NASHVILLE, Tenn. Juan Canedo is originally from Bolivia, South America. He has lived in Nashville for 20 years. As a Hispanic immigrant, Canedo has worked and advocated for over 10 years on issues that affect the wellbeing of the Hispanic community and the community at large in our city, with particular emphasis on empowering Hispanic immigrants through English-language and computer skill acquisition and access to health care. He holds a Master’s Degree in sociology and a Doctoral Degree in health sciences.
In 2006, Canedo, along with other members of the Hispanic community, co-founded Progreso Community Center (PCC), an advocacy organization serving the needs of grassroots Hispanic community members. In 2007, he subsequently co-founded the first Hispanic community center in Nashville with the same name. He served as a volunteer and later as the Executive Director of PCC until March 2016 when he joined Meharry Medical College (MMC) as a postdoctoral research fellow for the Meharry-Vanderbilt Community Engaged Research Core.
In his efforts to address health disparities issues that affect the Hispanic community in Nashville, Canedo, co-founded the Nashville Latino Health Coalition (NLHC) in partnership with Hispanic community members, academic institutions and representatives of nonprofit, local and state organizations. Included among the accomplishments of the NLHC are the first health needs assessment conducted in the Nashville Hispanic community, Hispanic Health in Nashville 2007; a bilingual guide to health services, distributed broadly throughout the Hispanic community; and a weekly Spanish language radio show with themes related to health and general well-being of the community.
Through the efforts of NLHC and PCC, Canedo established collaborative partnerships with MMC, Vanderbilt University (VU) and Tennessee State University (TSU). These community-academic partnerships allowed members of the Hispanic community to participate in Community Engaged Research projects which were relevant to their needs and assets. As a representative of PCC and NLHC, Canedo served as a member of the Community Advisory Council for the Meharry-Vanderbilt Community Engagement Research Core (CERC) for several years.
Canedo has vast experience working as a community partner in community engaged research. For example, “Healthy Families” was a collaboration with MMC, VU and TSU to prevent childhood obesity among Hispanic children in Nashville. Further collaborations with the same academic institutions were focused HPV-related cancer prevention through the use of the HPV vaccines. Canedo and Dr. Pam Hull (VU) were awarded an MVA 15-Year Anniversary grant to pilot a study to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate information to the Hispanic community about the TDAP, HPV and meningitis vaccines for pre-adolescents.
Now that Canedo has the opportunity to work as research partner through the CERC fellowship, he mentioned, “This fellowship will offer me a great opportunity to work as an academic partner with vulnerable and marginalized communities like the Hispanic community in Nashville.”
Furthermore, he added, “Community engaged research is an important approach because engaging community stakeholders will contribute to the reduction of racial and ethnic health disparities negatively affecting our communities.”
About the Meharry-Vanderbilt Community Engagement and Research Core
The Community Engagement and Research Core, a focused partnership between Meharry Medical College and the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, brings academic and community partners together to improve community health and healthcare through research. CERC shapes and supports innovative and translational community-engaged research by preparing scientists to impact the public’s health, energizing communities to engage in research and building transformative strategies and structures to support academic-community partnerships.
About the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance
Founded in 1999, the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance bridges institutions of Meharry Medical College and Vanderbilt University. Its mission is to enrich learning and advance clinical research by developing and supporting mutually beneficial partnerships between Meharry Medical College, Vanderbilt University and the communities they serve.
