Contact: Will Sansom
Phone: (210) 567-2579
E-mail: sansom@uthscsa.edu

RAMIREZ
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Amelie G. Ramirez, Dr.P.H., nationally recognized leader in research in cancer disparities affecting Hispanics and other populations, has been named professor in the department of epidemiology and biostatistics at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and director of outreach and health care disparities at the Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC). Dr. Ramirez also is the director of the new Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) in the Health Science Center School of Medicine.

Announcement of the new institute and Dr. Ramirez’s appointment was made recently by Karen Fields, M.D., president and CEO of CTRC, and Tyler Curiel, M.D., M.P.H., director of the San Antonio Cancer Institute (SACI) and assistant dean for cancer research at the Health Science Center. SACI, a National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center, is a partnership of the Health Science Center and CTRC.

The IHPR will coordinate the Health Science Center’s health disparities research and outreach programs in San Antonio, the Rio Grande Valley and South Texas. A primary goal of the IHPR will be to research the causes and solutions for health disparities affecting residents locally, regionally and nationally. Research and community outreach will include all chronic diseases, with special emphasis on cancer prevention and control.

“Dr. Ramirez has led groundbreaking work on health disparities and Hispanics,” Dr. Curiel said. “We are fortunate that she has chosen to join the Health Science Center and CTRC and continue relationships in this region that she has forged over a number of years.”

Dr. Fields said, “No one should be left behind in access to health care, and a clearer understanding of the issues involved in health disparities will benefit our entire region. Dr. Ramirez’s research fits perfectly with our patient care and research missions.”

Dr. Ramirez will hold a joint appointment at the Health Science Center, CTRC and SACI. She was formerly professor of medicine and director of the Office of Health Disparities Research in the Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), and deputy director of the Chronic Disease Prevention and Control Research Center at BCM.

Since 2000, Dr. Ramirez has served as principal investigator of a major National Cancer Institute-supported program, Redes En Acción: The National Latino Cancer Research Network, which created a national and regional infrastructure for collaboration among grassroots leaders, local communities, researchers and public health professionals to stimulate cancer control research, training and awareness. From 1992 to 1999, she directed the NCI-supported National Hispanic Leadership Initiative on Cancer: En Acción, a major nationwide study that initiated the first comprehensive assessment of cancer risk factors among the major populations of Hispanic men and women and implemented state-of-the-art cancer prevention and control strategies tailored to them.

Dr. Ramirez has directed numerous federal, state and privately funded research programs focusing on human and organizational communication to reduce chronic disease and cancer health disparities affecting Hispanics and other populations. Dr. Ramirez’s outstanding research record places her above the 95th percentile of the distribution of National Institutes of Health grants over the past 25 years, according to a review of NIH records. Current projects under her direction total more than $9 million in funding by NIH and other sources.

“This is a very exciting opportunity to incorporate and expand the health disparities research focusing on Hispanics and underserved populations that I have been involved in for the past 25 years,” Dr. Ramirez said. “The IHPR will advance social and behavioral public health through a wide range of activities – research, training, education, outreach and technical assistance – at both the local and national levels.”

Dr. Ramirez’s work in the fields of behavioral science and health communications has received national attention, including a presidential appointment to the National Cancer Advisory Board of the NCI. She has also served on the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Advisory Council of the National Institutes of Health.

Her numerous current appointments to national and state boards and councils include the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation’s National Health Advisory Council and the Board of Directors of the Lance Armstrong Foundation. She is chair of the Komen Foundation National Hispanic/Latina Advisory Council.

Her honors include the 2003 Humanitarian Award from the American Cancer Society and the 2004 Cancer Prevention Laurel for Dedication to Community Programs from the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation.

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The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is the leading research institution in South Texas and one of the major health sciences universities in the world. With an operating budget of $500 million, the Health Science Center is the chief catalyst for the $14 billion biosciences and health care industry, the leading sector in San Antonio’s economy. The Health Science Center has had an estimated $34 billion impact on the region since inception and has expanded to six campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. More than 22,000 graduates (physicians, dentists, nurses, scientists and allied health professionals) serve in their fields, including many in Texas. Our faculty are international leaders in cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, aging, stroke, kidney disease, orthopaedics, research imaging, transplant surgery, psychiatry and clinical neurosciences, pain management, genetics, nursing, allied health, dentistry and many other fields. For more information, visit www.uthscsa.edu.

About the Cancer Therapy & Research Center
Located in San Antonio, Texas, the Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC) is one of the nation’s leading academic research and treatment centers, serving more than 4.4 million people in the high-growth corridor of Central and South Texas including Austin, San Antonio, Laredo, and the Rio Grande Valley. CTRC handles more than 120,000 patient visits each year and is a world leader in developing new drugs to treat cancer. The CTRC Institute for Drug Development (IDD) is internationally recognized for conducting the largest oncology Phase I clinical drug trials program in the world. Fifteen of the cancer drugs most recently approved by the Food & Drug Administration underwent development or testing at the IDD. For more information, visit our Web site at www.ctrc.net.