Webinar: Tipping the Scales Toward Health

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Obesity is a critical risk factor for diabetes and cancer.

Find out the latest in obesity prevention and management at UT Health San Antonio’s webinar, “Tipping the Scales Toward Health,” at 11 a.m. Central on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.

The webinar will feature experts from the Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio, the Metropolitan Health District of the City of San Antonio, and Genentech to explore the issue of obesity and related chronic health conditions like diabetes and related cancers that are impacting South Texas.

Panelists will discuss strategies for obesity management, diabetes management, and promoting a healthy weight. They will also address the non-medical drivers of health and share available resources and support for healthy lifestyles and the prevention of obesity, diabetes, and related cancers.

This is a part of a webinar series, “Let’s Improve Health in South Texas and Beyond.”

The series is a collaboration of the Salud America! program, the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio, the Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio, and Genentech.

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Learn about the Speakers for this Webinar on Obesity and Diabetes Prevention

Here are the panelists for the webinar.

Panelist presentations and a discussion will be moderated by Dr. Amelie Ramirez.

Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez (moderator), an internationally recognized researcher in health promotion and behavioral change, is director of Salud America! and leader of the Institute for Health Promotion Research in the Department of Population Health Sciences at UT Health San Antonio. She has spent over 30 years directing research on human and organizational communication to reduce chronic disease and cancer among all people, including cancer risk factors, clinical trial recruitment, tobacco prevention, and obesity prevention. She also is associate director of cancer outreach and engagement at the NCI-designated Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio.

Dr. Carolina Solis-Herrera is Associate Professor and Chief of the Endocrinology Division and Medical Director of the Diabetes, Obesity and Endocrinology Clinics at the University of Texas Health at San Antonio. Additionally, she is a physician- scientist and translational-clinical trialist with interests in diabetes and metabolic pathophysiology, mechanisms of action of novel metabolic drugs and cardio-renal endocrinology, obesity and its complications. She has skills in multiple research techniques, including assessment of beta-cell function with different insulin clamp techniques, insulin sensitivity, measurement of endogenous glucose production, indirect calorimetry, PET/radioactive tracers, MRI/MRS and assessment of myocardial fuel metabolism among others. Later, she re-trained in Internal Medicine and Endocrinology at UTHSA and is board certified on both. During this time, she continued to pursue her passion in Translational and Clinical Research in Diabetes and Metabolism, where she has secured significant Grant Funding. Dr Solis-Herrera is also a Voelcker Scholar and is well published in highly-esteemed peer-reviewed journals. She is a Voelcker and a Doris Duke Scholar and she is actively involved with multiple local, national and international associations and is an active member of AACE, ADA and EASD. She also serves as associate editor and reviewer of multiple diabetes journals, and is passionate about teaching the next generation of endocrinologists and scientists about diabetes and metabolic disease.

Dr. Ramon Cancino is an associate professor/clinical in the Department of Family & Community Medicine at UT Health San Antonio, director of the UT Health Physicians Primary Care Center, senior medical director of medical management, and co-chair of UT Health San Antonio Mays Cancer Center Cancer Prevention & Screening Committee. He oversees seven primary care locations delivering patient-centered team-based care to the diverse patient population of San Antonio and South Texas. Practices are staffed by academic primary care clinicians, including family medicine and internal medicine clinicians, pediatricians, gerontologists, pharmacists, and psychologists. He works closely with senior leadership to guide primary care and value-based care strategy and oversees primary care medical directors who lead UT Health San Antonio practices towards organization-wide goals. He oversees cancer prevention and screening activities at UT Health San Antonio and co-leads a committee made up of every medical specialty with a focus on the health equity issues affecting our community. He currently oversees a multi-disciplinary project to enhance lung cancer screening in partnership with American Cancer Society. Prior to working at UT Health San Antonio, he was chief medical officer at a federally qualified health center in Boston, MA. He completed his family medicine resident at Mayo Clinic. He received a master of science in health services research from Boston University School of Public Health and a master in business administration from University of Texas at San Antonio.

Julius Hunter is a senior management coordinator with the City of San Antonio who oversees Metro Health’s Diabetes Prevention & Control program. Through peer-led health education workshops, community outreach, media awareness campaigns and advocacy, this program reaches over 20,000 San Antonio and Bexar county residents annually. Mr. Hunter is a PhD candidate at Our Lady of the Lake University. His dissertation looks at the relationships between Body Mass Index, Positive Psychology and Authentic Leadership. Shaped by his professional experience and his personal journey of losing over 100lbs through diet and exercise, Mr. Hunter is passionate about helping others live healthier lives and being a community advocate for a healthier San Antonio.

Dr. Pierre R. Theodore, based in South San Francisco, serves with Roche-Genentech, addressing issues accessing novel pharmaceutical technologies. A member of the teaching faculty of Stanford University, Pierre is a board-certified Cardiothoracic Surgeon and has held a range of leadership roles in industry and global public health focused on health.

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Behind the Webinar Series on Health

The “Let’s Improve Health in South Texas and Beyond” webinar series is a collaboration of the Salud America! program at the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio, the Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio, and Genentech.

Salud America!, headquartered at the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio, is a national Latino-focused organization that creates culturally relevant and research-based stories, videos, and tools to inspire people to start and support healthy changes to policies, systems, and environments where Latino children and families can equitably live, learn, work, and play.

The Mays Cancer Center, also called the UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center, has a mission to decrease the burden of cancer in San Antonio, South Texas and beyond. We bring South Texas a level of exceptional care that is comparable with the nation’s most respected programs. More patients put their trust in our program because we have a unique understanding of our community’s cancer care needs. We excel in delivering advanced therapies.

Founded more than 40 years ago as the first biotechnology company, Genentech is dedicated to the rigorous pursuit of science and the development and delivery of life-changing medicines for people facing serious diseases. Headquartered in South San Francisco, California and a proud member of the Roche Group, our community is united by a common purpose and sense of urgency to transform the future of healthcare. Learn more at gene.com.

register for the webinar!