HELIOS Winter 2025 Newsletter

the HELIOS Lab

at the UCI Department of Family Medicine

Winter 2025 Newsletter

the HELIOS lab at UCI is a research and professional development program to support undergraduates in their journey to become physicians and other health professionals advancing health for all in medically underserved communities.

The HELIOS Lab, 2024-25 academic year

The past quarter has included a major milestone in one of our NIH-funded projects Mi Propio Camino, substantial student leadership in Professional Development, Community Engagement and Fostering Connection, and some exciting spotlights from our 27 active members and over 130 alumni.

Scroll down to see what we’ve been up to!

Mi Propio Camino study completes five years of Spanish-language blood pressure education classes

HELIOS lab students formed the backbone of our team in the NIH-funded Mi Propio Camino research study (Spanish for My Own Path). The HELIOS team enrolled 400 Spanish-speaking patients with uncontrolled hypertension to complete a brief series of 4 weekly classes to help them challenge myths, mistrust and misinformation and find a path to controlling their blood pressure that works for the patient.

In this project alone, HELIOS students were hands-on in the clinic recruiting participants, checking in with patients by phone, and facilitating our Spanish-language classes, home blood pressure monitoring and patient follow-up. In sum, HELIOS students:

supported a total of 3,793 patient-hours of blood pressure education
accumulated 2,206 student hours of clinical experience with patients and health professionals
completed and presented 15 student-led research studies at local and national conferences
after just 4 sessions, saw participating patients with uncontrolled BP lower their systolic BP by 16 points and 64% of patients maintain a 10 point or greater improvement in systolic BP for 6 months after the classes ended!

Learn more about the collective impact of the work, including facts, figures, photos and testimonials from patients and students in our Mi Propio Camino Impact Report!

SEE THE REPORT

Professional Development

The HELIOS Enrichment committee brings speakers and activities into our weekly lab meetings to support the professional development of our members. Recent highlights include:

Health Professionals Panel

The HELIOS Enrichment Committee hosted a panel with three first-generation health professionals: RN Andres Aguilar, Dr. Elaine Nguyen, MD, and PA-C Cynthia Lozano-Bailey. Students valued their candid advice on motivation, imposter syndrome, and being pioneers in their families on a challenging path.

Guest Speaker: Erica Browne, DrPH MPH.

We welcomed Dr. Browne to speak to our students about her research journey in public health, and the importance of historical perspectives in understanding the health challenges of today and tomorrow.

Journal Club

HELIOS members (left to right) Amanda Arevalo, Stacy Segura, Jaylene Gardner-Perales, and Laura Renero led discussions of influential research articles on social issues like food insecurity, home evictions, redlining and poverty as barriers to prevention and management of chronic illness, deepening our members’ understanding of these issues, and their ability to analyze and act upon the best evidence in the field.

Community Engagement

The HELIOS Engagement committee organizes opportunities for our members to learn and to serve in our communities. Some recent highlights include:

Open Medical School

UCI School of Medicine and the UC PRIME Prehealth Pathways Program (UC3P) held Open Medical School—an opportunity for over 100 high school students to learn about health careers, medical school and clinical practices such as ultrasound, x-ray, with the help of UCI undergraduates. At Open Medical School, HELIOS members volunteered as ambassadors, guiding the high school students through tours of the medical school, panel discussions and clinical skills training workshops

Maternal Health Fair

In collaboration with CalOptima, the UCI Family Health Center hosted a Maternal Health Fair to provide valuable resources and education to help parents navigate the journey of pregnancy and parenthood. HELIOS members played a key role in supporting participants and creating a welcoming and comfortable environment. HELIOS members assisted in providing guidance and translation services to ensure everyone could access the resources available, and in reaching out to patients by phone in advance of the session to ensure patients could access transportation to the event.

