Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez

Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, the team behind SaludToday, has been named to a prestigious panel of external advisors for the National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Research (NCCOR).

NCCOR brings together four of the nation’s leading research funders—the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)—to accelerate progress to reduce the problem of childhood obesity in America.

The organization seeks to maximize research outcomes, build capacity for research, support mechanisms to research translation and dissemination, and more.

The new NCCOR External Scientific Panel (NESP) will advise NCCOR on its overall direction and provide guidance and assistance on specific projects and initiatives, including:

  • inform on new science and ideas;
  • inform on connections to extramural research, practice, and policy; and
  • contribute to ongoing refinement of NCCOR’s strategic plan.

“I am excited to help increase NCCOR’s usefulness and benefits to the public and academics,” Dr. Ramirez said. “I hope to bring attention to the obesity epidemic among Latino children, who are part of the largest, fastest-growing racial/ethnic minority groups and struggle with disproportionately high obesity rates and related health problems.”

Dr. Ramirez, who also is associate director of health disparities at the Health Science Center’s Cancer Therapy & Research Center, directs Salud America!, an RWJF-funded national research network targeting Latino childhood obesity.

In the past 30 years, Dr. Ramirez also has directed dozens of other research programs focused on human and organizational communication to reduce Latino cancer and chronic diseases via risk factor studies, clinical trials and healthy lifestyle changes. Her projects have led to unique health communication models and interventions that have contributed to reducing Latino cancer rates and increasing screening and preventive health behaviors.

See other NCCOR panelists here. Visit NCCOR here.