10 Feb First Latino Health Conference will be held April 17 to 18 in Seattle
Latino communities are growing rapidly in the WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho) region that the Institute of Translational Health Sciences (ITHS) serves. Also growing is the need for high-quality, community-engaged health research to promote the health of these diverse communities, which face significant social, economic, and health disparities. That is why ITHS, the National Institutes of Health, and Group Health Research Institute are co-sponsoring the Inaugural Latino Health Conference on April 17 and 18, 2014, in Seattle.
The Conference, “Latino Health Research, Practice, and Policy: Identifying Our Strengths and Growing Our Collaborations,” provides a unique opportunity for community leaders, researchers, health care providers, and policymakers to connect with each other and develop a research agenda. It will include a dinner reception on April 17, at which Conference organizers will celebrate establishing the Latino Center for Health, a historic new research center at the University of Washington (UW).
This Center will be the first research center in the state—and region—focusing on the health of Latinos and Latino communities. The Center’s mission is to provide leadership to promote the health and well-being of Latinos in Washington state —and regionally and nationally—across the lifespan. The Center will bring about significant and sustainable health improvements for Latinos, focusing on physical, behavioral, and environmental health, violence, and binational collaborations. With funding support from the School of Social Work and the Graduate School, Dr. Gino Aisenberg, Nora Coronado, and Dr. Leo S. Morales have been instrumental in establishing the Center.
“The Center is a vibrant testament to the UW’s staunch commitment to promote the health and well-being of Latinos,” said Dr. Aisenberg, an Associate Dean of the Graduate School and an Associate Professor at the School of Social Work. “We look forward to developing and deepening partnerships with community stakeholders to translate research into evidence-based practices and policies that promote meaningful and sustainable improvements in health in culturally responsive ways.”
“Focusing on chronic disease, behavioral health, and health policy issues, we will create a rich environment for nurturing the next generation of leaders who will respond to current and emerging health and behavioral health issues facing their communities,” said Ms. Coronado, a research interventionist at Group Health Research Institute, a commissioner for the Washington State Commission on Hispanic Affairs, and the Hispanic Community Liaison for ITHS.
“We aim to draw upon the multidisciplinary scholarship from the UW’s tri-campuses to bring about sustainable changes in health through innovative community-engaged research, and mentorship and training opportunities for students and faculty,” said Dr. Morales, an Associate Investigator at Group Health Research Institute, an Affiliate Investigator at Fred Hutch, an Affiliate Associate Professor at the UW School of Public Health, and Director of the ITHS Latino Community Outreach Program.
The Conference, which is by invitation only, will bring together people across academies, governments, and communities in the WWAMI region who want to promote healthier Latino communities by generating and/or translating scientific discoveries. If this work interests you, please email latinohealthconf@ghc.org to join a listserv for future conferences and opportunities.
Pictured: Dr. Leo Morales. Dr. Gino Aisenberg pictured in email version.
