College of Health Sciences

Letty Paez has been dedicated to improving the quality of health care in El Paso as a leader in health education for over two decades. Her talent and coalition-building work have earned her two gubernatorial appointments from George Bush; she represented El Paso on the Texas Quadricenntennial Committee and on the Governor's Commission for Women. She is an example of the caliber of women leaders who have guided the community at some very critical points in history.

In 2005, Paez received the YWCA REACH First Award, an honor for her achievement as the first Hispanic president of the USA National Board of the YWCA, the oldest and largest multicultural women's organization in the world. Myrna Deckert, former CEO of the YWCA said Paez, especially in her role as the president of the national YWCA board, has "raised awareness of issues, affected real change and ensured a better future for many El Paso women."

Over two dozen UTEP Social Work students recently met with Senator Elliot Shapleigh while visiting Austin, May 21-22, 2009.  Students visited numerous state agencies and legislators as part of a social policy course.  Dr. Michelle Childers, Department of Social Work, College of Health Sciences is the faculty member who initiated and then supervised the Austin visit.

Link to video:

Three faculty from the College of Health Sciences were awarded Outstanding Performance Awards by the University of Texas at El Paso Office of Research and Sponsored Programs in the Annual Grantwriters Recognition Dinner on April 28, 2009.

Congratulations  to these three outstanding researchers!

Our 2009 honorees include:

	Dr. Chantal Vella, Assistant Professor in UTEP’s Kinesiology program received an NIH award for over $300,000 to conduct a study on metabolically-obese but normal-weight Hispanic women. This study followed closely on a previous award for $75,000 from the Center for Border Health Research to explore the relative role of insulin resistance, body fat distribution and cardiorespiratory fitness on the clustering of metabolic syndrome risk factors in young normal-weight Hispanic women.  She has recently submitted a request for an administrative supplement under the Recovery Act to expand her work to identify Hispanic women at risk for cardiovascular disease.
	Dr. Rodrigo Armijos, Associate Professor in the Department of Health Promotion serves as a Co-Investigator on an NIH R21 grant studying substance abuse and health vulnerability among Colombian refugees in Ecuador. An expert on air quality, he has also submitted an R21 proposal with to study the relationship between air pollution and systemic inflammation and sub-clinical atherosclerosis in children living at high altitude in Quito, Ecuador.   He was also recently funded with a collaborator from UACJ by PIMSA, an international coalition of U.S. and Latin American universities to conduct the  project, A Bi-national Study of the Health and Disability Challenges of Aged Migrant and Seasonal Farm workers on the US Mexico Border.
	Dr. Mary Margaret Weigel, Professor and Co-Chair of the Department of Health Promotion is an expert on international health and nutrition. Dr. Weigel has extensive contacts in Ecuador, which facilitate her work as Co-PI on the NIH grant studying the health status and vulnerability among Colombian refugees in Ecuador. Her collaboration with the UTEP- University of New Mexico ARCH Program on Border Asthma has lead to her recent involvement in a pilot project to study the association of dust events with asthma exacerbation in U.S. Mexico border children.  She also collaborates as Co-PI on the R21 proposal to study the relationship between air pollution and systemic inflammation and sub-clinical atherosclerosis in children living at high altitude in Quito, Ecuador.