Benjamin Aceves: An Èxito! Grad Working to Help People Get Healthy

by

Share On Social!

Editor’s Note: This is the story of a graduate of the 2014 Èxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program. Apply now for the 2015 Èxito! program.

Benjamin AcevesBenjamin Aceves
Bloomington, Calif.

Growing up in the mainly low-income, Latino areas of Baja, Calif., and Coahuila Mexico, Benjamin Aceves developed a compassion for his community.

He decided he wanted to help people get healthier.

So, not only did Aceves become his family’s first-ever college graduate with a degree in political science and German, he also earned a master’s degree in health promotion and behavioral science and a master’s degree in Latino America Studies from San Diego State University.

He now works across Southern California to increase awareness in nutrition and physical activity among Latino communities.

To explore how to take his work and educational career to a new level, Aceves found and decided to apply for the Éxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program, which offers a five-day summer institute and internships to encourage master’s-level students and health professionals to pursue a doctoral degree and a cancer research career.

Aceves said he learned a lot about cancer and doctoral programs at the Éxito! Summer Institute, and it has given him “the confidence to succeed.”

Éxito!, a program funded by the National Cancer Institute and directed by the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, will select 20 master’s-level students and health professionals from across the nation to attend a five-day summer institute in June 2015, in San Antonio, offering research information, tools, tips, role models and motivation to encourage participants to pursue a doctoral degree and a career studying how cancer affects Latinos differently. Participants also are eligible to apply for one of several internships. Apply here.

By The Numbers By The Numbers

25.1

percent

of Latinos remain without health insurance coverage

Share your thoughts