School of Public Health

Student work shines at SPH Maternal and Child Health and Health Disparities Poster Symposium

December 15, 2021 • Uncategorized

By Sally Crocker

Poster2021The School of Public Health (SPH) recently hosted its first annual Maternal and Child Health (MCH) and Health Disparities Poster Symposium, featuring graduate student presentations from four courses in the public health core curriculum: Introduction to MCH, Introduction to Health Disparities, Human Sexuality and Reproductive Health, and MCH Epidemiology.

These presentations represented a synthesis of students’ scholarly work throughout the semester. 51 posters were submitted, with some students entering in more than one category. Winners were voted by ballot from among their peers and SPH faculty and staff. Attendees had an opportunity to view the posters and visit with each of the presenters to learn more about their projects and the far-reaching public health implications.

“One of the great things about this event is that it models the types of professional practice students will engage in when they graduate and move into their future careers,” said Dr. Nolan Kline, Assistant Professor, Health Behavior and Health Systems, who helped organize the event with faculty colleagues Dr. Stacey Griner and Dr. Erika Thompson.

Dr. Griner is Assistant Professor, Health Behavior and Health Systems, and Program Director, MPH Public Health Leadership Concentration, and Dr. Thompson serves as Assistant Professor, Department of Biostatistics & Epidemiology, and Program Director, MPH Maternal and Child Health Concentration.

“Through their work presenting in the poster symposium, students are also learning from each other and modeling the cross collaboration that is so important to the professional practice of public health,” Dr. Griner said.

Not only are students collaborating with and learning from their peers, but they are also adding to the experience they gain in the classroom.

“Additionally, through course projects and opportunities like the poster presentations, our students are gaining valuable skills for their professional development, making them more prepared to enter the public health workforce,” Dr. Thompson noted.

This successful event was well attended on campus, with the following winners and runners-up selected in eight different categories:

Best Overall

  • Winner: Theresa Agwuncha (first-year Public Health Leadership program) – “Structural Racism and Mistrust: The Root Cause of Mental Health Disparities Amongst African American/Blacks in the United States.”
  • Runner-Up: Matthew Boezinger (first-year Public Health Leadership program) – “Colonialism, Tribal Sovereignty & Sex Trafficking: How Structural Violence Perpetuates Sexual Violence Against American Indian/Alaskan Native Women.”

Best Oral Presentation

  • Winner: Theresa Agwuncha (first-year Public Health Leadership program) – “Structural Racism and Mistrust: The Root Cause of Mental Health Disparities Amongst African American/Blacks in the United States.”
  • Runners-Up (Tied):
    • Joseph Odeyemi (second-year MCH program) – “Vaping Among Texas High School Students.”
    • Fannie Parker (second-year MCH program) – “Overweight Adolescents: A Review of High School Students in a Texas School District.”
    • Dai’Trevian Murray (second-year MPH Epidemiology program) – “Mapping of Maternal Mortality.”

Best Visual Presentation

  • Winner: Sally Asad (first-year MCH program) – “Preeclampsia within the System.”
  • Runners-Up (Tied):
    • Kency Winslow (second-year MPH Epidemiology program) – “Everyone Should Have the Right to Give Informed Consent.”
    • Cipriano DeLeon (first-year Public Health Leadership program) – “Social Determinants of Health: Diabetes Prevalence in Hispanic Communities.”
    • Courtni Jones (first-year MCH program) – “Preterm Birth.”

Most Engaging Title

  • Winner: Kate Molina (second-year MCH program) – “Lettuce Eat More Vegetables: An Adolescent Health Review of the Texas 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey for Unhealthy Dietary Behaviors.”
  • Runner-Up: Rachal Hittson-Smith (first-year Public Health Leadership program) – “Food Insecurity in Native American Populations and its Relationship with Type II Diabetes.”

Best in the Intro to Health Disparities Course

  • Winner: Cassidy LoParco (fourth-year doctoral candidate in Health Behavior Research) – “Substance Use Disorder Treatment Disparities Among Hispanic and Latiné Populations.”
  • Runners-Up (Tied):
    • Matthew Boezinger (first-year Public Health Leadership program) – “Colonialism, Tribal Sovereignty & Sex Trafficking: How Structural Violence Perpetuates Sexual Violence Against American Indian/Alaskan Native Women.”
    • Jensen Eggleston (first-year Public Health Leadership program) – “Women’s Reproductive Rights Negatively Affect Minority Mother’s and Children’s Health Outcomes.”
    • Frankie Pyrtle (first-year Public Health Leadership program) – “Self-Harm and Suicide among Sexual and Gender Minority Individuals.”

Best in the Intro to MCH Course

Tied Winners:

  • Dorcas Turner (first-year MCH program) – “Human Trafficking: An Understudied Public Health Issue.”
  • Claribel Flores (first-year MCH program) – “Chlamydia among Young Women.”

Best in the Human Sexuality Course

  • Winner: Allie Farris (second-year MCH program) – “Knowledge is Power: House Bill 2679 for Comprehensive Sexuality Education in Texas.”
  • Runner-Up: Kency Winslow (second-year MPH Epidemiology program) – “Everyone Should Have the Right to Give Informed Consent.”

Best in the MCH Epidemiology Course

  • Winner: Jil Shah (second-year MPH Epidemiology program) – “Childhood Obesity & a Novel Approach to Tackle It!”
  • Runners-Up (Tied):
    • Bukunmi Omiwole (second-year MCH program) – “Catch them Young: Can We Stem Tobacco Use among Texas Adolescents?”
    • Fannie Parker (second-year MCH program) – “Overweight Adolescents: A Review of High School Students in a Texas School District.”
    • Smriti Dhakal (second-year MPH Epidemiology program) – “Factors Influencing Electronic Vaping Product (EVP) Use among US Youth: Does This Trend Impact Other Additions?”
    • Rajvi Shah (second-year MPH Epidemiology program) – “Demographic Characteristics related to Condom Use: High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey, Texas, 2019.”

Also involved in supporting this symposium were Dr. Arthur Mora, Associate Professor and Chair, Health Behavior and Health Systems; Vikas Tomer, Manager, Educational Technology; and Siarra Azocar, SPH Senior Administrative Associate.

 

Posters were submitted from these four courses:

12/9/2021