Dear UCI Community,

During the holiday season, I am reminded of the profound impact that kindness among neighbors can have on our community’s overall health and well-being. The simple acts of reaching out, offering a helping hand, or lending an empathetic ear contribute not only to the strength of our community but also to the overall health of everyone within it.

Research shows that acts of kindness reduce anxiety and depressive symptoms, lessen distress, and improve life satisfaction. I have found in my own research that protective factors, such as a healthy lifestyle, self-positivity, and having a strong social network can protect oneself against racism and stigma as well as risk of heart disease and stroke.

As best articulated by one of our newest faculty members Jason Douglas, he describes how community-based participatory research transforms research from an insulated, disconnected endeavor into a dynamic, reciprocal relationship between researchers and the communities they serve.

During this time of gratitude, we must also recognize our dynamic community of donors and friends who are establishing scholarships and fellowships to support the research of our students, such as doctoral student Juan Carlos Ruiz Malagon’s work improving the health of migrant and farmworker communities.

As we embark on another year and reflect on the past, I encourage each of you to remain committed to fostering a culture of kindness, empathy, and collaboration within UC Irvine and beyond. Together, we can create an environment where everyone feels valued, supported, and empowered to achieve their best.

Wishing you all continued success and well-being in the New Year!

Bernadette Boden-Albala, MPH, DrPH Director and Founding Dean UCI Program in Public Health

UCI Public Health welcomed nine new faculty members in 2023

Pictured above from left to right, top to bottom:
Environmental & Occupational Health

Bruce Albala, PhD, Adjunct Professor
Karen Lincoln, PhD, MSW, MA, FGSA, Professor
Marizen Ramirez, MPH, PhD, Professor

Health, Society, & Behavior

Jason Douglas, PhD, MA, Vice Chair & Associate Professor

Epidemiology & Biostatistics

Wenjun Fan, MD, MS, PhD, Assistant Professor of Teaching
Dabao Zhang, MS, PhD, Professor
Min Zhang, MD, MS, PhD, Professor

Population Health & Disease Prevention

Matthew Landry, PhD, RDN, FAND, Assistant Professor
Tetyana Vasylyeva, MSc, MPH, DPhil, Assistant Professor

Study uncovers prevalence of diabetes among American Indian and Alaska Native communities

Corresponding author Luohua Jiang, led a groundbreaking study revealing a significantly higher prevalence of Type 2 diabetes among American Indian and Alaska Native populations starting at 10 years of age, underscoring the urgency of enhancing diabetes prevention interventions in these underserved communities.

Rising from Student to Faculty: Journey of a UCI Public Health alumna

We welcomed Wenjun Fan, MD, MS ‘15, PhD ‘23 to UCI Public Health’s Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics as an assistant professor of teaching who will be devoting much of her time to teaching. No stranger to UCI, she received a Master of Science degree in biomedical and translational science from the UCI School of Medicine in 2015 prior to her doctoral degree.

Study links cholera epidemic in Yemen to conflict-related air raid severity

Between 2016 and 2019, Yemen faced their largest cholera outbreak ever. Corresponding author and doctoral student, Maia Tarnas, found a connection between the ongoing war conflict and the spread of cholera. She found that air raids cause a variety of problems from destruction of critical infrastructure and insufficient resources to promptly treat cholera cases. Findings featured in The Lancet Global Health.

Anti-Asian racism related stigma among AAPI students during the COVID-19 pandemic

In a first of its kind study, Bernadette Boden-Albala and other UC Irvine researchers found that Asian American or Pacific Islanders college students were more likely to experience three types of racial stigma compared to other race and ethnic groups at different times during the pandemic. Findings published in Frontiers in Public Health.

Launch of learning series aims to transform the public health system

UCI Public Health partnered with the Division of Continuing Education, the Donald Bren School of Information & Computer Sciences and the Institute of Clinical & Translational Science, to create a new online program to elevate informatics training in the field of public health and other healthcare professions.

RESEARCH ROUND-UP

Based on a study by contributing author and professor, Karen Lincoln, the effects of sleep on the brain differ across the aging continuum. The specific part of the brain analyzed is called the visible perivascular space (PVS) and found that in healthy persons larger PVS may be a sign of better brain clearance which is a sign of better sleep.

