Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy (InCHIP)

Christina H. Fuller, Sc.D., University of Georgia
Topic: Air quality, Environmental Health, and Justice
March 13, 2025 | 12:30 PM | WebEx

RSVP

Christina H. Fuller is an Associate Professor in the University of Georgia College of Engineering. She earned master’s and doctoral degrees in environmental health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a bachelor’s degree in environmental engineering from Northwestern University. Dr. Fuller conducts research on environmental health and justice. She has expertise in exposure science and epidemiology, which she uses to investigate air pollution exposure, pollution reduction strategies, health disparities and social-environmental interactions.

In Recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness Month

Kristin M. Anders, Ph.D., Kansas State University
Topic: Violence in Sexual and Romantic Relationships
April 3, 2025 | 12:30 PM | WebEx

RSVP

Dr. Ander’s research program focuses on sexual and relationship development in adolescence and emerging adulthood. Specifically, much of her work focuses on emerging adult sexual identity development, the use of violence in sexual and romantic relationships, and understanding how cultural or social norms affect identity development during adolescence. She uses this research to better inform and strengthen sexual and relationship education in high schools and colleges, along with promoting public scholarship in non-academic communities. Kristin currently serves as the Society for the Study of Emerging Adulthood (SSEA) Communications Chair and Sexuality Topic Network Emerging Scholar co-chair. Further, Kristin also serves as the Co-Director of Communications and Marketing for Relevate, a multidisciplinary project dedicated to increasing public scholarship of academic research to communities. Kristin currently co-leads the RUSH-21 Team with Dr. Yelland, along with co-leading the SHARE Team and being involved in the HAARRT Lab with Dr. Toews.

InCHIP's Completed Lectures for the 2024-2025 Academic Year will be posted here. Watch recorded lectures on InCHIP's YouTube page.

Heide Castañeda, Ph.D., University of South Florida
Topic: Health Care Access for Immigrant Populations 
September 12, 2024 

Heide Castañeda is a Professor of Anthropology at the University of South Florida. Her research areas include critical border studies, political and legal anthropology, medical anthropology, migration, migrant health, citizenship, focusing on the U.S./Mexico border, Mexico, Germany, and Morocco.

She is the author of Borders of Belonging: Struggle and Solidarity in Mixed-Status Immigrant Families (Stanford University Press, 2019) and co-editor of Unequal Coverage: The Experience of Health Care Reform in the United States (NYU Press, 2018). Her latest book is Migration and Health: Critical Perspectives (Routledge, 2023).

Dr. Castañeda has also published dozens of research articles on migration and health care access for immigrant populations. Her work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, the Fulbright Program, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), and the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research.

In Recognition of World Mental Health Month

Shalini Sivathasan, Ph.D., Boston College
"Reimagining Mental Health Care for Autistic Individuals: Social Justice Approaches for Research and Clinical Practice"
October 10, 2024 

Dr. Shalini Sivathasan (she/her) is an Assistant Professor of Counseling Psychology in the Lynch School of Education and Human Development at Boston College. Her research interests broadly center around improving behavioral health outcomes and access to mental healthcare among people with multiple marginalized identities (e.g., autistic and neurodivergent individuals, racial/ethnic minorities, LGBTQIA+). As the director of the Intersections Lab at BC, she and her students aim to leverage expert knowledge through collaborations with people with lived experiences, families, community partners, and mental health professionals, ultimately with the goal of reducing disparities and developing accessible interventions for marginalized children and adults.

Janine M. Simmons, M.D., Ph.D.
Deputy Director, Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, NIH
“Charting a Path toward Emotional Well-Being: Perspectives from the NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research”
October 24, 2024

Janine M. Simmons, M.D., Ph.D. joined OBSSR as the Deputy Director in January 2024. In this role, she supports the OBSSR Director and staff in strategic planning, developing scientific initiatives, ensuring strong communication with internal and external stakeholders, and implementing plans to advance the coordination, integration, and impact of behavioral and social sciences research.

