Design Studios at Mays Cancer Center

What is a Design Studio?

Design Studios provides a community voice on whether to implement research projects and studies. These community experts help guide our research processes and increase study recruitment and retention.

Design Studios are informal meetings where community experts provide researchers with feedback on their research ideas and designs. In these 1.5 to 2-hour meetings, a researcher will 8-12 adult community experts a presentation and ask them to answer questions and provide feedback based on the information provided. 

The design studio meetings occur during hours that are convenient for you and the researcher. The meetings can occur virtually or in person.

Request a design studio.

Community Experts

A community expert is a member of the community who is at least 18 years of age and is or has experienced any of the following:

• An active member in the community or experience in working with members of the community 
• Has experienced cancer as a patient or caregiver
• Has experienced a serious medical illness or disease as a patient or caregiver
• Wants to make a positive impact on the medical health of their community 

We do not require prior working experience or prior knowledge in the health or medical industry. 

By becoming a community expert, you will: 

• Provide a community voice in research 
• Impact research processes 
• Better understand research 
• Increase recruitment and retention

For more information about our design studies, please email coe@uthscsa.edu or call 210-450-8985. 

Become a community expert.

Listening Sessions

The Mays Cancer Center's Community Outreach and Engagement team ensures the research we're conducting at our cancer center addresses the needs of the South Texas communities. Our listening sessions allow us to gain an understanding of the communities within each of the 38 counties we serve.

The goals of our listening sessions are to gain: 

• An understanding of your community and community needs
• An understanding of the cancer burden in your community 
• An understanding of the communities’ experiences and barriers to accessing cancer screening and care information 

Listening session meetings: 

• Meet with South Texas residents (8–12 adults) in person or virtually 
• Each session is about 90 minutes to 2 hours
• Meetings available in English or Spanish

Post-listening session: 

• A summary of the session will be released via email to Mays Cancer Center leadership and researchers 
• Findings from all sessions will be used to write a formal report
• Findings will be used to improve Mays Cancer Center research and programming

The Community Outreach and Engagement team will provide the following to ensure a successful listening session: 

• Prepare listening session collateral 
  • Flyers 
  • Scripts 
  • Facilitator guides 
  • Email/text templates 
• Listening sessions day of preparation 
• Facilitate listening sessions 
• Prepare listening session report 

If you’re interested in hosting a session, we ask that the co-host organization: 

• Assist with identifying the listening session’s location 
• Increase local awareness and promotion of listening sessions 
• Assist with the recruitment of community members 

For more information about co-hosting a session, contact the Community Outreach and Engagement team at coe@uthscsa.edu, or call 210-450–8985.