12.27.07 - Crusada's recently awarded Federal Grant is featured in the Miami Herald (more)

12.20.07 - Crusada staffer Dr. Patria Rojas is currently featured in two articles in El Nuevo Herald. The first article, EL ROSTRO DE HOY: PATRIA ROJAS, is a brief bio-profile of Dr. Rojas. The second article, Dominicana realza valor de los latinos, discusses Dr. Rojas' life and educational background, as well as her work at Crusada.

11.30.07 - FIU announced today that it has received a $6.5 million grant to continue research into HIV/AIDS and drug abuse among Latinos, including ways to improve HIV/AIDS awareness among young people and designing strategies to help prevent and treat the disease among South Florida Latinos.

The grant was awarded by the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities, part of the National Institutes of Health to FIU’s Center for Research on U.S. Latinos HIV/AIDS and Drug Abuse. View official FIU Media Release.

Brown Bag Lunch Presentation: Susie Nemes, PhD. will present on Friday December 7th at 10:30am. View details of this event.

Brown Bag Lunch Presentation: Patria Rojas, Ph.D., MSW, MPH will present on Tuesday November 22nd at 12:30 pm. View details of this event.

Faculty Presentation Series for the month of November will feature Frank R. Dillon, Ph.D. on 11.05.07 and Raul Calderon, Jr. Ph.D. on 11.07.07. View details of these events.

08.02.07 - Dr. Mario De La Rosa speaks at a conference in Barranquilla, Colombia. The event was covered by local Barranquilla newspaper "La Libertad." Click (here) to view a PDF version of the printed article.

04.26.07 - The Center for Research on U.S. Latino HIV/AIDS and Drug Abuse held an Awards Luncheon that recognized several organizations and individuals for their support and collaboration. In addition, the guest speaker of the event, Dr. Flavio Marsiglia from Arizona State University, discussed “Conducting culturally grounded and use inspired health research in the borderlands.” View images of the event.

Dr. Mario De La Rosa, Director of CRUSADA, was invited to serve on the National Advisory Council on Minority Health and Health Disparities of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for a term ending February 28, 2009. The prestigious appointment was made on March 15, 2007 by Michael O. Leavitt, Secretary of Health and Human Services. Dr. De La Rosa is one of only 16 members selected from across the United States to serve on the Council, which is charged with advising the Secretary on matters relating to research, training, and information dissemination on minority health and health disparities.

Three doctoral student trainees of the Center received F31 Awards (Pre-doctoral Fellowship Awards For Minority Students) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH):

• Rafie, Carlin. F31DA020371. Mechanisms of Action of Zinc on Immune Parameters in HIV: The relationship of Activated Thymulin of an HIV+ Drug Using Cohort with CD4+ Cell Count and Cd4+/Cd8+ ratio. Priority Score: 168. Funded by NIDA September 2006.
• Engle, Bretton. F31DA020233. Commitment Language as a Predictor of Substance Use Outcomes in Adolescent Group Treatment. Priority Score: 164. Funded by NIDA September 2006.
• Pinto, Elsa. F31DA020205. Dietary patterns and substance abuse among Latino women. Priority Score: 158. Funded by NIDA September 2006.

Dr. Christopher Rice, a faculty trainee of the Center, received an R21 award from the NIAAA entitled, Predicting the Trajectories of Abstinence-Drinking Dyads, for the period of July 2005 – June 2007 ($280,062).

Dr. David Cohen, a faculty trainee of the Center, received funding from the Attorney General Consumer & Prescriber Grant Program for undertaking a research project called Critical Skills Curriculum on Psychotropic Medications for Social Workers, for the period of January 2007 – December 2008 ($372,541).