Díaz Santana '18 PhD Receives UMass Revolutionary Spirit Award
The epidemiology alumna was recognized at the UMass Alumni Honors event on October 10, 2024.
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Epidemiology alumna Mary V. Díaz Santana '18 PhD received the UMass Amherst Revolutionary Spirit Award during its 2024 UMass Alumni Honors event held on October 10, 2024. The Revolutionary Spirit Award honors alumni or friends who embody the revolutionary spirit of UMass Amherst as pioneers, builders, and unconventional doers committed to the relentless pursuit of innovation and progress.
UMass Alumni Honors awards are presented each year to recognize the varied achievements of members of the university’s alumni community. The award recipients have translated their UMass Amherst experience into professional success and meaningful service, furthering the mission and impact of the university around the globe. Learn more about this year’s recipients.
Díaz Santana, who worked under the mentorship of Professor of Epidemiology Katherine Reeves, was recognized for her work to improve risk assessment techniques for precision prevention, to lessen the burden of cancer and chronic diseases like diabetes in racial and ethnic minority women, especially Hispanic women. As a chronic disease epidemiologist, she aims to advance health equity in racial and ethnic minority women by investigating the role of social and environmental determinants of health in risk prediction models, with the end goal of improving personalized risk prediction and screening recommendations and reducing the incidence and mortality associated with these chronic diseases.
Read her bio here and watch a video about Mary V. Díaz Santana below.