First Latino Named President of American Cancer Society

October 25, 2007
Source: HispanicBusiness.com

Elmer Huerta, MD, MPH, has been named the new president of the American Cancer Society, the first Latino to hold the position in the Organization's 94-year history.

"I am very honored and humbled to assume the presidency of an organization dedicated to eliminating cancer, and making a difference in the lives of millions of Americans touched by cancer," he said.

Dr. Huerta is a preventive oncologist and founder and director of the Cancer Preventorium at the Washington Cancer Institute at the Hospital Center. His clinic is one of only few centers in the nation dedicated exclusively to cancer prevention and control.

His popular one-minute radio segment "Cuidando su Salud" (Taking Care of Your Health) is syndicated to 120 stations in the U.S. and Latin America and is the only daily radio show produced by a Hispanic physician in the U.S that promotes health and disease prevention.

Dr. Huerta also hosts another daily radio talk show, "El Consultorio Comunitario" (The Community Clinic of the Air) that is broadcast from his office in the Cancer Institute. He co-hosts a nationally syndicated weekly TV show, "Hablemos de Salud" (Let's Talk about Health), and serves as a medical commentator on Univision, Telemundo, CNN en Español and CNN Radio Noticias.

For the past two decades, Dr. Huerta has been committed to improving the quality of life for Latinos. His Spanish-language radio and TV programs are nationally and internationally syndicated, and he is regarded as a trusted source of medical information to the Latino community in the United States and Latin America.

Ninety percent of Dr. Huerta's patients are Hispanic/Latino, and nearly all report having learned about the Cancer Preventorium through one of Dr. Huerta's radio or television programs, which he says shows that patients are getting his messages about prevention and screening.

As he looks ahead to his year-long term as president of the American Cancer Society, Dr. Huerta said, "My goal is to help the Society be more aggressive in its messages and more creative in the use of new technologies, to communicate with all Americans regarding ways to decrease their risk of getting cancer."