Rebecca Adeigbe grew up in South Texas’ Lower Rio Grande Valley, a predominantly Latino region that often lacks basic infrastructure—like streets and running water—and also lacks doctors and public health services.
Seeing these conditions spurred her desire to help those underserved through a career in health.
Adeigbe now is working on her master’s degree in health and kinesiology at the University of Texas at San Antonio, and also is a research area specialist at the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio. At the IHPR, she works on two National Cancer Institute (NCI) projects, a training program and a study investigating the most beneficial type of physical activity for breast cancer survivors.
She also has experience in adult and childhood obesity as a past project evaluator for the San Antonio Metropolitan Health Department’s “Communities Putting Prevention to Work” obesity prevention grant.
She hopes to obtain a doctoral degree in public health in community health practice.
But because she felt she needed more information on the application, acceptance and degree completion process for a doctoral degree, Adeigbe joined Éxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training, which aims to increase diversity in Latino health disparities and cancer research by encouraging Latino master’s-level students and master’s trained health professionals to pursue a doctoral degree and a career in research.
At the Éxito! Summer Institute in June 2011, Adeigbe learned about the many opportunities available in cancer research and expressed a strong amount of certainty in continuing her research career in cancer control and prevention through the promotion of physical activity.
"Having heard the stories of other minority researchers I feel more confident and prepared to pursue a doctoral degree," Adeigbe said. "The Éxito! Summer Institute has reduced the amount of uncertainty I have in pursuing a career in cancer control research."