Breast Cancer Awareness Class

HELIOS members supported community education classes offered in Vietnamese and Spanish, and led by health educators Iris and Vy. Classes focused on risk factors, self-testing, and other valuable information to boost awareness and early detection of breast cancer.

Fostering Connection

The HELIOS Social Committee helps build the personal and professional support network of mentors and peers that are the foundation for making community impact. Highlights include:

6% is Not Enough! National Latino Physician Day Celebration

HELIOS members joined in on a procession from the UCI Latinx Resource Center to the UCI School of Medicine to participate in UCI’s National Latino Physician Day celebration on October 1.

Speakers including PRIME-LC alum Dr. Sarah Lopez, UCI Family Health Center Executive Director Dr. Jose Mayorga, Dean Michael Stamos, Dr. Ursula Worsham, student leaders from the Latino Medical Student Association and Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley shared their commitment to support students like ours to become future clinician leaders!

HELIOSGiving

We conclude each Fall Quarter with our HELIOSGiving celebration, where we share a meal and reflect on the power of gratitude. Every member receives a pack of blank cards and writes a handwritten thank you letter to an important role model, mentor or loved one.

A Song for Cesar Documentary Screening

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, HELIOS members attended a screening of the documentary A Song for Cesar. Students learned about the pivotal roles played by activists like Cesar Chavez and Larry Itliong, who empowered Hispanic and Filipino farmworkers to advocate for social justice reform, fair wages, and safer working conditions in the fields. Given that the Central Valley produces 25% of the nation's food while accounting for only 1% of all U.S. farmland, HELIOS members acknowledge the hard work of the agricultural community and the grassroots efforts that continue to support California’s farmworkers.

UCI Community Garden

HELIOS members Kimberly, Amanda, Jocelyn and Laura get out to enjoy nature and companionship tending to plants in the garden.

Member Spotlights

HELIOS Member Jocelyn Vielma-Garcia performed traditional dance at the UCI Dia de los Muertos Celebration at the UCI Barclay Theater

HELIOS Member Laura Renero performed with the UCI Concert Choir at the UCI Sounds of the Season concert in Irvine.

HELIOS Members Jocelyn Gardner-Perales, Angyelisa Hernandez and Stacy Segura (left to right) participated as CAMP Scholars in the SACNAS NDiSTEM National Conference in Phoenix, learning from peers and professionals in an inspiring professional development opportunity.

Alumni Spotlights

HELIOS alumnae Jessica Arizmendi de la Torre (UCI PRIME-LC Medical Student and Karina Fing (UCLA PRIME-LA Medical Student) representing medical student leaders at the 2025 Latino Medical Student Association West Regional Conference. During their time in HELIOS before med school, Jessica and Karina gained clinical, research and leadership experience as major contributors to the launch of the Mi Propio Camino project.

HELIOS Alum, and current UCSD PRIME Health Equity Program medical student, Carlos Garcia Cabrera, co authored a recent publication based on his work in the UCI Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology with Julie Rousseau PhD APRN, Lisa Gibbs MD, and colleagues. The paper shows how a digital health literacy tool embedded in the electronic health record helps bridge the digital divide for diverse older adults to access telehealth and technology resources to improve their care. You can find the paper in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Message from our PI, Dr. Billimek

As so many in our communities—including many of our students, familes and loved ones—face adversity and uncertainty during these trying times, I take some comfort in the unquenchable drive for service and growth that our members exhibit. They didn’t ask to come of age during this time in history, but I am so glad that they will be our next leaders.

Our students spent the past quarter deeply immersed in the HELIOS curriculum. In our weekly lab meetings and through their outside experiences together, they developed their research toolkit while building strong foundations in Professional Development, Community Engagement and Fostering Connection. This foundational work gives them the knowledge, confidence and credibility to be trustworthy ambassadors of our health system to the community—both today as researchers and in the future as health professionals.

We couldn’t do this without your support! Please celebrate with us the growth and achievements of this remarkable group.

-Dr. B.