outstanding individuals and programs making significant contributions to the advancement of dropout prevention. Hernandez and EC ...

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