Dr. Simmons comes to OBSSR by way of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the National Institute on Aging (NIA). At NIMH, Dr. Simmons ran the Social and Affective Neuroscience Program within the Division of Neuroscience and Basic Behavioral Science, served as a subject matter expert on Social Processes for NIMH’s Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) program, and originated proposals for the BRAIN initiative’s Brain-Behavior Quantification and Synchronization initiative. At NIA, Dr. Simmons was Chief of the Individual Behavioral Processes Branch within the Division of Behavioral and Social Research and served as a Program Officer or Project Scientist for NIA’s Stress Measurement Network, Emotional Well-Being Networks, Telomere Research Network, and the Science of Behavior Change Coordinating Center. Dr. Simmons has a long-standing relationship with OBSSR, including active participation in OppNet since 2010 and co-chairing the OBSSR Coordinating Committee’s Behavioral Ontology Development Working Group since 2015.

Dr. Simmons attended Yale University, obtained an M.D., Ph.D. in Neurosciences from the UCLA School of Medicine, trained in General & Adult Psychiatry at Western Psychiatric Institute & Clinic, and completed a post-doctoral fellowship within the NIMH Intramural Program. Her graduate and post-doctoral research focused on neural circuits underlying motivation and reward processing.

Rafael Pérez-Escamilla, Ph.D., Yale School of Public Health
"The Impact of Neocolonialism on Global, Maternal, and Child Health"
November 14, 2024 

Rafael Pérez-Escamilla, Ph.D., is Professor of Public Health, and Director of the Office of Public Health Practice, the Global Health Concentration, and the Maternal Child Health Promotion track at the Yale School of Public Health. He is the PI of the Yale-Griffin CDC Prevention Research Center (PRC). His global public health nutrition and food security research program, supported with over $90 million in extramural funds, has contributed to improvements in breastfeeding and other maternal, infant and young child nutrition outcomes, iron deficiency anemia among infants, household food security, and early childhood development. He has co-led innovative mixed-methods implementation studies assessing the impact of community health worker person centered interventions on breastfeeding, type-2 diabetes, post-partum hypertension and mental health outcomes among vulnerable communities. He has published over 350 research articles. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine (elected in 2019).

InCHIP's Completed Lectures for the 2023-2024 Academic Year will be posted here. Watch recorded lectures on InCHIP's YouTube page.

Sarah D. Lynne, Ph.D., University of Florida
"'It’s not the Destination, it’s the Journey': Ecologically Informed Pathways to Health and Well-being"
September 21, 2023

Sarah D. Lynne is an associate professor in the Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences at the University of Florida. She is a former SRCD policy fellow who worked at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Her experience at NIDA provided her with a unique perspective regarding the interplay between science and policy. A primary goal of her research is to promote positive health and well-being and reduce disparities for marginalized populations using the tools of developmental psychology and prevention science. Applying advanced quantitative statistical methods, Dr. Lynne conducts developmental research on pathways to substance use and related mental, physical, and behavioral health problems complimenting original data collection with evaluations of large archival longitudinal datasets. She takes an ecological perspective, focusing on the interplay between individual characteristics, interpersonal relationships, and context across childhood and adolescence, with primary expertise in the biopsychosocial changes of adolescence.

In Recognition of World Mental Health Day

Theresa S. Betancourt, ScD, MA, Boston College
"The Mental Health of Children Affected by Armed Conflict: A Call to Action"
October 12, 2023

Theresa S. Betancourt is the inaugural Salem Professor in Global Practice at the Boston College School of Social Work and Director of the Research Program on Children and Adversity (RPCA). Her primary research interest is to understand the protective processes that contribute to risk and resilience in the mental health and development of children and adolescents facing adversity in a variety of cultures and settings. Dr. Betancourt has led initiatives to adapt and test evidence-based behavioral and parenting interventions for children and families facing adversity; she additionally focuses on strategies for scaling out these interventions using implementation science approaches. She is Principal Investigator of an intergenerational study of war/prospective longitudinal study of war-affected youth in Sierra Leone, a scale-up Family-Strengthening Intervention for children and families in Rwanda, and community-based participatory research on prevention of emotional and behavioral problems in refugee children and adolescents resettled in the U.S.

