IHPR’s Dr. Patricia Chalela: Involving Technology in Health Promotion Research
Patricia Chalela has always loved working in public health and being a valuable member of a team.
Chalela is an associate professor at the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at UT Health San Antonio. Here she is an integral part of a team that studies how texting helps people quit smoking, trains students in research methods, and is learning the ins and outs of reducing cancer.
Whatever the task, she is happy to help find ways to promote health.
Chalela and Ramirez have created a bilingual phone app and navigation services to help local breast cancer patients stick with their prescribed therapy. Another current project for the duo is Quitxt, bilingual service for smartphones that sends messages via text to help coach and encourage people to quit smoking.
“I love what I do and I love to work with this team to make a difference for people. It has been an amazing ride, really very rewarding,” Chalela said.