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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.
Christina Olson
San Diego, Calif.
With a long-felt desire to study science and encouragement from her family, it was not a shock when Christina Olson earned a neuroscience degree in college.
However, her interest in public health came as a surprise.
When a close supervisor and mentor encouraged her to “sit at that table” and pursue public health, she did just that, moving to Washington, D.C., to work in international and border health policy and finishing a master’s degree in public health from San Diego State University.
To expand her passion for public health and to consider pursuing a doctoral degree, Olson 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.
Olson called the guidance and mentoring from Éxito! staff and faculty “amazing.”
“[Éxito!] has made me see that there are so many possibilities with a doctoral degree,” she said. “I think I will pursue higher education.”
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
25.1
percent
of Latinos remain without health insurance coverage
