Sociomedical Sciences

On April 6, the Dean’s Office, Diversity Committee, Office of Student Affairs, Public Health Doctoral Students Association, and the Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity (IMSD) hosted the spring 2009 Student Research Diversity Day. The half-day event highlighted student work in a variety of subject areas and included a special section open to prospective students and community high school students.

The event began with opening remarks from Marlene A. Pantin, MPH, a doctoral student in the Department of Sociomedical Sciences and the IMSD program, and Marlyn Delva, dean of Students, before breaking into panel presentations and a poster session. Student panel presentations spanned the majority of the day and were broken into three subject areas – international affairs and global health issues, social and political factors in HIV/AIDS, and disparities in mental and physical health.

The event provided a unique opportunity for students to share their research with peers and discuss findings and methodology. During the open session at the end of the day and the poster session during lunch, they had an added opportunity to describe the process of their scholarly inquiries and the application of their work. Mailman School students served as liaisons, discussing the School’s academic environment and their experience with the admitted students who attended the event. In addition, while talking to a group of 9th graders from The Community Health Academy of the Heights, the student panelists and poster presenters were able to provide take-away lessons to promote health. One of the visiting 9th graders commented that she was happy to learn about obesity and the nutrition pyramid, stating that she wants to have a healthy body, avoid obesity, and live longer.

"It was a great opportunity to learn about the work of other students across the school. Many of us also gained valuable experience learning how to design, print, and present a scientific poster to a wide audience, including 20 very curious and vocal Washington Heights high school students!" said Eleanor Murray, an MPH ’09 candidate in the Department of Epidemiology who was on-hand with her poster titled “Seasonality of Human H5N1 Influenza A in Indonesia and Egypt.”

The student research panel presentations were as follows:

International Affairs and Global Health Issues

Allocating the Burden of Proof: The Precautionary Principle in the Age of Donor Funded Health Interventions: Male Circumcision in Rwanda
Dacia McPherson

Environmental and Educational Factors and the Prevalence of Active Trachoma Among Households in Northern Sierra Leone
Emily Heck, Anne Paxton, Louis Pizzarello

Integrating Microfinance and Health Promotion in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico
Maritza Valenzuela

Social and Political Factors in HIV/AIDS

"She’s a Professional Like Anyone Else”: The Role of Social Identity in an HIV/STI Prevention Project with Brazilian Sex Workers
Laura Murray, Sheri Lippman, Angela Donini, Deanna Kerrigan

Exploring HIV Stigma within the New York City House and Ball Community
Gabriel Galindo

Developing a Tailored Individual-level HIV Prevention for Men Recently Released from Prison
Craig Hutchinson

Disparities in Mental and Physical Health

Effects of Nintendo Wii Use in the Nursing Home Environment: An Exploratory Study
Monique Hedmann-Maxey

Recruitment Challenges when Targeting Ethnic Older Adults for Community-based Public Health Research
Yessica M. Diaz

Hispanic Health Differentials across Chronic Disease Statuses in New York City
Stephanie Young