M3EWB Talk @ InCHIP Lecture Series

Sara Lazar, Ph.D. Harvard University, Lazar Lab for Meditation Research, Massachusetts General Hospital
"Examining the Neural Mechanisms Underlying the Beneficial Effects of Yoga and Meditation"
November 16, 2023 

I am an Associate Professor in the Psychiatry Department at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. The focus of my research is to elucidate neural mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of yoga and meditation, both in clinical settings and in healthy individuals. We are particularly interested in how meditative practices change the flow of information within and between the major brain networks during emotionally challenging situations. My research has been covered by numerous news outlets including The New York Times, USA Today, CNN, and WebMD.

In Recognition of World AIDS Day

Leigh E. Szucs, Ph.D., CHES, Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH), U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
"Promoting Adolescent Sexual Health and the Prevention of HIV/STI and Unintended Pregnancy: Implications for School Research and Practice"
November 30, 2023

Leigh Szucs, Ph.D., CHES is a Senior Health Scientist in the Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH) at the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Her research focuses on evaluating school-based health and sexual health education programs aimed preventing STIs, including HIV, and unintended pregnancy among adolescents. Through this research, Leigh also provides technical and capability building assistance to school districts across the United States using evidence-informed strategies shown to improve adolescent sexual and reproductive health outcomes, in addition to promoting key protective factors that support health and well-being. Leigh earned a Master of Education in Health Education at Texas State University and PhD in Health Education at Texas A&M University.

Co-sponsored by: M3EWB & Collaboratory on School and Child Health

Inbal Billie Nahum-Shani, Ph.D.
Director, Data Science for Dynamic Decision-making Center (d3c)
Professor, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan
"Optimizing the Integration Between Digital and Human-delivered Intervention Components: The Hybrid Experimental Design"
January 19, 2024

Dr. Nahum-Shani’s primary research interest is harnessing adaptive interventions to transform health care. Adaptive interventions address the changing needs of individuals by modifying their treatment based on dynamic information about their state and progress. An important focus of her work is the Just-In-Time Adaptive Intervention (JITAI), a special type of adaptive intervention that leverages powerful mobile and sensing technologies to adapt the delivery of support in real-world settings—in near real-time. Her work is highly multidisciplinary, spanning behavioral health and applied psychology, while also being tightly integrated with advanced research methodology. She developed the Hybrid Experimental Design (HED) to help health scientists optimize the integration of human-delivered (e.g., coaching session) components with digital (e.g., mobile-based) components, which necessitates adaptation on multiple timescales.

Jim Downs, Ph.D., Gettysburg College
"The Laboring Dead: How Colonialism & Slavery Led to the Emergence of Epidemiology"
January 25, 2024 

Jim Downs is the Gilder Lehrman-National Endowment for the Humanities Professor of Civil War Era Studies and History. He is the author of Sick From Freedom: African American Sickness and Suffering during the Civil War and Reconstruction (Oxford UP, 2012), Stand By Me: The Forgotten History of Gay Liberation (Basic Books, 2016) and Maladies of Empire: How Colonialism, Slavery, and War Transformed Medicine (Harvard UP, 2021) which has been translated into Chinese, French, Korean, Japanese, and Russian.

