by 
Share On Social!
Dr. Amelie Ramirez, leader of Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio, is among 15 new inductees to the San Antonio Women’s Hall of Fame.
Since 1984, the San Antonio Women’s Hall of Fame has annually inducted women from Bexar and surrounding counties who have shaped the future of San Antonio and paved the way for women in Texas business, service, education, and more.
Ramirez is recognized in the “health” category, where she will join 32 other women from public health, health promotion, medicine, nursing, and more.
Ramirez and the other new inductees were inducted at an event in San Antonio on March 4, 2023.
“I am humbled to join the San Antonio Women’s Hall of Fame. I wholeheartedly support its mission to help local women pursue a college education, seek ongoing individual development, and spark action to improve life for the people in our community,” Ramirez said.
Dr. Ramirez & Her Healthy Equity Research
Ramirez is an internationally recognized health disparities researcher at UT Health San Antonio.
Here, she is professor and chair of the Department of Population Health Sciences and director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio. She also is associate director of cancer outreach and engagement at the Mays Cancer Center.
For more than 30 years, Ramirez gained experience developing research and communication models to improve Latino health locally and nationally.
She currently directs the Salud America! national multimedia program to empower its vast network of over 500,000 community and school leaders to drive healthy policy and system changes to promote health equity and support for Latino families.
“Our mission is to inspire people to drive community change for health equity for Latino and all families,” Ramirez said.
Dr. Ramirez & Her Latino Cancer and Education Research
Ramirez conducts breast cancer disparities research on quality of life and survivorship issues.
For example, she leads a team — including Drs. Daniel Carlos Hughes and Patricia Chalela at UT Health San Antonio — that is conducting a holistic intervention to improve Latina breast cancer survivors’ physical, mental, and spiritual well-being, thanks to a grant from Susan G. Komen. This project is based on pilot work in holistic care.
She also directs Quitxt, a bilingual tobacco-cessation service for young Latino adults using mobile-phone text messages, funded by the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas.
She also launched the Avanzando Equidad de Salud: Latino Cancer Health Equity Research Center supported by the American Cancer Society.
“We aim to help reduce the risks for South Texans in developing cancer and improving their quality of life should they be diagnosed with cancer,” Ramirez said.
One of her aims is to improve Latino participation in clinical trials.
She is creating new ways to encourage Latinos to volunteer for cancer clinical trials and Alzheimer’s clinical trials. This work is supported by a grant from Genentech, a member of the Roche Group.
Ramirez also leads the South Texas site of the Avanzando Caminos study. Avanzando Caminos aims to enroll 1,500 Latino cancer survivors in South Texas and 1,500 more in Miami to help unpack the social, cultural, behavioral, mental, biological, and medical influences on post-cancer life.
Ramirez also has trained/mentored more than 250 Latinos in health fields.
She leads the National Cancer Institute-funded Éxito! training program to help master’s-level students and professionals pursue a doctoral degree and cancer research career. Of 226 Éxito! trainees since 2011, over 26% have enrolled in or graduated from a doctoral program.
“We work hard to enable Latinos take the next steps from a master’s degree to get their doctoral degree and focus on careers in Latino cancer research and prevention,” Ramirez said.
Dr. Ramirez & Her Service, Recognition
Ramirez is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine.
She also is a Susan G. Komen Scholar, is on the prize jury for the Fries Prize for Improving Health Award and the Elizabeth Fries Health Education Award, and is a past member of the National Advisory Council on Minority Health and Health Disparities of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.
In Texas, she is on the San Antonio Mayor’s Fitness Council and is Past Board President of the The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas (TAMEST).
Additional recognition includes:
- 2011: White House Champion of Change
- 2014: APHA Everett M. Rogers Public Health Communication Award
- 2018: Icons in Healthcare Award from CentroMed
- 2018: Leadership of the 1st Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos conference
- 2019: Lifetime Achievement Award in Health Equity from the Society of Behavioral Medicine
- 2019: Bluebonnet Award of the Texas Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
- 2020: Leadership of the 2nd Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos conference
- 2020: CDC Board of Directors
- 2021: Heroes of the Fight Against COVID-19 of Latino Leaders magazine
- 2021-2022: Chair of the the Women in Cancer Research Council of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
- 2022: Leadership of the 3rd Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos conference
- 2022: Outstanding Support of Hispanic Issues Award from the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education, Inc.
- 2024: Leadership of the 4th Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos conference
In 2022, TV personality Oprah Winfrey selected Ramirez as a “Cycle Breaker” for her groundbreaking work to build health equity in the Latino community.
Watch the episode featuring Ramirez!
Ramirez earned M.P.H. and Dr.P.H. degrees from UT Health Science Center at the Houston School of Public Health.
She is a native of Laredo, Texas.
By The Numbers
50
percent
of big U.S cities have a local board of health
