Highlighted Studies

Maternal Health Research Center

The UTRGV School of Medicine was awarded $2,275,863 in September 2023 to establish the first of its kind Maternal Health Research Center in the Rio Grande Valley. The Maternal Health Research Network (MH-RN) for Minority Serving Institutes Research Awards grant, awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), will establish the UTRGV Maternal Health Research Center. It is just one of 16 minority-serving institutions in the United States—and one of four in Texas—forming a research network to conduct maternal health research. Dr. Candace Robledo, Division Chief of the Division of Population Health and Biostatistics, is the principal investigator for this grant-funded project. The UTRGV Maternal Health Research Center was designated as an Organized Research Unit by the School of Medicine in September 2024. Dr. Candace Robledo is the Center’s director.

The 5-year award will help address health disparities in maternal health across the Rio Grande Valley. It aims to integrate mental and behavioral healthcare and resources into the routine as part of the maternal health process. The Maternal Health Research Center will plan and implement maternal health research studies to inform relevant, culturally appropriate and peer led interventions to address health disparities in the Rio Grande Valley and beyond. It will increase the capacity for maternal health disparity research at UTRGV.

UTRGV Maternal Health Research Center Community Needs Assessment

The UTRGV Maternal Health Research Center designed, built, and launched a community needs assessment of women in the Rio Grande Valley. The MHRC, together with multiple divisions within the School of Medicine, partner academic institutions and community partners carefully selected items to better understand the most serious unmet maternal and/or women's health care needs that exist in our community, as well as their experiences and views. The needs assessment began data collection in November 2025 and ended in August 2026. The assessment collected responses from a total of 220 women residing in Starr, Hidalgo, Cameron, and Willacy counties. Data collection was carried out using the REDCap data collection system. [insert statement]. The data collected is currently being cleaned and prepared for analysis.

The Mindful Mother’s Journey

The Mindful Mother’s Journey is a Community Health Worker (CHW) delivered psychoeducational program of the UTRGV Maternal Health Research Center. The Mindful Mother’s Journey intervention is based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and aims to increase psychological flexibility in a community sample of pregnant and postpartum mothers in the Rio Grande Valley.

As a primary outcome, we aim to improve psychological flexibility in expecting and new moms receiving the intervention, reflected in their self-reported quality of life. Secondary outcomes include an adoption of the strategies they learn during the intervention and incorporate them into their daily lives.

The study targets recruitment of female participants 18 years of age and older who reside in Starr, Hidalgo, Willacy, or Cameron counties who are at least 13 weeks pregnant at the time of enrollment or have delivered a baby in the last 6 months. Participants will be recruited in person at community events and over the phone primarily by our partner organizations. Women interested in participating may also be referred through other community partners and networks such as the Maternal Health Coalition (MHRC community partner), community-based organizations, or health fairs. Up to 288 women who meet eligibility requirements will be enrolled in the intervention. Enrolled participants will be randomly assigned into one of several groups.

Women enrolled in the study will receive four Mindful Mother's intervention sessions delivered by Community Health Workers. The study team will follow up with participants 3 to 6 months after they receive the intervention sessions. Along the way, Community Health Workers will connect participants with resources they need such as food assistance, childcare, education, among others.

The women participating in this study will help us understand the effectiveness of the intervention and learn how it supports women in our community during pregnancy and the postpartum period.

Control and Prevent Congenital Syphilis

The Control and Prevent Congenital Syphilis program is a UTRGV SOM initiative funded by the Texas Department of State Health Services. The program works across the Rio Grande Valley to reduce syphilis and congenital syphilis by improving timely screening, treatment, reporting, prenatal care access, and community awareness. It brings together health professionals in Texas Public Health Region 11, healthcare providers, community health workers, and community organizations through the Syphilis and Congenital Syphilis Task Force.

