Meet Ysabel Duron, a Person Making a Difference
Ysabel Duron is the founder and executive director of Latinas Contra Cancer, a San Jose, California based group dedicated to educating, supporting and providing essential services to low-income Latinos with cancer, the number 1 cause of death in the Latino community.
Ms. Duron, 69, a former San Francisco TV anchor, started the group after she was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in 1999. Ms. Duron says: “My cancer provided the perfect opportunity for me to take my skill sets, intelligence, access and the knowledge I had gained and put it to work.” “Age was not going to be a barrier.”
According to Ms. Duron, although Latinos aren’t any more likely to get cancer than African-Americans or whites, they have a disproportionately high mortality rate due to late detection. Earlier screening for prostate, colorectal, cervical and breast cancer could prevent some of those deaths, she says.
Latinas Contra Cancer is committed to cancer prevention efforts in the Latino community. Their goals include increasing access to quality care, working to decrease mortality rates and improving the quality of the health care experience. Learn more.
To increase its reach and effectiveness, Latinas Contra Cancer provides Spanish language patient navigation in the cancer center, psychosocial patient and family support groups, resources and referrals for information and help among other services.
Latinas Contra Cancer also holds a biennial National Latino Cancer Summit in San Francisco. Ms. Duron says she launched this gathering because “I’d go to these monster cancer conferences and say: ‘Where are the Latinos?’” Now, her summits feature Keynote speakers like Dr. Esteban Burchard, Director of the UCSF Center for Genes, Environment and Health and a member of the President’s Precision Medicine Committee who spoke at the 2016 summit. The keynotes and breakout sessions address issues like:
- How our genes determine our risk and treatment for disease
- Why Latinos comprise less than 2% of clinical trials patients
- What must be done to get Latinos engaged in genetic testing and bio-banking
- What steps must be taken to ensure “precision medicine “ does not become the medicine of the wealthy
Two of Ms. Duron’s favorite Latinas Contra Cancer initiatives reach both ends of the age spectrum.
Health Bingo lets older Latinos get together to play the game using pinto beans instead of discs and with cancer facts replacing numbers on the cards. “The Bingo teaches them about healthy eating, exercise, and early intervention by getting screened,” says Ms. Duron. “We’re looking to diminish cancer risks by prevention.”
San Jose high school students are also working with Duron’s group to create a mobile app for kids, featuring Sir Carlos, the Tumor Buster. “Sir Carlos is either killing cancer cells or the cells are killing him, depending on how good a player you are,” says Duron. “And there are cancer facts at the end of each level.”
In 2013, Ms. Duron won the $100,000 Purpose Prize award for her work and plans to use her prize money to expand Latinas Contra Cancer globally — through the web and social media — and, since the prize was awarded to her personally, to assist her elderly mother.
You can learn more about Ms. Duran and Latinas Contra Cancer by clicking here.
