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

Amelie G. Ramirez, Dr.P.H., is the network’s principal investigator and director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research.
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The Institute for Health Promotion Research, part of the School of Medicine at The University of Texas 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 United States.

Salud America! will be funded by a five-year, $5.2 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and will be based at the Institute for Health Promotion Research. The network seeks to unite and increase the number of scientists engaged in research on Latino childhood obesity in the hope of finding environmental and policy solutions to the epidemic.

A national crisis
“At least 15 percent of Latinos under age 19 are obese, heightening their risk of heart disease, cancer and other chronic disease. Many factors, from genetics to poor diet to low family income and no health insurance, contribute to the problem,” said Amelie G. Ramirez, Dr.P.H., the network’s principal investigator and director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research.

In the coming weeks, Salud America! will form an executive workgroup consisting of a dozen stakeholders committed to Latino childhood obesity research. The workgroup will identify and prioritize key issues, recruit a network of 150 members by the end of the program’s first year, survey those members to further refine priorities and plan a summit to draft a Latino childhood obesity research agenda in fall 2008.

Research boost
Salud America! also plans to develop a system to support up to 20 pilot research projects of up to $75,000 each. The goal of these projects will be to inform obesity-prevention efforts that are tailored to the specific needs of Latino children, their families and communities. Key findings will be communicated to scientists, policymakers and the public.

“We hope this will lead to changes that end Latino childhood obesity,” Dr. Ramirez said.

To enhance the research skills of young scientists, seasoned researchers and existing childhood obesity experts, the network also will offer training that will aid investigators’ career progression and grant-seeking efforts. By the end of the fifth year, the network expects to have 750 members ― and new means to combat Latino childhood obesity.

The foundation’s commitment
Salud America! is being funded as part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s $500 million initiative to reverse the epidemic of childhood obesity by 2015.

“To reverse the obesity epidemic and create a culture of health, we must provide families with better access to healthy choices,” said Laura Leviton, senior program officer at the foundation. “This new research network will help us tailor solutions to better serve Latino families and communities.”

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(This story was written by Cliff Despres of the Institute for Health Promotion Research.)

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health care issues facing our country. As the nation’s largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans, the foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, meaningful and timely change. For more than 35 years the foundation has brought experience, commitment and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those it serves. When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need, the foundation expects to make a difference in your lifetime.

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 $536 million, the Health Science Center is the chief catalyst for the $14.3 billion biosciences and health care sector in San Antonio’s economy. The Health Science Center has had an estimated $35 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. Health Science Center faculty are international leaders in cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, aging, stroke prevention, kidney disease, orthopaedics, research imaging, transplant surgery, psychiatry and clinical neurosciences, pain management, genetics, nursing, allied health, dentistry and many other fields.

Amelie G. Ramirez, Dr.P.H., is professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, director of outreach and health care disparities at the Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC) in San Antonio, and a member of the San Antonio Cancer Institute (SACI). She is director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research in the Health Science Center School of Medicine. She also serves as the associate director for community research with SACI, a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center that represents the combined cancer research programs of the U.T. Health Science Center and the CTRC. Dr. Ramirez has authored numerous peer-reviewed articles and is lead investigator on research projects funded by Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She received a master’s degree and a doctorate in public health from the School of Public Health at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Her undergraduate degree in psychology is from the University of Houston.