Idia Binitie Thurston, Ph.D., Northeastern University
"Multilevel Factors Contributing to Health Inequity in Pediatric Populations"
February 8, 2024

My research explores causes of health inequity among adolescents, young adults, and parents by examining how and why BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) and other minoritized individuals experience a greater health and disease burden. Framed by an academic womanist lens, my research explores multilevel individual, relational, and contextual risk and protective factors that contribute to varying health outcomes among minoritized and underserved populations. I am deeply invested in the development of a diverse workforce of health scientists via the CHANGE* lab, where I support grad, postbacc, and undergrad scholars to engage in health equity science, social justice advocacy, and cultural humility practices. Our lab strives to combat health inequity by engaging with communities to develop strength-based, culturally-responsive tools, programs, and interventions to enhance well-being, reduce stigma, and promote self-empowerment. We prioritize research that explores intersectional identities of race, ethnicity, gender, class, age, and sexuality.

In Recognition of Heart Health Month

Andrea Spaeth, Ph.D., Rutgers University
"Sleep and Cardiovascular Disease"
February 29, 2024 

Trained as an experimental psychologist, Dr. Spaeth has dedicated herself to a career in sleep research aimed at advancing our understanding of how changes in sleep behaviors affect health outcomes, with a focus on weight management and metabolic health. Dr. Spaeth developed her own independent line of research in this area as a graduate student by assessing the impact of sleep on weight, caloric intake and energy expenditure in healthy adults participating in an ongoing in-laboratory sleep restriction protocol. As a postdoctoral researcher, she gained experience in the implementation of sleep and meal timing interventions outside of the laboratory and examined the impact of these interventions on cardiometabolic outcomes. The ultimate goal of Dr Spaeth's research will be to develop and implement effective lifestyle modification interventions related to sleep in diverse at-risk populations to promote health and wellness.

Morissa Henn, DrPH, Deputy Commissioner, NH Department of Health and Human Services
"Collaboration with Gun Owners as a Core Strategy to Address the U.S. Public Health Challenge of Suicide: Lessons from NH and UT"
April 4, 2024

Morissa Henn serves as Deputy Commissioner at the NH Department of Health and Human Services, the State’s largest executive agency, which is guided by a mission “to join communities and families in providing opportunities for residents to achieve health and independence.” In this role, she leads cross-cutting strategic efforts to integrate policy and practice, with a focus on supporting NH’s most vulnerable individuals. She also oversees Hampstead Hospital and Residential Treatment Facility, the state-run psychiatric treatment facility for youth. Morissa was recently promoted from the role of Associate Commissioner, where her portfolio included the Division for Children, Youth, and Families the Division for Behavioral Health. With roles in New York and Utah in addition to New Hampshire, Morissa has spent the past 15 years working to try and put community needs and voices at the center of health and human service system policy and design.

Chelsea R. Singleton, PhD, MPH
Tulane School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine
"Exploring the Nutritional & Health Consequences of Violence in Black Communities"
April 18, 2024

Dr. Chelsea Singleton is a nutritional epidemiologist whose research examines the impact healthy food access has on food purchasing behavior, dietary intake, and chronic disease risk. The overarching goal of her research is to document and dismantle nutritional inequities affecting low-income populations and people of color in the U.S. Her recent work has primarily focused on describing the mechanisms by which structural racism and structural violence impede healthy eating in underserved communities. She has extensive experience working with nutrition assistance program participants (e.g., SNAP, WIC), and she primarily uses epidemiological, geo-spatial, and community-based participatory research methods to accomplish her research goals.

In Recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness Month

Chiara Sabina, Ph.D. Rutgers University 
"Sexual Violence among Latinas: Connections to Other Forms of Violence and the Role of Cultural Factors"
April 25, 2024 

Dr. Chiara Sabina is an associate professor at the School of Social Work at Rutgers University and Associate Director of the Center for Research on Ending Violence. Her research centers on interpersonal victimization, especially intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and dating violence among Latines. Dr. Sabina employs a contextual, strengths-based perspective with respect to interpersonal violence focusing on understudied groups, the influence of cultural variables, help-seeking responses, and examination of the service-delivery system. Dr. Sabina has received grants from the Fulbright Scholar Program, National Institute of Justice, Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, Vision of Hope, and National Sexual Violence Resource Center to conduct her work on Latine victimization, victim needs, violence prevention, domestic violence services, and culturally-informed services. Dr. Sabina is Senior Consulting Editor for Psychology of Violence, co-Chair of the Research Advisory Board of Esperanza United, and an American Psychological Association Fellow.

