Get Involved with MCC

Community Outreach

The south Texas community is rich in culture, cuisine, and terrain. From the hill country hills to the gulf coasts, our environments are complex, and its residents are multicultural and diverse. Each person residing in the southwest community brings a unique genetic makeup to the community, and the environments where they learn, work, play and worship, add to the complex makeup of the region. 

These complexities often bring multifaceted causes of and answers to how to prevent and treat cancers that unequally burden the southwest community.

These answers are also often in the stories we tell each other and experiences we share. Our goal at Community Outreach and Engagement is to connect with our community members. When we are available to them, we can listen to their stories and better understand the experiences our community members have, so we can better understand how to prevent and treat cancer. 

We achieve this by attending community events, working directly with our community advisory partners, creating educational material designed with our community in mind and participating in impactful research.

If you would like more information about how to join our efforts, please email us: coe@uthscsa.edu

Design Studios

To provide community voice in our research, to impact research processes, and to increase study recruitment and retention, we created Design Studios. 

Design Studios are informal meetings where community experts provide researchers with feedback on their research ideas and designs. In these 1.5-hour meetings, a researcher will give up to 10 community experts a presentation and ask them to answer questions and provide feedback based on the information provided. 

The design studio meetings occur during hours that are convenient for you and the researcher. The meetings can occur virtually or in person.

  1. Request a design studio link to form: https://redcap.link/mcc_ds_researcher

What is a community expert?

What is a community expert?

A community expert is a member of the community who is at least 18 years of age and is or has experienced any of the following:

  • Active member in your community or experience working with members of the community; or 
  • Has experienced cancer as a patient or caregiver; or 
  • Has experienced a serious medical illness or disease as a patient or caregiver; or  
  • Want to make a positive impact in the medical health of their community 

We do not require prior working experience or prior knowledge in the health or medical industry. 

What to expect by becoming a community expert
  • Provide community voice in research 
  • Impact research processes 
  • Better understand research 
  • Increase recruitment and retention

For more information about our design studies, please email: coe@uthscsa.edu or call (210) 450 – 8985. 

Become a community expert link to form.

Listening Sessions

At The Mays Cancer Center (MCC) Community Outreach and Engagement (COE) team ensures MCC research and practices are receptive to the needs of catchment area population. Our listening sessions allow us to gain understanding of the communities within each county in our catchment area. 

Listening session goals
  • Understanding of your community and community needs
  • Understanding of the cancer burden in your community 
  • Understanding the communities’ experiences and barriers to accessing cancer screening and care information 
Listening Session Meetings
  • Meet with South Texas residents (8 – 12 adults) in person or virtually 
  • Each session is about 90 minutes to 2 hours long
  • Meetings available in English or Spanish
Post Listening Session
  • A summary of the session will be released via email to MCC leadership and researchers 
  • Findings from all sessions will be used to write a formal report
  • Findings will be used to improve MCC research and programming
The COE team will provide the following to ensure a successful listening session:
  • Prepare listening session documents 
    • Flyers 
    • Scripts 
    • Facilitator guides 
    • Email/text templates 
  • Listening sessions day-of preparation 
  • Facilitate listening sessions 
If you’re interested in hosting a session

We ask that the co-host organization: 

  • Assist with identifying listening session’s location 
  • Increase local awareness and promotion of listening sessions 
  • Assist with recruitment of community members 

For more information to co-host a session, contact the COE team at: coe@uthscsa.edu or call (210) 450 – 8985.

Cancer Health Equity

Avanzando Caminos (Leading Pathways) Study

The Avanzando Caminos (Leading Pathways): Hispanic/Latino Cancer Survivorship Study is a six-year observational study that will enroll 3,000 Hispanic/Latino cancer survivors in South Texas and South Florida. We want to understand the social, cultural, behavioral, mental, biological, and medical influences on the post-cancer life of the Hispanic/Latino community. 

This study is funded by the National Cancer Institute and is affiliated with the University of Texas at San Antonio Mays Cancer Center and the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center and. 

We’re looking for volunteers to join our study! Volunteers like you can help future generations of Hispanic/Latino cancer survivor .

Who Can Join? 

We are building the first-of-its-kind, national cohort of Hispanic/Latino cancer survivors. As we all know, the Hispanic/Latino community is not monolithic. Both South Florida and South Texas make up a rich, diverse tapestry of peoples, including Cubans, South Americans, Central Americans, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, and Mexican-Americans. 

To enroll, you must meet the following criteria:

  • Age: 18 years or older
  • Able to read in English or Spanish
  • Willing to attend study visits 
  • Completed primary treatment for breast, prostate, colon, kidney, liver, lung, stomach, or uterine cancer within the past five years 

If you’re interested in participating, please call 210-562-6514 or email us at Caminos@uthscsa.edu. 

 

PCORI Creando Conexiones (Creating Connections)

Creando Conexiones: Cancer Health Equity Research Agenda is a project created to outline research priorities identified by South Texas cancer survivors, caregivers, and community members. 

In South Texas, people have a higher risk of liver cancer, cervical cancer, and pediatric leukemia than the nation. This project will rely on survivors and community members as a guide to build research to better serve the people of South Texas who are affected by the cancers that are plaguing South Texas. 

The Creando Conexiones Coalition is made up of cancer survivors and caregivers. If you’re a cancer survivor or caregiver, you can join the Creando Conexiones coalition to help guide research, outreach, and training at the Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio!

Coalition members can be: 

  • Individuals who live in the Mays Cancer Center 38-county South Texas catchment area 
  • English or Spanish speakers
  • A survivor or caregiver touched by liver cancer, cervical cancer, and/or pediatric leukemia; or
  • A researcher engaging in research related to liver cancer, cervical cancer, and/or pediatric leukemia; or
  • A clinician or oncologist who provides care or treat patients with liver cancer, cervical cancer, and/or pediatric leukemia. 

Coalition members meet monthly. For more questions about the The Creando Conexiones, contact the program team at coe@uthscsa.edu or 210- 450-8985.

The coalition is directed by an executive committee and a core team led by Dr. Rebecca Jones. The project is supported by the Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Awards (Engagement Awards) program, an initiative of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).

Become a Creando Conexiones Coalition member.

Avanzando Equidad de Salud (ACS Equity Center)

UT Health San Antonio is home to the “Avanzando Equidad de Salud: Latino Cancer Health Equity Research Center.” The Center, launched in February 2023, is supported by a 4-year, $4.08-million grant from the American Cancer Society in response to the severe cancer burden facing Latinos in South Texas. The Center is uniting South Texas research scholars and the community in a combination of community-engaged research, training, patient assessment, and advocacy to reduce health disparities across the cancer care continuum by targeting social determinants of health that prevent Latinos from obtaining equitable care. The aim is to reduce the risks for South Texans in developing cancer and improving their quality of life should they be diagnosed with cancer. The Center is led by Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, who also leads the Salud America! Latino health equity program, the Department of Population Health Sciences, the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio, as well as the community outreach and engagement team at Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio. To learn more, email despres@uthscsa.edu.