Mayra Serrano grew a strong sense of responsibility from her mother, who worked two jobs to raise her and her sibling.
She displays that sense of responsibility for the people she helps as a community interventionist at the Center of Community Alliance for Research and Education (CCARE) at City of Hope in California.
Serrano’s work focuses on community participatory interventions and biospecimen collection to reduce the risk and burden of cancer, and coordination of the Eat, Move, Live program, which aims to prevent cancer and chronic disease through nutrition and physical activity.
Now pursuing a master’s in public health degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, she is well-known and respected in her community and in the public health sector.
She’s so good that California State Sen. Ed Hernandez named her as a 2012 “Women of Achievement” award winner.
Serrano’s mentors encouraged her to apply to the Éxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program, which offers a five-day summer institute and internships to encourage master’s-level students and health professionals to pursue a doctoral degree and a cancer research career.
After attending the Éxito! Summer Institute, she gained additional informative resources and networking opportunities to help her successfully apply and fund her doctoral education in cancer control research.