InCHIP's Completed Lectures for the 2022-2023 Academic Year will be posted here. Watch recorded lectures on InCHIP's YouTube page.

Alyasah A. Sewell, PhD, Emory University

"All It Takes is One Block: The Legacy of Redlining in Lethally Surveilled Neighborhoods"

September 8, 2022 

Alyasah “Ali” Sewell (they/them/their) is Associate Professor of Sociology at Emory University and Founder and Director of The Race and Policing Project. Advancing quantitative approaches to racism studies, they assess empirical links between the political economy of race and racial health(care) disparities using policing and housing policy data. Published in a wide array of sociological and interdisciplinary outlets, their research garnered support and recognition from the National Institutes of Health, the Ford Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the Society for the Study of Social Problems, the Baden-Württemberg Foundation, and the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research. Planned Parenthood named them, “The Future: Innovator and Visionary Who Will Transform Black Communities.” They received their Ph.D. and M.A. in Sociology from Indiana University with a minor in Social Science Research Methods and their B.A. summa cum laude in Sociology from the University of Florida with a minor in Women’s Studies.

Lisa Fucito, PhD, Yale University

"Applying Sleep Health/Wellness Technology for Alcohol Prevention in Young Adults"

September 22, 2022 

Lisa Fucito, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Tobacco Treatment Service Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven. Her program of research focuses on understanding and treating tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis use in young adult and adult populations. She is particularly interested in co-use of these substances and their co-occurrence with other risky health behaviors (e.g., deficient sleep and physical inactivity), multiple health behavior change, and technology for characterizing risk profiles and delivering interventions. Dr. Fucito utilizes various research designs and methods including clinical trials, qualitative studies, laboratory-analogue models, daily experience sampling/biosensors, and implementation science. For the past 10 years, she has investigated sleep health /wellness technology as a novel alcohol prevention strategy for young adults.

M3EWB Talk @ InCHIP Lecture Series: Dacher Keltner, PhD, UC Berkeley

"Emotional Well-Being: A New Frontier?"

September 29, 2022 

Co-Director of the Greater Good Science Center

Historically, researchers have concentrated on the intrapersonal characteristics and functions of emotion. My own studies have focused on the social functions of emotion, arguing that emotions enable individuals to respond adaptively to the problems and opportunities that define human social living. Based on this approach to emotion, I have documented the appeasement functions of embarrassment, the commitment enhancing properties of love and desire, and how awe motivates attachment to leaders and principles that transcend the self.

*This event was not recorded*

In Recognition of World Mental Health Day (10/10)

Sasha Zhou, PhD, Wayne State University

"Mental Health and Wellbeing in Higher Education: Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities"

October 13, 2022 | 12:30 - 1:30 PM

Dr. Zhou is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Health at Wayne State's CLAS. Her research uses mixed methods to understand and address the mental health needs of emerging adults and college student populations with particular focus on underserved populations, including students of color, international students, and sexual and gender minorities. Dr. Zhou’s broader research portfolio combines varied methodological approaches to identify the mechanisms that perpetuate mental health disparities, including in-depth qualitative work and large-scale epidemiological surveys. Dr. Zhou is also a co-investigator of the Healthy Minds Network, a research-to-practice network dedicated to improving the mental and emotional wellbeing of young people through innovative, multidisciplinary scholarship. She received her Ph.D. in Health Services Organization and Policy at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, where she was a Center for Research on Ethnicity, Culture, and Health (CRECH) Scholar.

Amruta Nori-Sarma, PhD, Boston University School of Public Health

"Climate Change Impacts on Physical and Mental Health in the U.S."

