Profile: A Latina’s Upbringing Helps Her Focus on Improving Latino Health, Fitness



Unpaved roads. Lack of proper sewage. Inadequate water. Rose A. Treviño-Whitaker grew up among these third-world conditions that plague some colonias—mostly Latino unincorporated settlements in South Texas. That’s why she is dedicating her career to preventing disease and promoting public health as a researcher at the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio. She’s particularly interested in increasing physical activity. “Regardless of the neighborhood conditions I grew up in, I still led an active lifestyle. My sisters and I still went outside and had a great time playing soccer in the streets with the other neighborhood kids,” Treviño said. “It is hard to see that this is not the case anymore, in my old ...

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Sandra Acevedo: An Èxito! Grad Working to Prevent Diabetes



Editor's Note: This is the story of a graduate of the 2013 Èxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program. Apply by March 7, 2014, for the 2014 Èxito! program. Sandra Acevedo Torrance, Calif. When Sandra Acevedo first came to the United States at age 10, she didn’t know anybody who spoke Spanish like she did. But with the support of her family and mentors, Acevedo not only learned English but has gone on to earn a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from the University of California Riverside and a master’s in public health degree (with a focus on nutrition) from Loma Linda University. Acevedo currently works for a diabetes prevention and management program that provides services in underserved areas of Los Angeles County. In search of information about applying ...

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Monica Aguilar: An Èxito! Grad Blazes a Trail to Helping Others



Editor's Note: This is the story of a graduate of the 2013 Èxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program. Apply by March 7, 2014, for the 2014 Èxito! program. Monica Aguilar Downey, Calif. With a Belizean mother who always cared for others, offered support, and excelled in a health profession, Monica Aguilar was motivated to blaze her own trail to improve the lives of others. Aguilar got her start in health with a bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in health science. Today she gone on to serve as a community health educator, research assistant, and data manager for health education and health promotion projects, and now she is pursuing a master’s in public health degree at California State University Long Beach. Aguilar applied for the Éxito! Latino ...

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Lani Alcaraz: An Èxito! Grad Overcoming Hurdles to Higher Education



Editor's Note: This is the story of a graduate of the 2013 Èxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program. Apply by March 7, 2014, for the 2014 Èxito! program. Lani Alcaraz Houston, Texas Lani Alcaraz watched her father overcome many hardships and poverty in Mexico to become a doctor. Encouraged by his success, Alcaraz developed her own sense of perseverance and ambition and earned a bachelor’s degree in microbiology (with a minor in chemistry) and her certificate in public health from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston in January 2010. Alcaraz is currently pursuing her master’s in public health in epidemiology with a concentration in maternal and child health at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Her research ...

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Sanae El Ibrahimi: An Èxito! Grad Promoting Health for All, Regardless of Culture



Editor's Note: This is the story of a graduate of the 2013 Èxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program. Apply by March 7, 2014, for the 2014 Èxito! program. Sanae El Ibrahimi Las Vegas, Nevada Growing up in Morocco and traveling abroad gave Sanae El Ibrahimi a passion for learning about other cultures. El Ibrahimi also is passionate in her belief that everyone has the right to health and well-being so that they can achieve their purpose in life, no matter what their culture. In keeping with this belief, she obtained her undergraduate degree in business administration and a master’s degree in international economics from Mohammed V University (Rabat, Morocco). She is currently pursuing a master’s of public health at The University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Her ...

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Latino Health in Focus: Cooking Up Latino Dishes to Fight Cancer



Find the latest advances in Latino health—like a new cookbook with cancer-fighting recipes—in IHPR Noticias, the newsletter from the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, the team behind SaludToday. IHPR Noticias has these stories and more: Cookbook: Local Latinas’ Tasty Recipes Get Cancer-Fighting Makeover (Pg 1) Profile: Inspired by Her Youth to Give Back...The Story of the IHPR's Rose A. Trevino (Pg 2) New Guide: How to Increase Latino Accrual to Cancer Clinical Trials (Pg 3) New Website: How to Grow a Healthy Change for Latino Kids (Pg 4) Study: Study: Promotores de Salud Help Diabetic Latinos Improve Health (Pg 6) Story: Latinos, Why is Organ and Sample Donation Important? (Pg ...

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A New Wave of Salud Heroes for Healthy Change



How can... ...you be a Salud Hero? (Page 1) ...researchers give Latina teens a (photo) voice to impact their community? (Page 3) ...Latino bodegas get healthier? (Page 5) Find out in the latest Salud America! E-newsletter. Salud America! The RWJF Research Network to Prevent Obesity Among Latino Children is a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The program aims to unite and increase the number of Latino stakeholders engaged in community change and research on environmental and policy solutions to the epidemic. The network is directed by the Institute for Health Promotion Research at The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio. Don't forget to share your stories at our new Salud America! Growing Healthy Change website. We can help you get a national ...

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Wendy Ramirez: An Èxito! Grad Serving as a Role Model for LGBT Youth



Editor's Note: This is the story of a graduate of the 2013 Èxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program. Apply by March 7, 2014, for the 2014 Èxito! program. Wendy Ramirez South Gate, Calif. Wendy Ramirez uses her outgoing personality to put her own stamp on improving public health. She already has a grant for a research project, she has presented data at several professional conferences, and she hopes to offer support and a role model to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth. Ramirez, who has a bachelor’s degree in health education and is currently working on her master’s in public health degree at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), is a graduate research fellow with the NCLR/CSULB Center for Latino Community. Ramirez decided to ...

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Margarita Chavez: An Èxito! Grad Using Karate Experience for Public Health



Editor's Note: This is the story of a graduate of the 2013 Èxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program. Apply by March 7, 2014, for the 2014 Èxito! program. Margarita Chavez Albuquerque, N.M. With a mother and father who are both martial artists who actually first met at a tournament, it isn’t surprising that Margarita Chavez is an accomplished martial artist herself and has trained more than 400 adults and children at her family’s martial arts studio in Albuquerque, N.M. But earning a 6th-degree black belt in karate and becoming a skilled teacher takes years of intense training and dedication—something that Chavez is now applying to the arena of public health. She has spent time as a patient navigator and earned a bachelor’s degree in health education and a ...

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