School of Public Health

SPH students, alum recognized at 2019 Research Appreciation Day

April 1, 2019 • Uncategorized

By Sally Crocker

UNTHSC School of Public Health (SPH) students Cassidy Loparco, Roslin Jose and Sarah Matthes, along with SPH alum and current TCOM student Brandon Hoff, were all honored for their winning poster presentations at this year’s UNTHSC Research Appreciation Day (RAD), held March 29.

RAD is a longstanding UNTHSC tradition bringing together the university’s work in the areas of public health, medicine and basic science.

The program provides an opportunity for students, faculty and staff to share their research efforts with the campus community and the public.

The program encourages the development of joint research projects and increases the community’s awareness of the outstanding quality and range of research conducted at UNT Health Science Center.

Since its beginnings, RAD has featured outstanding speakers, quality research and rewarded students and team members for their achievements.

This year, more than 300 posters and presentations were entered into RAD 2019, offering an exciting day of networking, honors and information sharing.

The SPH winners and their presentations focused on:

• First Place, Cassidy Loparco, “Examining Willingness and Intentions to Drink Alcohol as Predictors of Protective Behavioral Strategies.”
• Second Place, Roslin Jose, “Developing Tuberculosis Prevention Strategies via Interdisciplinary Systems-Thinking: Latent Tuberculosis Infection Risk Recognition and Care.” Jose was also awarded First Place in the Interdisciplinary Practice category. Student co-authors/collaborators on the project were Shlesma Chhetri and Eleena Dhaka.
• Third Place, Sarah Matthes, “The Cost of DIY: Correlates of Women’s Willingness to Pay for At-Home HPV Self-Sampling.”
• Three awards went to Brandon Hoff, who presented on “The Association Between Human Papillomavirus Vaccination and State Medicaid Expansion.” He was honored for “Health Care Delivery” by UNT Health, “Best in First Year Class” by the UNTHSC Medical Student Government Association, and received the First Place Student Research Award from TCOM.

“Congratulations to all of this year’s RAD winners for their hard work and the advancements they are making in their field,” said Dr. Dennis Thombs, SPH Dean. “This year’s event was a huge success, and we look forward to another stimulating program next spring.”