Research & Service

Challenge Grants and Partnerships                

Crystal M. Fuller, PhD, associate professor of clinical epidemiology, has received $999,881 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse for a study titled "Development of Behavioral and Social Interventions that Reduce Stigma and Improve Quality and Accessibility of Health Care Services in Low Resource Settings." Through this research, Dr. Fuller will evaluate a pharmacy-based pilot intervention  that targets injection drug users by combining rapid HIV testing with other preventive screening services, including blood pressure, glucose, and cholesterol screening, offered to all pharmacy patrons, lessening the stigma associated with HIV testing and drug use. 

L.H. Lumey, MD, associate clinical professor of epidemiology, has received $746,062 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child  Health and Human Development for research titled "Exploring Persistent Epigenetic Changes after Prenatal Famine Exposure in Humans," which will use a  prospective birth cohort of women and men born in 1944-1945 to examine whether  the prenatal environment – and specifically maternal nutrition in pregnancy – can be associated with changes in genomic DNA methylation levels in adulthood. The researchers also will investigate whether genomic DNA methylation levels in adulthood are associated with clinical indicators for cardiovascular disease risk. 

Miguel A. Munoz-Laboy, DrPH, associate professor of sociomedical sciences, and Vincent M Guilamo-Ramos, PhD, associate professor of social work, have received $998,901 from the National Institute of Mental Health for their study, "Network Determinants of Risk among Formerly Incarcerated Latino Men." Formerly incarcerated Latino men are a critical group in the spread of HIV/AIDS, but HIV-prevention interventions targeting the unique needs of this group are scarce and have failed to consider the role of social-familial networks in the post-incarceration experiences.     

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Grand Opportunities (GO) Grants 

Peter  A. Muennig, MD, assistant professor of health policy and management,  has received $1.2 million from the National Center on Minority Health and  Health Disparities for "A Dataset for the Study of the Social Determinants of  Health" to create the first prospective sociomedical dataset capable of understanding the non-medical determinants of health and their relationship to  health disparities. The research will link 30 years of comprehensive, nationally representative sociological data to prospective mortality data. 

Robin Marjorie Whyatt, DrPH, professor of clinical environmental health sciences, has received $1.4 million from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for "Early-Life Bisphenol A, Immune Dysregulation, and Inner-City Pediatric Asthma." The research will build on an ongoing longitudinal birth cohort study to evaluate whether prenatal and early-life exposure to BPA will be associated with increased wheeze, FeNO, and asthma in children ages 6 to 10.

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New Research

Pam Factor-Litvak, PhD, associate professor of clinical  epidemiology, received $1 million from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for research titled "Prenatal Organochlorine Metabolites, Thyroid Function and Development." Dr. Factor-Litvak will assess the impact of exposure to metabolites of endocrine-disrupting compounds during pregnancy, drawing on data from the Child Health and Development Study, a longitudinal follow-up of children born between 1959 and 1966. 

David A. Greenberg, PhD, professor of biostatistics (in psychiatry), has received $797,500 from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for "The Role of Genome-Coded ME2 in Epilepsy." Idiopathic generalized epilepsy accounts for 30 percent of all epilepsy and is thought to have a genetic etiology. Previous studies have identified a gene (ME2) as both linked and strongly associated with several different, common IGE syndromes. This study will determine how polymorphisms found in the ME2 gene increase susceptibility to a broad class of related epilepsy syndromes. 

Jennifer S. Hirsch, PhD, associate professor of sociomedical sciences, received $647,593 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development for "Life Projects and Antiretroviral Therapy: The Social Impacts of Scale-up," a planning grant to support development of a competitive proposal to conduct comparative social scientific research on the experiences of individuals living with HIV, for example, how antiretroviral  therapy affects family and peer relations and life decisions, including adherence to treatment and care. 

Naa Oyo A. Kwate, PhD, assistant professor of sociomedical sciences, has received a special High-Risk Research Award of $2.4 million over five years from the NIH Director's Office for "The Immunologic Effects and a  Structural 'Countermarketing' Intervention: Racism." Although racism is known  to be a significant life stressor for African-Americans, no research has  studied the effects of racism on critical biological pathways, such as immune  function. Additionally, no study has yet created a broad-based intervention to counter the stress of racism on African American lives. The study will do both, which could have a major impact on the reduction of African American health disparities.  

