About us: Introduction, Areas of focus, Future direction

Introduction

Salud En Acción: National Health Communication Research has extensive expertise in the fields of public health promotion, health research, health communication and community networking. We are among the most experienced research groups in the country with regard to working with the Hispanic/Latino community.

Although Latinos are the fastest-growing population in the U.S., they are among the most underrepresented and medically underserved in the nation. The principals and staff in the Salud En Acción research office understand the similarities, as well as the differences, of this diverse community and the opportunities present for primary prevention and control. Our successful track record in coalition building, collaborative partnerships with national, regional and local research organizations and our national network connections position us to take a leadership role in addressing the health disparities and issues of concern for the Hispanic/Latino population.

The Salud En Acción research office, located in San Antonio, Texas, is part of the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at the University of Texas Health Science Center (UTHSCSA) and operates under the direction of Amelie G. Ramirez, DrPH, Director, and Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Director of Outreach and Health Care Disparities at the Cancer Therapy and Research Center (CTRC). UTHSCSA also coordinates Redes En Acción, a major Community Networks Program (CNP) initiative funded by the National Cancer Institute that has established a national network of cancer research centers, community-based organizations and federal partners setting an agenda of Hispanic/Latino cancer issues and promoting research, training and awareness activities among this country’s 43 million Hispanics/Latinos. The CNP initiative is aimed at reducing cancer deaths and health disparities among minority and underserved populations through community-based cancer prevention and control activities in geographically and culturally diverse areas of the country.

Areas of Focus

Salud En Acción’s resources have primarily focused expertise and research efforts in the areas of:

Future Directions

Continuing to build upon the national framework of our current and past initiatives, as well as the research coalitions established with cancer research centers, community-based organizations and federal partners, Salud En Acción has prioritized these areas for future research efforts:

  • Theory-driven, population-based studies
  • Primary prevention
  • Hispanic/Latino and other underserved ethnic groups
  • Innovative applications of communication technology
  • Cancer communication efforts to further accelerate discovery to delivery

What's New

Amelie G. Ramirez, DrPH, Professor of Medicine at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio and Director of the Institute of Health Promotion Research, was recently honored with election to the prestigious Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies. The National Academies serve as independent advisers to the nation on science, engineering and medicine. Dr. Ramirez is a nationally recognized leader in research of cancer disparities affecting Latinos and other populations.

The Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR), part of the School of Medicine at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, on Sept. 6 announced the creation of Salud America! The National Latino Childhood Obesity Prevention Network, a new organization dedicated to reversing the epidemic of obesity among Latino children in the U.S. Salud America! will be funded by a five-year $5.2 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Amelie G. Ramirez, DrPH, is the network's principal investigator and director of the IHPR. learn more.