October 27, 2022 

Amruta Nori-Sarma is an Assistant Professor in the Environmental Health Department at Boston University School of Public Health, where she studies the relationship between environmental exposures associated with climate change and health outcomes in vulnerable communities. Her previous work has examined the impact of heat waves and air pollution on health in vulnerable communities in India, South Korea, and across the US. Her current research aims to understand the impacts of interrelated extreme weather events on mental health across the US utilizing large claims datasets. She also has an interest in evaluating the success of policies put in place to reduce the health impacts of climate change.

Daniel Almirall, PhD, University of Michigan

"Multi-level Adaptive Implementation Strategies (MAISYs):
Design Principles, Optimization Questions and Choosing the Right Experimental Design"

November 3, 2022

Daniel Almirall is a statistician who develops methods to form evidence-based adaptive interventions. Adaptive interventions are used to guide individualized intervention decisions for the on-going management of chronic illnesses or disorders such as drug abuse, depression, anxiety, autism, obesity, or HIV/AIDS. More recently, Almirall has been developing methods to inform the construction of optimized multilevel adaptive implementation interventions (MAISYs) using Multilevel Implementation SMARTs (MI-SMARTs). He is particularly interested in applications in mental health and substance use.

Ali Rowhani-Rahbar, MD, PhD, MPH, University of Washington

"Extreme Risk Protection Orders to Prevent Firearm-Related Harm"

November 10, 2022 

Ali Rowhani-Rahbar, MD, MPH, PhD is the Bartley Dobb Professor for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Professor of Epidemiology, Adjunct Professor of Pediatrics, and Adjunct Professor of Public Policy & Governance at the University of Washington. He evaluates social programs and public policies for their impact on multiple forms of violence with a particular emphasis on preventing firearm-related harm. His research on violence prevention has been funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, Department of Justice, Arnold Ventures, National Collaborative on Gun Violence Research, Fund for a Safer Future, State of Washington, and City of Seattle. Rowhani-Rahbar serves as a member of the editorial board of Injury Prevention and as the editor of the Injury Epidemiology Section of Current Epidemiology Reports. His more than 200 peer-reviewed publications have informed public health programs and policies locally and nationally. He received his MD from Mashhad University of Medical Sciences in Iran, MPH from Yale University, and PhD from the University of Washington. He completed his postdoctoral training at Stanford University and research fellowship at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

M3EWB Talk @ InCHIP Series: Shannon Suldo, PhD, University of South Florida

November 17, 2022 

"Monitoring and Increasing Middle School Students’ Subjective Well-Being"

Students with the best academic, social, and physical health outcomes have both low levels of psychopathology and elevated subjective of well-being. Comprehensive school mental health services should thus assess and foster all students' complete mental health, with extra supports for students with diminished well-being or elevated psychopathology. In comparison to the number of evidence-based methods advanced to measure and treat pathology at school, there are fewer examples of how to systematically monitor and intervene to promote subjective well-being for students whose levels are diminished. This talk will focus on practical methods of (a) screening student subjective well-being in a manner similar to how schools systematically monitor other health and academic outcomes deemed important, and (b) providing a promising targeted intervention for students identified as appropriate candidates for an extra support that evokes positive emotions about the past, present, and future; increases engagement through using signature strengths; and strengthens relationships.

In Recognition of World AIDS Day

David Holtgrave, PhD, Senior Policy Analyst, Office of National Drug Control Policy

"Translational Research in HIV and Substance Use Prevention and Care"

