Faculty Profile: Morgan Philbin
what are some of the major projects that you're currently working on or some of the ideas you have for future research?
There are two primary projects that I’m currently working on. The first, a NIDA-funded K01, builds off of a pilot study I conducted with Mark Hatzenbuehler and Jennifer Hirsch that examined the relationship between state-level immigration policies and Latino health. My current project is exploring the relationship between state-level policies and substance use and sexual health risk behaviors for young people, particularly young men who have sex with men (MSM). Examples of state-level policies that may impact young people’s sexual health behaviors include access to STI or HIV testing and treatment, expedited testing for sexual partners, abstinence only regulations, and whether sexual education has to be medical accurate; examples of state-level policies that may impact young people’s substance use behaviors include prescription drug monitoring programs which impact access to opioids, naloxone and syringe availability, and criminal justice-related policies (e.g., prosecution versus treatment diversion programs). We’ve begun collecting information on the relevant state-level policies and will start exploratory data analysis this summer. The second project is part of the NICHD-funded Adolescent Trials Network, and is exploring how HIV-infected adolescents transition from adolescent/pediatric care to adult care. Research suggests that only 50% of adolescents remain in adult care after one year so it’s important to understand what clinics and clinicians can do support these youth. We just received the follow up data and I’m excited to see what potentials factors might serve as points for future interventions.
How does your research fit within public health's broader mission to address social injustice and health disparities?
My work has largely focused on how socio-structural and clinical factors impact the wellbeing of racial and sexual minority youth. Public health research has long accepted that the environment within which a person lives can constrain their behavior (e.g., at the family or neighborhood level) but it has only recently begun to explore how the policy climate as a whole might influence individuals’ decisions. By that I mean we need to move beyond examining the relationship between single policies and single outcomes (e.g., seatbelts and traffic fatalities) to better understand how policies interact together to form an environment that influences the lives of young people. In addition, exploring the impact of policies is particularly important because they are inherently modifiable; we elect legislators who decide whether new policies are passed or old policies are repealed. My goal is therefore to identify policies that have a disproportionate impact on young people’s health, and then advocate for either their passage or removal. In addition, given the current state of our national-level government I think it is even more important to work at a state-level and identify the types of changes we can make their to support the health and development of young people.
What do you enjoy most about teaching or mentoring at Mailman?
I really appreciate the level of thoughtfulness and critical eye that Mailman students use to approach public health problems. I’ve been in other places where, for example, students may support an intervention or research project without thinking through the full spectrum of ramifications such as what might mean for the community once the research project is over. Mailman students engage with these questions in a larger way and work to examine all aspects of public health problems and potential interventions which makes classroom discussions, talks in the hallway, or meetings with my mentees much more enjoyable and stimulating.
Do you have any hobbies? What might your students and colleagues not know about you?
I really enjoy being out in nature and have done my best to go hiking/camping as much as possible since I moved to New York. For example last fall I went up into Vermont to hike sections of the Appalachian Trial (and to bring back more maple syrup than was probably good for me), and this summer I hope to explore more of northern New York. I do my best to stay active and I’ve played on a flag football team for the past few years. As for something my students/colleagues don’t know about me…we had to do a science project in 5th grade and I convinced my parents to let me conduct a mini RCT to explore how diet affects the growth rate of a chicken. We got nine chickens and I divided them into three groups: one group got grain, one got grain and milk powder, and one got grain, milk powder, and protein. I measured them each day and charted it all on a graph. However, one of the chickens in the last group turned out to be a rooster and it skewed the findings. I also wasn’t old enough to realize that we would still have the chickens after the project was over so luckily my parents were supportive of that.
What do you hope to accomplish this next school year?
In the next year I’m really looking forward to starting the analyses for my K01 and to see what we can learn about state-level policies and youths’ substance use and sexual health risk behaviors. I’ve also been working on some analyses to explore the relationship between arrest/incarceration and HIV risk for Black MSM. Policing practices and criminal justice policies in the U.S. disproportionately target racial/ethnic minority men, but less work has explored how sexuality and gender presentation might impact this relationship. If we do find that policing practices impact HIV risk it will provide yet another rationale for pushing for new criminal justice policies and practices.