Interactive videos featuring real Latina cancer survivors talking about clinical trials can help Latina breast cancer patients consider trials as a treatment option, according to a new pilot study led by Dr. Amelie Ramirez of UT Health San Antonio. The study, published in Translation Behavioral Medicine, tested the videos with 77 Latina breast cancer patients at Mays Cancer Center. Researchers randomly assigned 39 Latinas to a control group and 38 to a test group. Then test group received "Choices," a 30-minute interactive educational video program in English or Spanish about clinical trials and common barriers (delivered on a computer in the clinic). "Choices" also included a bilingual booklet and access to a patient navigator for care coordination. Control participants received ...
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 ...
Did you know fewer than 5% percent of Latinos participate in federal clinical trials? Researchers thus have less chance to develop new cancer treatments for this population, which suffers a heavy burden of certain cancers, obesity, and mental health issues. Let’s use #SaludTues on Tuesday, April 4, 2017, to tweet in English and Spanish about the latest strategies to get more Latino into clinical trials for National Minority Health Month in April 2017 and National Public Health Week April 3-9, 2017: WHAT: #SaludTues Bilingual Tweetchat: “Clinical Trials and Latinos”
TIME/DATE: 1-2 p.m. ET (Noon-1 p.m. CT), Tuesday, April 4, 2017
WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues
HOST: @SaludToday
CO-HOSTS: FDA Office of Minority Health (@FDAOMH), FDA En Español ...
Breast cancer patients given information about clinical trials in multiple ways, including a tailored video on breast cancer clinical trials, had much greater awareness of trials than patients who got usual-care information, according to new data. After receiving the extra information—an interactive video about clinical trials, a bilingual booklet, and access to a patient navigator who can help answer their questions—the proportion of Latina breast cancer patients taking steps toward participating in a clinical trial increased from 38% to 75%, according to the study. The study was led by researchers from the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at UT Health San Antonio and presented at an American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) conference Nov. 9-12, 2014, in ...
Only 5% percent of Latinos participate in federal clinical trials, far less than their 19.5% makeup of the US population. This gives researchers fewer chances to find new cancer treatments for this population, which can benefit all people. What can a health agency do to get more people into clinical trials? A new guide, Clinical Trials Outreach: Program Replication Manual, developed by researchers at the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at UT Health San Antonio, was created to help health agencies reach into communities and increase participation in cancer clinical trials to better reflect the US population. With the guide, a health agency can: Learn about cancer clinical trials;
Learn about donation of biospecimens (human materials such as skin, hair, and ...
As a child in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, Dr. Eneida Nemecek learned the effort it takes to earn an education by literally going to college with her parents as they sought their degrees. “My parents are very young. I kind of went to college with both of them in the back of the classroom,” Nemecek said. “My dad ended up going to graduate school, also when I was still a little kid. We went to law school with him, too.” Nemecek followed her parents’ footsteps and eventually got her doctoral degree. Today she’s helping improve Latino health through clinical trial participation as associate director for clinical research at the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) Knight Cancer Institute and professor of pediatrics and medical oncology at OHSU.
Developing a Passion for ...
From recruiting study participants to seeking approval from a university’s Institutional Review Board (IRB), there are so many facets of clinical research. When considering how to navigate it, look no further than the University of Texas at Austin’s Dell Medical School's Nuts and Bolts of Executing a Clinical or Population Research Study virtual series. This series aims to help researchers achieve research success by giving them the tools they need to make a positive impact in healthcare.
About the ‘Nuts and Bolts’ Program
The series consists of one-hour discussion forums spanning several topics aligned with running a clinical or population research study. Previous topics include recruitment and retention, navigating IRBs, HIPAA ...
Do you have dense breasts? Half of US women have dense breasts, but many don’t even know it or know how it impacts their breast health. Watch UT Health San Antonio’s webinar on breast density, mammography, “Difference in Density: Why it Matters for Your Breast Health,” at 12 p.m. Central on Wednesday, January 28, 2026. This webinar featured experts from the Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio, a breast cancer survivor with firsthand experience with dense breasts, and a representative from the Susan G. Komen foundation. Together, they discussed how to talk to your doctor about dense breasts and the steps you should take to monitor your breast health following a dense breast diagnosis. With this knowledge, patients can feel empowered to talk to ...
Researchers are working hard to find new ways to treat triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), an aggressive disease. However, many Latina and Hispanic women face challenges in TNBC diagnosis, treatment access, and supportive care. Patients and caregivers from these communities often navigate complex health systems and deal with non-medical drivers of health. To address these issues and apply findings to all populations, Medlive, a digital health education platform, with the support of Gilead Sciences, Inc., partnered with Salud America! and Surviving Breast Cancer.org to design an educational initiative to align TNBC learning experiences for clinicians, patients, and caregivers. Medlive published their results in an abstract for the 2025 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium ...
