In Spring 2021, UHAND Scholars and Early Stage Investigators continued to work with their mentors to advance their research to eliminate cancer inequities. UHAND continued to offer seminars and workshops, where experienced faculty members
presented on a variety of topics to enhance scholars’ professional development and advance their research knowledge.

UHAND’s scholars started 2021 off with a series of Elevator Speech Training Workshop Seminars. These seminars train them on how to summarize their experiences, research interests, and career goals in a short and concise format that they can readily deliver to other professionals throughout their career. UHAND would like to especially thank Dr. Tamara Laskowski (MD Anderson Scientific Project Director), who gave the scholars an overview on the basics of Elevator Speeches and their importance to the scholars as researchers, as well as to Dr. Brittany Parker Kerrigan (MD Anderson Scientific Manager) and Dr. Carrie Cameron (MD Anderson Associate Professor), who covered different styles of elevator speeches to choose from and tips on how to deliver them effectively.

Our UHAND scholars were able to attend quite a few virtual events this quarter including one where Stedman Graham (Author and CEO of S. Graham & Associates) gave the keynote address during the 2nd Annual Summit on “Improving the Outcomes of African American and Latinx Male Youth.”

In our August newsletter, we celebrated the graduation of our first cohort that began their journey with us in September 2018. We also spotlighted some of the scholars from cohort 2. Even though we're social distancing that hasn't stopped us from connecting and getting things done like virtually attending seminars like our ongoing Professional Development Series and a Q&A about Racial Health Disparities. 

May brought many new and exciting changes to UHAND. In this issue, we introduce you to our new cohort and two additions to the team! Our current scholars have also been busy with conferences, research, presentations, and getting accepted to grad school.

This quarter UHAND started recruiting a new cohort of scholars. In addition, we welcomed Dr. Chakema Carmack as a UHAND mentor, congratulated Dr. Kayce Solari Williams and Dr. Lorraine Reitzel on their outstanding accomplishments, and cheered along with our scholars for their amazing contributions to health and science.

Catch up on all the updates from our recent UHAND graduates, the program progress shared by the External Advisory Board as well as new additions to our website.  

This summer marks 1 year since our Scholars began their 2-year appointments with UHAND. To date, our Scholars have completed over 340 hours of their service learning experience through which they serve and learn from our community partners. Additionally, over the past year, the UHAND Community Outreach team has reached over 9,000 people through various activities (e.g., dissemination of information, health fairs, cancer education classes).

During University of Houston's Day at the Capitol, our UHAND undergraduate Scholar, Christine Smith, shared her story with legislative aides. She talked about the benefits of having a state scholarship and the real-world experience she gets through the University of Houston’s partnership with MD Anderson.

Our Scholars have also been conducting research and communicating their research findings at events such as the Humana Integrated Health System Sciences Institute Kick-Off Event.

The UHAND program kicked off our new partnership to address cancer disparities among black and Hispanics at an evening reception which brought together over 85 people including leaders from both institutions, as well as faculty, students, and local community members.