CPRC Seed Grant Awards

• Research Team: Abigail Greenleaf, Ph.D., MPH, Department of Population and Family Health (at ICAP), Mailman School of Public Health, Elaine Abrams, MD, ICAP at Columbia, Department of Epidemiology and Pediatrics at the Columbia University Medical Center, Wafaa El-Sadr, MD, MPH, MPA, Department of Epidemiology (at ICAP), Mailman School of Public Health, John Santelli, MD, MPH, Population and Family Health and Pediatrics at the Columbia University Medical Center
• Summary: This study uses cell phones to collect high frequency, longitudinal data to understand the circumstances surrounding adolescent girls and young women’s sexual and reproductive health in sub-Saharan Africa.

• Research Team: Sabrina Hermosilla, Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health, Mailman School of Public Health, Katherine M. Keyes, Department of Epidemiology, Mail-man School of Public Health, Ajmal Sabawoon, Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health
• Summary: This study will analyze existing data on over 1,000 mother-child dyads, and field a new data collection effort in four regions of Afghanistan focused on mental health in 2,000 mother-child dyads, in order to assess current psycho-pathological burden, compare rates of disorders in 2017 and 2023, and support exploratory analyses around the role of age at exposure on eventual mental health outcomes.

• Research Team: Sorcha Brophy, Department of Health Policy and Management, Mailman School of Public Health, Thalia Porteny, Department of Health Policy and Management, Mailman School of Public Health, Neeraj Kaushal, School of Social Work, Columbia University
• Summary: Drawing from implementation science and community engagement methods, this study aims to work alongside NYC Community Health Centers to identify the structural limitations that impact their ability to retain health workers and to investigate the feasibility and design of a pilot program to retain health workers in NYC Community Health Centers.

• Research Team: Nkemka Anyiwo, School of Social Work, Columbia University, Natasha Johnson, School of Social Work, Columbia University
• Summary: This study aims to identify pathways to positive youth development by investigating the cumulative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the simultaneous racial unrest-–the dual pandemics on Harlem youth’s mental health, educational experiences, and social support.

• Research Team: Melissa Dupont-Reyes, Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, John P. Salerno, School of Social Work, Columbia University, Carmela Alcántara, School of Social Work, Columbia University, Billy A. Caceres, School of Nursing, Columbia University
• Summary: The study seeks to investigate and understand the lived experiences of stress among Latinx sexual minority immigrant youth from the Northern Triangle between the ages of 14 to 21. Utilizing online testimonios, researchers will elicit the stories of oppression and injustice and promote resistance and social change in Latinx immigrant communities, thus promoting healthy development among this population through preventing mental illness during early life and encouraging positive, long-term effects that carry over into later life.

• Research Team: Pamela Scorza, Sc.D., MPH, Columbia Irving Medical Center Obstetrics and Gynecology, Catherine Monk, Ph.D., Columbia Departments of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Psychiatry, Haotian Wu, Ph.D., Columbia Department of Environmental Health
• Summary: By examining epigenetic aging biomarkers, this study will assess transmissions of maternal prenatal depression to babies and influences of early caregiving sensitivity in Mozambique.

• Research Team: Jennifer Hirsch, Ph.D., Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, Silvia Martins, Ph.D., MD, Department of Epidemiology, Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, Rob Eschmann, Ph.D., MSW, Columbia School of Social Work, Kate Walsh, Ph.D., Psychology and Gender & Women’s Studies, University of Wisconsin
• Summary: By bringing together diverse data sets, this interdisciplinary study will examine how meso- and macro-level factors intersect with substance use and peer victimization in higher education.

• Research Team: Marissa Thompson, Department of Sociology, Columbia University
• Summary: This study investigates the range of consequences of newly available genetic information on conceptions of race. The survey will explore the racial boundary-making process of Black Americans as they grapple with racially ambiguous individuals who identify as Black after taking genetic ancestry tests.

• Research Team: Morgan Williams, Department of Economics, Barnard College
• Summary: This study addresses an important gap within the policing literature in providing a rigorous evaluation of city-level residency requirements on racial differences in homicide victimization and enforcement activity.

• Research Team: Angela Simms, Ph.D., M.A., Department of Sociology and Urban Studies Program, Barnard College-Columbia University, and Amy Zhou, Ph.D., Department of Sociology, Barnard College-Columbia University
• Summary: Through in-depth interviews, this study seeks to understand how faculty and students experience public health education institutions’ recent work to incorporate anti-racist approaches into their curricula. 

