OUR TEXAS CEAL TEAM
The Texas CEAL Consortium Team
CEAL research teams across the Unites States share a goal of quickly launching outreach efforts to help reduce the impact of COVID-19 on the most vulnerable populations and to evaluate these efforts through community-engaged research. In Texas, CEAL research teams are currently working in the counties of Bexar, Dallas, Harris, Hidalgo, and Tarrant.
Meet Our Texas CEAL Team
Jamboor Vishwanatha, PhD
Principal Investigator, Texas CEAL Consortium
Center Director and Director of the Administrative Core Vice President, Center for Diversity and International Programs; Regents Professor, UNT Health Science Center; Principal Investigator, National Mentoring Network
Chris Amos, PhD
Project Lead, Data Management Coordinating and Integration (DMCI)
Associate Director of Quantitative Science, Baylor College of Medicine
Erika Thompson, PhD, MPH, CPH
Researcher and Evaluator, Texas CEAL Consortium
Assistant Professor in the School of Public Health at University of North Texas Health Science Center
Venus Ginés, M.A. P/CHWI
President and Founder, Día de la Mujer Latina® Inc.
Venus Ginés is President and Founder, Día de la Mujer Latina® Inc. She was appointed to NCI’s first Director’s Consumer Liaison Group and in 1997, invited to present at a Congressional Panel for the recognition of the term “Latino” as a proper category term for the new population.
Teresa Wagner, DrPH, MS, CPH, RD/LD, CPPS, CHWI, DipACLM, CHWC
Assistant Professor, Department of Lifestyle Health Sciences, University of North Texas Health Science Center, School of Health Professions; Clinical Executive for Health Literacy, SaferCare Texas; Fellow and Project Director, Texas Center for Health Disparities
Robert L. Ferrer, MD, MPH, FAAFP
Project Lead, Bexar County: ‘Unidos Contra COVID/United Against COVID’
Dr. John M. Smith, Jr. Professor | Dr. Mario E. Ramirez Distinguished Professorship; Vice Chair for Research | Department of Family and Community Medicine; Director of Community Engagement, Institute for the Integration of Medicine and Science, UT Health San Antonio
Rebecca A. Seguin-Fowler, PhD, RDN, LD, CSCS
Project Lead, Dallas County: ‘COVID-19 Communications Resource Hub to Promote Health Equity for Texans’
Associate Director, Texas A&M AgriLife Research Chief Scientific Officer; Healthy Texas Institute Director; Healthy Living, Texas A&M AgriLife Dallas Center; Associate Professor, Department of Nutrition
Bettina Beech, DrPH, MPH
Project Lead, Harris County: ‘Deliberative and Participatory Approaches to Addressing COVID-19 in African American and Hispanic Communities in Texas’
Associate Provost and Professor of Health Systems and Population Health Science, University of Houston College of Medicine
Lorna H. McNeill, PhD, MPH
Project Lead, Harris County: ‘Engaging Black and Hispanics in COVID-19 Clinical Trials, Vaccine Uptake and Educational Campaigns’
Cullen Trust Health Care Chair in Health Disparities Research;
Professor and Chair, Department of Health Disparities Research; Associate Director, Cancer Health Disparities and Community Outreach; Director, Center for Community-Engaged Translational Research; Co-Director, Community Engagement, Center for Clinical & Translational Sciences; Adjunct Associate Professor, Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Jasmine J. Opusunju, DrPH, MSEd, MCHES, CPHD, MPH
Project Lead, Harris County: ‘Identifying Community Impacts and Attitudes of COVID’
Executive Director for CAN DO Houston
Luis R. Torres-Hostos, PhD
Project Lead, Hidalgo County: ‘Community Engagement Strategies for COVID-19 Prevention and Response in Underserved Communities in Hidalgo County’
Founding Dean and Professor, School of Social Work,
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Emily Spence, PhD
Project Lead, Tarrant County: ‘Promoting Knowledge to Action in COVID-19 Prevention and Engagement among Underserved Communities’
Associate Dean for Community Engagement and Health Equity and Associate Professor, UNTHSC School of Public Health