Hispanic Cancer Health Foundation leadership
Situated in diverse environments across the United States, the Hispanic Cancer Health Foundation (HCHF) Board of Directors and leadership meets regularly to govern the HCHF, provide guidance, and set priorities each year in an effort to reduce the burden of cancer affecting Hispanics across the country.
Janie Muñoz M.D., Ph.D. is an internationally recognized onco-omics, cancer and public health clinical researcher. She has over 30 years of experience in medicine/healthcare creating strategies and leading teams for cancer research academic centers, hospitals and healthcare companies, as well as crafting public health policy using large-scale data on a national scale for underrepresented groups. Dr. Muñoz has experience researching and supporting the development of therapies in cancer and working with Regulatory Authorities (FDA & other federal agencies) both domestically and internationally. Throughout her career, Dr. Muñoz directed translational research programs focused on precision medicine to reduce cancer, and health disparities affecting Hispanics and other minority / underserved populations, including genomics, quantitative predictive modeling of cancer risk factors, clinical trials, cancer prevention, metastasis in pre-clinical, mouse models, and multivariate models. She has been widely recognized for her work on cancer, improving Hispanic health, advancing Hispanics in medicine and public health, and social sciences both internationally and across the United States. She has authored peer-reviewed articles, served as an editorial board member on prestigious journals, and is frequently invited to speak at cancer research scientific meetings.
Dr. Janie Muñoz, Executive Director & FounderWith a wealth of clinical research experience and biomedical postdoctoral training in onco-proteomics/metabolomics/genomics at the Office of Research-Advanced Technology Core research labs of Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), Dr. Muñoz oversees a team to develop healthcare research and policy to reduce health disparities, equitably integrate post-market pharmaceutical activities, and clinical research. She oversees the HCHF Centros de Comunidad por Salud Oncológica initiative, and the training of underrepresented minority scholars researching novel therapies to patients in underserved Hispanic communities. As a Texas native and science/medical educator, Dr. Muñoz served as an Adj. Assistant Professor at Sam Houston State University and served as full-time faculty at Texas A&M University. After working in the private sector, Dr. Muñoz joined the academic medicine sector at a premier NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center where she helped garner FDA approval for medical oncology agents on pharmaco-immunotherapy clinical trials performed with patients afflicted with fatal oncological disease at the world's largest, top-ranked hospital dedicated exclusively to cancer patient care, research & education, and prevention, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX. Dr Muñoz has held positions in R&D, Research Associate scientist and management in clinical development, and clinical study/clinical research within the scientific cancer research community, along with providing medical education training to doctoral graduate students at the University of Texas Health Science Center of Houston. Dr. Muñoz completed her education from University of Texas-Austin (Ph.D.; B.A.), Carnegie Mellon University (M.S.), Texas A&M University-Victoria (B.S.), & UAG School of Medicine (M.D.) with U.S. clinical education patient-based experience at the Tucson Medical Center hospital in Arizona. As the founder, Dr. Muñoz established the Hispanic Cancer Health Foundation as a public charity 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization. She leads the organization to accomplish all of its long-term goals including the professional growth of minority scholars working towards the discovery of new drug candidates and therapies, and the training of Hispanic Cancer Health Foundation students/scholars in cancer medicine as HCHF's Executive Director. She has developed and implemented a bold Strategic Plan to accelerate world class science to deliver transformative oncological medicine therapies to Hispanics and a diverse world.
.jpeg)
Global Health & International Scholar AchievementsAs an international health advocate working in the Hispanic community for well over 30 years, Dr. Muñoz proudly served her country in Beijing, China after being selected by the U.S. Department of State as an official delegate of the U.S. delegation to the 4th United Nations World Conference on Women to formulate and guide public health policy on an international scale to improve health outcomes of underrepresented women's health in 1995. As a part of her commitment to health/medical education and developing minority underrepresented students nationwide, she serves as a mentor with our Hispanic Cancer Health Foundation (HCHF) Health Research Scholars Program. As an internationally published research scholar and global management consultant, Dr. Muñoz has been an expert speaker at the global, national, and local level and served on the National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA) Board of Directors Journal Committee in Washington, DC. As a native Texan from the Rio Grande Valley, Dr. Muñoz received a B.S. in Biology (summa cum laude, Phi Kappa Phi honors) from Texas A&M University-Victoria in addition to graduating with honors in her Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. As a public health advocate, she has also served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the National Latina Health Organization (NLHO). She is a national Woodrow Wilson Fellow (1993) which she received as an advocate-minority health leader while completing her B.A. at the University of Texas-Austin sponsoring her fellowship to develop and effectuate federal public health policy on the national level creating public policy/public health legislation with various members of the U.S. Congressional Hispanic Caucus in the United States of America Congress.
National CLAS & Health OutcomesDr. Muñoz collaborated with professional consultants (former Health & Human Services-Office of Minority Health) to review and provide linguistic and cultural competence in health care, and cultural competency training, education, and technical assistance to health professionals, organizations, care providers to address health and behavioral needs of language minority individuals and improve health outcomes. As an oncology researcher and public health leader in the Hispanic community, Dr. Muñoz has evaluated program initiatives geared at improving the health status of minority populations under the National Institute of Health (NIH)-Office of Minority Health’s 2013 National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health & Health Care (CLAS Standards). The Office of Minority Health (OMH) is a federal agency within the HHS that provides national leadership and resources to improve the health of minority populations and eliminate health disparities. As a public health service leader, Dr. Muñoz is a Project Blueprint, Board of Director-Class XXI inductee of the United Way of Greater Houston, Texas.
