Dr. Elmer Huerta is currently director of the Cancer Preventorium and Professor of Medicine at the George Washington University Cancer Center in Washington, D.C. This low-income clinic, which he founded in 1994, accepts only people without symptoms for chronic diseases prevention and screening. There, in addition to his clinical duties in cancer prevention and screening, he continues his research and educational work with the Hispanic/Latino community. Through his educational work, Dr. Huerta has developed a high degree of respect and trust in the Hispanic community at the local, national, and international level. Dr. Huerta was elected in 2007 as the first-ever Latino National President of the American Cancer Society. Dr. Huerta was born in Perú, where he obtained his medical degree at the University of San Marcos in 1981. Trained in Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology in Perú, he moved to the United States in 1987. He completed a fellowship in oncology research at the Johns Hopkins Oncology Center in 1988. In 1991, he completed his residency in internal medicine at St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore. Then, in 1992, Dr. Huerta received a Master’s degree in public health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He completed his fellowship in Cancer Prevention and Control at the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, in 1994. In 1994, he founded the Cancer Preventorium at the MedStar Washington Hospital Center Cancer Institute in Washington DC. This preventive health care center, distinguished by the United States government as a futuristic model of health care, focuses on the care of apparently healthy people for the early detection and prevention of cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. Under its motto “A clinic for apparently healthy people”, the Preventorium has served almost 40,000 people from more than 30 countries since its creation, 90 percent of them without symptoms. With over 30 years of patient care and educational experience, Dr. Huerta is recognized as a very reliable source of medical information in the Hispanic community and media. He is a prominent figure on Spanish-language radio and television in the United States and Latin America. Dr. Huerta is a Senior Medical Collaborator for CNN en Espanol radio and television. His podcast for CNN en Espanol “Coronavirus Reality vs. Fiction” was awarded as the best podcast in the United States in 2021 and 2022. His daily, one-hour radio show “El Consultorio Comunitario” (The Community Clinic of the Air) has been on the air since 1994 and reaches Latinos living in the Washington DC and the Miami Metropolitan Areas. In addition, Dr Huerta broadcasts daily to his native Peru on RPP Noticias. Dr. Huerta has repeatedly testified before the U.S. Congress on minority health issues and was appointed by President Clinton as member of the National Cancer Advisory Board in 1998. He is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Prevent Cancer Foundation, National Coalition of Cancer Survivorship, Research America, and the Intercultural Cancer Council, and was a founding member of the Board of Directors of the American Legacy Foundation. As a cancer researcher, he was the principal investigator for the Latin American Cancer Research Coalition, a National Cancer Institute funded program in the Washington DC metropolitan area. Some of his awards include The Broadcast Leadership Award by the Board of Sponsors of the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The Congressional Families Action for Cancer Awareness/CRFA Leadership Award, The 1997 Leadership Award by the Latino Caucus of the American Public Health, the Year 2000 Oscar E. Edwards Memorial Award for Volunteerism and Community Service by the American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine. The 2001 Walter C. Alvarez Award by the American Medical Writers Association, the 2002 Spirit of Life Foundation Humanitarian Award and the 2004 Innovations in Prevention Award by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. In 2005, Dr. Huerta’s Cancer Preventorium was recognized by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services for its achievements in closing the Health Care Gap. In addition, the Cancer Preventorium is one of the models for The Patient Navigator, Outreach, and Chronic Disease Prevention Act of 2004 (H.R. 918/S.453) signed by President George W. Bush. In 2008 Dr. Huerta was selected as one of the 100 Most Influential Hispanics in the United States. In 2013 Dr. Huerta was distinguished by the White House as Champion of Change in Public Health and Prevention and received the Medal of Honor by the Peruvian Congress. In 2015 Dr. Huerta received the honorary degree of Doctor Honoris Causa by his Alma Mater Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, the oldest University in the Americas. In 2017 he received the honorary degree of Doctor Honoris Causa by Universidad Ricardo Palma in Lima, Peru. Dr. Huerta is the author of the best-sellers La Salud Hecho Facil (Your Health Made Easy), published in 2012, Confronting Cancer: A Guide for Patients and their Families, published in 2014 and 100 Questions About Your Health, published in 2016. Dr. Huerta, a soccer fan, enjoys cooking Peruvian food and lives in Clarksville, Maryland with his wife Susan. His children Ricardo and Patricia are college graduates. He is also very fond of taking long bike rides, especially around the monuments area in Washington DC. March 2024