It’s not something many people consider—vital health information isn’t just passed from a doctor to a patient at a hospital or medical office. It can also be shared between a mother and daughter at the dinner table or during a phone call. Opening up about personal family medical history—like a grandmother’s breast cancer or an aunt’s hysterectomy—can be critically important and lifesaving, but it’s often left unspoken, particularly among Latina women.  

De Madres a Hijas, or From Mothers to Daughters, is a culturally tailored health program designed to encourage Latina mothers in the Washington, D.C. area to break the silence.

Dr. Maria De Jesus, a public health expert and professor at American University (AU); Astrid Jimenez, Executive Director of nonprofit Nueva Vida and an AU alum; and Dr. Laura Logie, Director of Research at the cancer care organization, launched De Madres a Hijas to help first-generation Latina mothers and their daughters understand hereditary breast and ovarian cancer risk.

“This was an intervention,” Logie said. “We were discovering that our Latina clients had limited to no knowledge about family history of cancer.”

Heartfelt conversations become health interventions

De Madres a Hijas aimed to open the lines of communication and fill the knowledge gap that ails so many Latina families. It wasn’t just informative—it was transformative, teaching participants how to document family health histories, access genetic testing, and ask the questions that may have once felt taboo or off-limits.

“It's not just doing research for research’s sake,” Jimenez said. “It’s actually engaging and learning from and with these women and their daughters.”

The pilot in 2022 engaged ten mother-daughter pairs from Mexico, Panama, El
Salvador, and the Dominican Republic with histories of breast cancer. The experience left participants equipped with tools—and motivation—to take action.

“The women left with something to do,” Logie explained. “Whether it was getting genetic testing or calling a relative in their country of origin to say, ‘I'd like to learn more about Tía Maria's cancer,’ it was worthwhile.”

That sense of urgency was immediate, prompting some of the women to schedule doctors’ visits, exams, and even genetic testing.

De Jesus said, “These women—being the central caretakers for the most part—realize that they have to do these things not only for themselves, but for their families as well.”

“It has an immediate impact,” Jimenez added. “Sometimes you’re doing research and you’re not going to see the results until a few years, but here you could have instant gratification and communication with the women.” 

A shared mission to empower communities through research

Over two years, De Madres a Hijas expanded to educate 48 women, or 24 motherdaughter pairs. Much like the program itself, which is based on familial trust—between mothers and daughters—there is a professional trust between the three women who started it.

“I don’t think it’s a secret that we like each other,” De Jesus said. “We not only share a similar vision, but it’s also a relationship that’s built on respect and trust that’s both professional and personal—and that is very special.”
That special decade-long partnership between AU and Nueva Vida continues to grow and thrive.

“There is no endpoint,” Logie affirmed. “I don’t feel that Nueva Vida will end with AU, and AU will never end with Nueva Vida.”

The conversations between mothers and daughters reflect the vision of the women behind the program—passing health knowledge among women, across families, and through communities and generations. These aren’t just stories from the past, but a way to ensure a healthier future.

As featured in the AU SOAR Seminar Series. SOAR Seminars are cohosted by American University's Translating Research into Action Center (TRAC). TRAC features AU faculty and partners from policy, practice, and private institutions with deep experience in research translation and achieving Societal Outcomes and Actionable Research.