Brianda Alcazar: An Èxito! Grad Who Uses Her Immigrant Experience to Improve People’s Lives

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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.

Brianda AlcazarBrianda Alcazar
Bellflower, Calif.

Brianda Alcazar, a California native who attended kindergarten in Sonora, Mexico, grew up with an immigrant-life experience of dual cultures, languages, and traditions.

Alcazar is using this experience to identify with and help Latino immigrants.

With a passion for social work that capitalizes on her strong motivation and empathy for other people, Alcazar earned a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work from California State University, Long Beach. Her area of concentration is Latino youth and mental health.

To find more ways to embody her favorite Gandhi quote (“You must be the change you wish to see in the world”), Alcazar applied 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.

She relished her time in the program.

“[Éxito!] has definitely motivated me and instilled self-confidence in me,” Alcazar said. “More importantly, Éxito! has empowered me that despite my minority status, I can attain a PhD.”

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

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