Maria Rocio Torres, a master of public health (MPH) student with a concentration in maternal and child health at the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, has been selected for the 2019 Éxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program.  

Rocio Torres is one of 25 students selected for the Éxito! summer institute program to increase diversity in Latino cancer research by encouraging Latino master’s-level students and health professionals to pursue a doctoral degree and a career in research.

She will work with Tomas Nuño, PhD, research assistant professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the UA College of Medicine – Tucson and the Division of Public Health Practice and Translational Research at the UA Zuckerman College of Public Health, to study colorectal cancer screening among Hispanic adults with diabetes in Arizona. 

Rocio Torres first worked with Dr. Nuño for her MPH Internship and the study “Meta Salud Diabetes,” a pilot study to reduce cardiovascular disease and its complications among Hispanic diabetes patients in Arizona.  She will present her MPH Internship project at the American Public Health Association 2019 Meeting & Expo in Philadelphia in November.  

Rocio Torres has also worked as a teaching assistant for Martha Monroy, MA, program manager and lecturer in the Department of Health Promotion Sciences at the UA Zuckerman College of Public Health. Her mentors are Ms. Monroy and Robin Harris, PhD, MPH, professor and epidemiologist at the UA Zuckerman College of Public Health.