Key activities include coordinating quarterly Task Force meetings, conducting community outreach and STI awareness campaigns, creating and piloting a bilingual CHW training curriculum, and providing service navigation for women at risk. The program also collaborates with the South Texas Physician Alliance and UTRGV health professionals to strengthen STI testing, treatment, and reporting practices among providers caring for pregnant patients. In addition, UTRGV adapts STI educational content for medical students and residents to support future clinicians’ ability to prevent, identify, and manage syphilis.

Expected outcomes of the project include increased public awareness of STI prevention and low or no cost testing resources, expanded CHW knowledge, and stronger referral networks. By addressing inconsistent screening and reporting practices and barriers to health information and services, the program aims to prevent congenital syphilis, support healthier pregnancies, and strengthen the region’s long-term capacity to respond to STIs.

Conversations Advancing Resilience and Empowerment (CARE) Intervention

Dr. Candace Robledo, Division Chief of Population Health and Biostatistics, School of Medicine, Dr. Luis Torres-Hostos, Dean of the School of Social Work, in collaboration with CAN DO Houston adapted the Conversations Advancing Resilience and Empowerment (CARE) Intervention utilizing an evidence-based approach with the MOST-Framework. After an intense design, development, and pilot phase, the CARE intervention study started recruiting participant in June 2026 as the first registered clinical trial in the Division. This multi-site study will recruit 200 participants from the Rio Grande Valley, Corpus Christi and Houston areas.

The CARE Intervention study is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and proposes to implement and evaluate a peer-led CARE Intervention aimed at reducing health disparities in low-resourced communities in Texas, specifically in Hidalgo, Cameron, Starr, and Willacy counties. The program uses Community Health Workers (CHWs)/Promotoras to support communities through outreach, education, counseling, social support, and advocacy to improve health outcomes.

Why are we doing this study?

This study aims to understand how conversations with trained Community Health Workers (CHWs) can help individuals determine whether health information they encounter from various sources, such as friends, television, social media, or the internet, is accurate and trustworthy. We also seek to better understand the factors that influence health behaviors, including barriers that make healthy choices more difficult and support that make them easier, and how these factors may change over time. Additionally, the study strives to connect participants with relevant community resources and support them in making informed decisions that promote their health and well-being.

The CARE intervention is designed to address two significant challenges to chronic disease prevention in low resource communities:

1. Limited access to trusted, community-centered health information delivered by peers who understand the needs and experiences of the community.
2. Health-related social needs and non-medical drivers of health, including environmental and social conditions that influence health, well-being, and quality of life.

The CARE intervention addresses these challenges by delivering four structured health education topics on a weekly basis: Wellness and Quality of Life, Blood Pressure, Nutrition, and Physical Activity. This approach is designed to equip participants with trustworthy health information, enhance access to community resources, and promote positive health behaviors and outcomes.

COVID-19 Impact on Health and Well-being Survey

The COVID-19 Impact on Health and Well-being Survey collected data in two phases. The first phase was launched in April 2020 and closed in late June 2020. The survey was originally designed to examine how mental health and well-being were impacted by shelter in home/place mandates. It was created through the collaborative efforts of UTRGV Departments of Population Health & Biostatistics, Family Medicine, Psychological Sciences and Sociology.

As the COVID-19 pandemic evolved and stay at home mandates expired, the focus of the study shifted to gather information on how the pandemic affected access to healthcare, especially for pregnant women and new mothers. Phase II of the study also looked at attitudes and behaviors toward what people perceive as effective or ineffective at keeping them safe from exposure to COVID-19. Other areas, such as depression and anxiety remained in the study to give investigators a picture of how levels of depression and anxiety changed over a span of several months during the pandemic. Data collection for Phase II began in July 2020 and ended in December 2020.

Survey instruments for both phases of the study were created using REDCap. The instruments were available in English and Spanish and designed to be anonymous. Participants spent an average of 15-20 minutes completing the survey. Table 1 gives a general overview of survey content. Most survey sections, including demographics, ask specifically how daily living has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.