December 1, 2022 

Dr. David R. Holtgrave serves as the Assistant Director for Translational Research in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Dr. Holtgrave previously served as the Dean of the University at Albany School of Public Health, where he also held the titles of State University of New York Distinguished Professor, SUNY Empire Innovations Professor, and tenured Professor of Health Policy, Management, and Behavior (he is currently on leave from the SUNY faculty while performing federal service). In addition, Dr. Holtgrave is an Adjunct Professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Health, Behavior & Society (a Department for which he previously served as the Founding Chair). Dr. Holtgrave’s three-decade career in public health has also included senior leadership positions at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Emory University and Johns Hopkins University, as well as serving as Vice-Chair of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS during President Obama's administration. Dr. Holtgrave has conducted highly cited, rigorous research designed to inform important and timely public health policy and program questions. Dr. Holtgrave has taught research methodology to graduate students and delivered an award-winning course on “Translating Science into Public Health Programs” at both Emory and Johns Hopkins. Dr. Holtgrave’s work on substance use has included the publication of economic evaluations of sterile syringe service programs; cost analysis of HIV-related services for persons who inject drugs; examinations of the linkages between substance use and HIV treatment adherence among homeless persons living with HIV; use of national substance use related data sets to estimate HIV risk levels in the US; study of the prevalence of tobacco use and HIV status among persons who inject drugs; and cost-utility analyses of smoking cessation and prevention programs. A common theme throughout his work is fostering a multi-directional dialogue between program managers, policy makers, and applied researchers to support the translation of science into population-level impact and maximization of health equity.

Rita Charon, MD, PhD, Columbia University

Topic: The Clinical Arts and Literary Sciences of Narrative Medicine

January 26, 2023

Rita Charon is a general internist and literary scholar who originated the field of narrative medicine. She is the Bernard Schoenberg Professor of Social Medicine, the founding chair of the Department of Medical Humanities and Ethics, and Professor of Medicine at the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons. She serves as the Executive Director of Columbia Narrative Medicine. She completed the MD at Harvard and the Ph.D. in English at Columbia, concentrating on the works of Henry James. Her research investigates narrative medicine training, reflective practice, health care justice, and health care team effectiveness and has been supported by the NIH, the NEH, the Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation, and many other private foundations. She was selected by the NEH to deliver the Jefferson Lecture in 2018, the highest academic distinction awarded by the Endowment. She has authored, co-authored, or co-edited four books on narrative medicine. She lectures and teaches internationally on narrative medicine and is widely published in leading medical and literary journals.

Lawrence Yang, PhD, New York University

"Stigma of Health Conditions in the Global Context: Applying the 'What Matters Most' Approach to Mental Illness, HIV and Cancer Stigma"

February 9, 2023

Dr. Yang will present on his program of research in stigma and global mental health to reduce health inequities. Dr. Yang will speak about the concept of “what matters most”, or “personhood” as defined in local groups, to elucidate new ways to understand, measure, and intervene against stigma in marginalized communities both locally and globally. He will highlight key projects that have used this novel conceptual formulation on the interrelationship of culture and stigma: i) his investigation of how stigma impacts undocumented Chinese immigrants with psychosis in New York City, funded by an NIMH K-award, and ii) his current application of this concept via efforts to reduce HIV-related stigma among pregnant mothers living with HIV in Botswana. In this latter project, Dr. Yang will illustrate use of this theoretical framework to identify how beneficial healthcare policies, when implemented in the context of Botswana, yielded unintended structural consequences that ostracize women with HIV from “what matters most” in their daily lives. This work informed NIMH-funded R21 and R01 interventions to counter culturally-salient aspects of stigma that impede anti-retroviral treatment adherence in Botswana among women living with HIV. Dr. Yang will also conclude with applications of the “what matters most” to cancer stigma. To conclude, Dr. Yang will present new advances in the utilization of the “what matters most” concept to address intersectional forms of stigma, promote equity, and improve global health for marginalized communities worldwide.

Cassondra Marshall, DrPH, MPH, UC Berkeley School of Public Health

"Improving Family Planning Care for Patients with
Type 2 Diabetes and Hypertension"

March 9, 2023 

Dr. Marshall is an Assistant Professor in Residence in the Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health program at UC Berkeley School of Public Health. Prior to joining the faculty at UC Berkeley, Dr. Marshall was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research and received training in delivery science research. Dr. Marshall also previously worked as a research fellow in the Division of Reproductive Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She has expertise in patient-centered contraceptive care and has conducted studies on women’s contraceptive attribute preferences and method choice, contraceptive decision support tools, and cost sharing and contraceptive adherence. The goal of her research program is to promote reproductive and maternal health equity by developing and implementing patient-centered interventions and care delivery models that meet the needs of and improve the health of underserved women. Dr. Marshall’s current research focuses on health care delivery strategies to improve contraceptive and preconception care to women of reproductive age with diabetes and other chronic medical conditions.

