Dr. Patricia Chalela is an Associate Professor at the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio and the Associate Director for Education and Training Programs. Her main research interests are in chronic disease prevention and control, particularly the role of epidemiological, environmental, and individual psychosocial factors on health and disease and on racial and/or ethnic disparities with an emphasis on Latino populations. Among others, she is co-leading several studies including, empowering cancer patients to make informed decisions about participating in cancer clinical trials, improving adherence to hormone therapy among breast cancer patients through a phone application and patient navigation, and promoting smoking cessation via text messaging and Facebook Messenger Chat among young adults, and among primary care and cancer patients.