Bianca L. Malcolm, a graduate student in epidemiology, has received a $55,439 research fellowship from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for a study titled "The Effect of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic on Seasonal Influenza in the U.S." She will use surveillance data to better understand the transmission and spread of influenza during the largest, most lethal epidemic in modern history.

Yuanjia Wang, PhD, assistant professor of biostatistics, received $131,709 from the National Institute on Aging for "Functional Data Analysis of Longitudinally Measured Genetic Traits" to develop general and more powerful statistical methods to map functional quantitative genetic traits, such as when a gene is expressed to affect a trait, how long a genetic effect lasts, and how a gene affects the rate of change of traits.  

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Renewal

Ying Kuen Cheung, PhD, associate professor of biostatistics, $718,169, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, "Dose and Treatment Selection in Clinical Trials"

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Supplements

• Andrew G. Rundle, DrPH, associate professor of epidemiology, one-year supplement of $44,000 from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for "Neighborhood Environments and Disparities in Obesity Rates in New York City."

• Wafaa M. El-Sadr, MD, professor of medicine (P&S) and epidemiology and director of the International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs  (ICAP), $3.9 million, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, "Centers for Innovative Research to Control AIDS"
• Joseph H. Graziano, PhD, professor of environmental health sciences and of pharmacology (P&S), $27,854, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, "Superfund Research and Education: Health Effects and Geochemistry of Arsenic and Manganese" (designated for summer research experiences for students  and science educators)
• Jennifer S. Hirsch, PhD, associate professor of sociomedical sciences, $21,514, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health  and Human Development, "Social Science Training and Research SMS-HMU  Partnership" (designated for summer research experiences for students and  science educators)
• W. Ian Lipkin, MD, the John Snow Professor of Epidemiology and professor of neurology and pathology (P&S), $2.3 million, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, for the Northeast Biodefense Center to support new programs in bioinformatics of pathogen discovery and vaccine design
• Alfred I. Neugut, MD, PhD, MPH, professor of epidemiology and the Myron M. Studner Professor of Cancer Research (P&S), $151,664, National  Cancer Institute, "Cancer in Older Minority Populations Caribbean American"
• Richard G. Parker, PhD, professor of sociomedical sciences and director of the Center for Gender, Sexuality, and Health, $160,301, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, "Religious  Responses to HIV/AIDS in Brazil"
• Frederica P. Perera, DrPH, professor of environmental health  sciences, $358,892, National Cancer Institute, "Molecular Epidemiology and Lung  Cancer: A Nested Case-Control Study"; $13,676, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, "Health  Effects of Early-Life Exposure to Urban Pollutants in Minority Children"; $212,191, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, "The  Role of Airborne PAHs and DEP in the Pathogenesis of Childhood Asthma"
• Matthew S. Perzanowski, PhD, assistant professor of environmental health sciences, $227,693, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, "Risk Factors Accounting for Neighborhood Differences in Asthma Prevalence"
• Virginia A. Rauh, ScD, professor of clinical population and family  health, $392,059, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, "Assessing the Effects of Pre- and Postnatal Exposure to the Organophosphorus Chlorpyrifos on Child Neurodevelopment"
• Victoria H. Raveis, PhD, associate professor of clinical sociomedical sciences, $765,494, National Cancer Institute, "Caregivers' Strengths-Skills: Managing Older Cancer Patients' Symptoms"
• Andrew G. Rundle, DrPH, associate professor of epidemiology, $34,781, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, "Obesity, Physical Activity and Built Space in New York City" (designated for summer research experiences for students and science educators)
• Mary Beth Terry, PhD, associate professor of epidemiology, $166,326, National Cancer Institute, "Early Determinants of Mammographic  Density"
• Robin Marjorie Whyatt, DrPH, professor of clinical environmental health sciences, $180,084, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, "Phthalate Exposure and Inner City Pediatric Asthma"

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