Jeffrey Proulx, PhD, Brown University

"Using Culture as the Vehicle to Emotional Well-being: Results from the IndigenousMIND Project"

March 23, 2023

Dr. Proulx’s work focuses on the development of mindfulness programs in underserved communities and how these programs may be protective for health in those communities. His efforts bridge Native American and African-American traditional contemplative and healing practices and mainstream mindfulness practices and how mindfulness affects resilience and well-being across a person's developmental trajectory. Dr. Proulx’s work includes studying changes in physiological markers, such as cortisol or blood sugar levels, their relationship to stress and how responses to stress earlier in life may affect health later in life. Stress in minority communities is also influenced by historical and cultural traumas and his work is designed to address the loss of culture and traditions by relying on community input to assimilate community strengths and traditions that are already “mindful” into the mindfulness intervention. The goals of these interventions reflect the distinct cultures of the people he works with and affect health disparities in conditions such as diabetes and dementia. Dr. Proulx is recognized as a developmental health psychologist and his work integrates other disciplines including public health, medicine, molecular biology, and lifecourse sociology.

Stephanie Fitzpatrick, PhD, Northwell Health

"Implementing Evidence-Based Interventions for Obesity and Diabetes in Clinical Care Settings"

April 6, 2023

Dr. Fitzpatrick is an Associate Professor in the Institute of Health System Science and Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research at Northwell Health. Her background is in clinical health psychology and behavioral medicine. Dr. Fitzpatrick has over a decade of experience developing, implementing, and evaluating behavioral interventions for obesity and chronic disease prevention and management in clinical and community-based settings. Her work particularly focuses on strategies to combine behavioral and social health interventions to address social needs and promote health equity. She has served as the Pl or Co-I on several NIH and PCORl-funded grants. Her most recent work, funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), included a natural experiment with a mixed methods approach to evaluate the implementation of the Diabetes Prevention Program in a large, integrated health system as well as Bridge to Health/ Puente a la Salud, a randomized trial to test the effectiveness of a combined behavioral and social health intervention led by community health workers to improve diabetes management and related outcomes among a racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic marginalized patient population. Dr. Fitzpatrick is the Director of Research, Evaluation, and Strategic Implementation for the ADA-recognized DECIDE diabetes self-management support program. She also currently serves on the Oregon Health Authority's Metrics and Scoring Committee, determining statewide population health quality measures, and serves on the boards for Society of Behavioral Medicine and Society for Health Psychology.

Timothy Schmutte, PsyD, Yale School of Medicine

"Suicide Prevention Among Older Adults"

April 20, 2023 

I am a clinical psychologist and mental health services researcher with a longstanding interest in older adults and suicide prevention. My current research seeks to improve the quality of care for persons with serious mental illness and the aging population with a focus on suicide prevention. I am conducting a NIMH-funded study using Medicare data to examine the service use patterns, predictors, and outcomes of older adults treated for acute suicide risk in hospitals. I am also co-leading a NIA-funded analysis of Medicare claims to conduct the first US cohort study on the risk and protective factors for all-cause mortality, suicide, and self-harm during the early course of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. I am also a Co-Investigator on a project that is developing and pilot testing a peer-based intervention for Veterans with high suicide risk.

Some of my prior mental health services use research has focused on frequent psychiatric inpatient use and perceived barriers to healthcare among adults with serious mental illness. I have also published in the area of the interface between recovery, evidence-based practice, and wellness with a focus on sleep quality and active self-management programs for chronic illnesses.