• Research Team: Daniel Belsky, Ph.D., Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, Epidemiology
• Summary: This study will examine the biological impact of anti-poverty interventions on young people using a novel method measuring the pace of aging in the body. In doing so, the study aims to test the hypothesis that reducing poverty can slow the pace of aging, and provide a proof-of-concept for future social-policy experiments to build aging health equity.

• Research Team: Kelli Stidham Hall, Ph.D., M.S., Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, Population and Family Health
• Summary: This study will examine models of care for postpartum women who use drugs that account for structural and socioenvironmental drivers of maternal health inequities. The findings from this study will inform strategies to address structural racism and discrimination as well as social determinants of health in obstetric substance use services across the U.S.

• Research Team: Lauren Houghton, Ph.D., Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, Epidemiology, and Nim Tottenham, Ph.D., Columbia University Department of Psychology
• Summary: This study will investigate the validity of measuring early-life stress and resilience through both adolescent and adult saliva cortisol and DHEAS levels. The study’s results will inform whether DHEAS is a viable biomarker for understanding associations between stressful early-life events and hormonal regulation in population-based studies.

• Research Team: Seth Prins, Ph.D., MPH, Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, Epidemiology
• Summary: This longitudinal, multi-level study will investigate the relationships among aggressive community policing, school discipline and arrests, and adolescent health outcomes in New York City.

• Research Team: Goleen Samari, Ph.D., MPH, MA, Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, Population and Family Health, Jennifer Hirsch, Ph.D., Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, Sociomedical Sciences, and Heather Wurtz, Ph.D., Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, Sociomedical Sciences
• Summary: Through a series of qualitative interviews, this study will examine immigrant women’s perceptions of xenophobia and experiences navigating additional barriers to seeking and receiving sexual and reproductive healthcare in New York City during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Research Team: Catherine Monk, Ph.D., Columbia Departments of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Psychiatry, and Pamela Scorza, Ph.D.,  Columbia Departments of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Psychiatry
   
• Summary: This study explores how childhood trauma impacts pregnant women and their infants’ oxytocin levels. The results of this study will support follow-on research on the impact of trauma-sensitive obstetric care on oxytocin in the perinatal period.

Research Team. Alissa Davis, Ph.D., Columbia School of Social Work, Susan Rosenthal, MD, Department of Pediatrics, and Nial Bolger, Ph.D., Department of Psychology 

Summary. This study will use digital phenotyping to elucidate daily processes of social interactions and adolescent mental health status and alcohol/substance use in New York City. Click here to learn more.

Research Team. Samantha Winter, Ph.D., Columbia University School of Social Work

Summary. This pilot web-based psychoeducation training aims to alleviate the mental health consequences of the pandemic for community leaders in informal settlements in Rio de Janeiro and Nairobi.

Research Team. Yao Lu, Ph.D., Columbia University Department of Sociology and Neeraj Kaushal, Ph.D., Columbia University School of Social Work

Summary. The study team will conduct a nationally representative survey to investigate the extent to which COVID-19 has exacerbated anti-Asian prejudice and discrimination and if such intensified discrimination has permeated to the socioeconomic arena to affect the labor market outcomes and social experiences of Asian Americans.

Research Team. Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Ph.D., Teachers College, Columbia University and Elizabeth Ananat, Ph.D., Barnard College, Columbia University

Summary. This project aims to add a COVID-19 module to the 18th wave of The New York City Housing and Vacancy Survey (NYCHVS).

Research Team. Belinda Archibong, Ph.D., Barnard College, Columbia University

Summary. This study seeks to estimate the causal impact of information-communication on households’ communication-risk sharing, expenditure, mental wellbeing, and gender relations in the context of COVID-19.

Research Team. William P. Fifer, Ph.D., Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Carmela Alcántara, Ph.D., Columbia University School of Social Work, and Noelia M. Zork, MD, Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Summary. This is the first prospective, longitudinal matched case-control study to investigate how child neurodevelopment is impacted by maternal gestational diabetes mellitus and/or gestational hypertension in the context of maternal stress and depression related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Click here to learn more.

Research Team. Dani Dumitriu, MD, Ph.D., Columbia University Irving Medical Center and Catherine Monk, Ph.D., Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Summary. This study will examine psychosocial stress within the context of COVID-19 as a potential pathway in the relationship between race and poor sleep. This is a subcomponent of a large mother-infant study conducted under a new interdisciplinary initiative: Maternal and Child Research Oversight (MaCRO) Committee.