For many researchers, understanding the mechanisms of human biology and diseases through gene relationships is daunting, which is why corresponding author and professor, Dabao Zhang, teamed up with biostatisticians to create a free-to-use software. SIGNET or Statistical Inference on Gene Regulatory Networks is a software package that reveals networks of relationships between genes.

Exposure to harmful algal bloom toxins have been associated with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and in a novel study led by corresponding author and professor, Saurabh Chatterjee, and first author and doctoral student,
Subhajit Roy, a mechanism is discovered where microcystin-LR, an environmental toxin, advances MASLD. This connection provides a novel insight into MASLD pathology and the impact of toxic environmental exposure.

The ramifications of the pandemic extended beyond the infectious component where many Asian Americans faced discrimination and psychological distress. First author and doctoral candidate, Michael Huynh, analyzed a sample from a needs assessment study and found that the highest odds of psychological distress were among Asian American women who provided emotional support. These findings have overall and gender-informed implications for community-led interventions.

In the ever continuing debate on the best diet, first author and assistant professor, Matt Landry, compared the effects of a healthy vegan versus healthy omnivorous diet with cardiometabolic measures and found that a vegan diet improved cardiovascular health. With a sample of 22 pairs of twins, the higher consumption of vegetables, legumes, fruits, whole grains, nuts, and seeds decreased cholesterol, body weight and fasting insulin levels.

Using a machine learning algorithm, corresponding author and professor, David Timberlake, and first author and doctoral candidate, Joshua Rhee, found that non-tobacco blunt wrappers were not overly-advertised on X, formerly Twitter, even though it is a healthier alternative to tobacco blunt wrappers.

Alcohol‐associated hepatitis (AH) is often diagnosed at advanced stages, and severe AH usually carries poor prognosis and high short‐term mortality. To better understand the immune response in AH patients, corresponding author and associate professor, Trina Norden-Krichmar, and first author and UCI Public Health alumna, Xiaochen Liu, performed cell analysis to discover specific mechanisms at play. The study findings indict different mechanisms may be involved in impaired immune and inflammatory responses for the cells specific in AH.

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

Investing in future public health changemakers

First-generation doctoral student Juan Carlos Ruiz Malagon is a proud recipient of several scholarships, which are further supporting his research on the health and well-being of migrant and laborer communities. His work addresses critical issues such as gun violence and land degradation within these populations.

UCI IN THE MEDIA

Neighborhoods get little guidance about toxic risks after massive Tustin hangar fire (Michael Kleinman)

Black Patients Less Likely to Receive Alzheimer’s Care, Blocking Access to New Treatments
(Karen Lincoln)

Quest For Alzheimer’s Cure: Big Biotech Breakthroughs, But The Race Is Just Beginning (Bruce Albala)

Drug arrests plunge, overdose deaths soar: Connection or coincidence? (Andrew Noymer)

How to motivate patients to stick with a healthy diet (Matthew Landry)

As Extreme Heat Increases, Heart Attacks Will Rise (Shahir Masri)

Clinics Peddle Unproven Stem Cell Treatment for Long COVID (Leigh Turner)

More UCI Public Health in the Media

SEEN AND HEARD

Pictured left to right: Melenaite,
Cevadne, Roselyn, and Erica

Pictured here: Office of Minority Health, grantee and colleagues at Morehouse School of Medicine

Strong UCI Public Health presence at the Annual Public Health Association Meeting

UCI Program in Public Health faculty and students showed up in force this month at the Annual Public Health Association (APHA) Meeting, known as the biggest event in public health higher education. Several presentations of research were shared at the meeting by UCI Public Health researchers, enriching the overall conference. With nearly 30 presentations or posters on topics across the public health spectrum, UCI Public Health truly showcased our expertise.

ALUMNI & FRIENDS

A deep-dive conversation with our alumni about their past,present, and future

UCI alumna Kristina Faeldan ’08 (at left), currently serving as the president of the UCI Public Health chapter, and Nandini Kannan ’15 (at right), the vice president, share insights into their unexpected career journeys and the meaningful impact they are creating within the UCI Public Health Alumni community.