Seeing how her migrant farm-worker parents labored diligently to improve their family’s lives in Las Vegas, Atenia Ruiz learned the value of hard work and dealing with adversity.
Now Ruiz, a first-generation Mexican-American who earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology, is pursuing a master’s degree in public health with an emphasis in epidemiology and biostatistics.
Seeking to gain knowledge about cancer control research, her mentor at her school encouraged her to apply to 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.
She said Éxito! gave her valuable information about cancer and doctoral programs.
“This program has definitely strengthened my reason to apply to a PhD program,” she said.
