JUNTOS Center for Advancing Latino Health: An Academic-Community Partnership
Jul 09, 2019 12:30 PM
Mariana Ramirez amd Valeria Salinas
JUNTOS Center for Advancing Latino Health: An Academic-Community Partnership

 Marian Ramirez and Valeria Salinas, from Juntos, will speak about the impact of Juntos in our Wyandotte County community as well as their efforts across the state of Kansas. Juntos accomplishes its work through research, training, community partnerships and service. The main goal is to develop a comprehensive sustainable program at University Kansas Medical Center, fully integrated with the Latino community in Kansas that will both improve the health of the community and advance the field of health services research.

Mariana Ramirez, LSMW, is the Director of Juntos. She oversees a growing number of programs in partnership with several departments at the University of Kansas Medical Center and other health-care and community-based partner organizations. She has served as a smoking cessation counselor at the University of Kansas Hospital inpatient program and has provided counseling support and supervision for electronic smoking cessation case management. She is experienced in the implementation of bi-national initiatives between KUMC and Mexico through the Ventanilla de Salud program and NIH-funded research studies in partnership with the National Institute of Public Health (INSP) in Mexico. In addition, Ms. Ramírez has served as a therapist at KUMC’s Bull Doc high school-based clinic and is experienced on training an engagement of promotoras de salud working with under-served communities in chronic disease prevention. She works leading core administrative functions at Juntos including recruitment, implementation, and evaluation of several research studies. She assists with daily operations management, fiscal monitoring, and staff training and supervision. Ms. Ramírez is actively involved in the Kansas City community and participates in different boards and organizations such as Health Partnership Clinic FQHC, Diabetes Prevention Collaborative, and Hispanic Collaborative’s Latinos of Tomorrow. Ms. Ramírez loves singing and dancing with her children and spending time with her family at the lake.

Valeria Salinas, Medical Student, was raised in Chicago, Illinois and attended medical school at the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, in Pachuca, Hidalgo. After completing the core curriculum she spent a year in the General Hospital of the City of Pachuca completing her clinical electives. Currently she is completing a one-year social service internship working with JUNTOS-Center for Advancing Latino Health. She assists in ongoing community-based research studies, such as the Latino Immigrant Health project and the JUNTOS Against Cancer initiative. Additionally, Ms. Salinas coordinates Juntos Diabetes Prevention Program, one of only four CDC-certified programs in the state of Kansas. Whe also supports the JUNTOS Taking Down Tobacco initiative at F.L. Schlagle High School empowering ESL students to advocate against tobacco use among their peers. Ms. Salinas’ goal is to serve vulnerable communities as an emergency medicine physician.