The center is a joint project of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston ( UTHealth ) School of Public Health and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. It will engage the community at all levels to develop effective and culturally appropriate cancer prevention and control programs among Latinos.
According to the 2009 U.S. Census, Texas is home to 9.1 million Latinos - a relatively young and rapidly growing population.
"The number of Latino cancer cases is projected to increase dramatically in the next several decades. The center's efforts are designed to build capacity in the Latino community throughout the state to deliver evidence-based cancer prevention and control policies and interventions," says David Wetter, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Health Disparities Research at MD Anderson.
"It's a really exciting opportunity and collaboration because we're building on the strengths of both the UT Health School of Public Health and MD Anderson," says Maria Fernandez, Ph.D., associate professor of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences at the School of Public Health. "We bring our expertise in health promotion, intervention development and community-based participatory research, where the community participates fully in all aspects of the research process, and the already established regional infrastructure of the School of Public Health."
MD Anderson brings Mano a Mano, a Mexican-American cohort study, and the expertise in addressing cancer-related risk behaviors.
"Together, we can do so much more," says Fernandez.
The CNPC combines innovative research, a multi-faceted training program and extensive community outreach to reduce cancer-related health disparities in Latinos. READ MORE
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