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Dear UCI Community,
I am filled with gratitude and optimism as we reflect on our successful Orange County Women’s Health Summit, as featured below. What quickly became evident was the passion of our speakers and over 175 audience members to urgently address the health inequities that are deeply rooted in race and gender. The Summit was a call to arms for public health practitioners, clinicians, advocates, and more who must band together to tackle one of the most important health access issues of our time: reproductive health.
Women, maternal, and child health are a cornerstone of a thriving society. It underpins the stability and prosperity of entire communities and societies. Promoting women's health means empowering women through education, access to contraception, and support for their reproductive choices, which has broader implications for gender equality.
Our faculty are dedicated to getting closer to achieving gender equality through research and practice. From Jun Wu’s research on the link between environmental exposures and adverse health outcomes for pregnant women to Tim Bruckner’s research filling critical knowledge gaps on racial disparities in preterm birth to Luohua Jiang’s research using big data to better understand risk factors in postmenopausal women. These are only a few examples of the research our faculty and students are undertaking with colleagues across disciplines and institutions.
Our Women’s Health Summit served as a significant milestone in the ongoing battle for women’s equity in a post-Roe era. Our conversations are just beginning on building something larger than the summit to position UCI as a beacon for top-class research, innovative curriculum, and gold standard practice on women’s health and equity.
Sincerely,
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UCI Public Health hosts summit to address women’s reproductive freedom in a post-Roe era
On Friday, Oct. 13, UCI Public Health brought together more than 175 community members from various fields for a conversation on one of the most important health access issues of our time: Women’s health and equity in a post-Roe era.
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Study exposes risks of direct-to-consumer stem cell, exosome COVID-19 therapy ads
Led by Leigh Turner, this study revealed that in 2022, 38 North American businesses used direct-to-consumer advertising to promote unproven stem cell interventions and exosome products as purported treatments and preventatives for COVID-19.
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Conducting research with the community for the community
Welcoming Jason Douglas to UCI Public Health who for the past five years has built inroads with historically marginalized communities to address social and environmental determinants impacting their health and well-being.
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Study links long-term air pollution exposure to postpartum depression in SoCal
Jun Wu led a study on the link between air pollution and mental health risks for mothers and infants. Adverse mental health effects include higher suicide risk for moms and infants may develop cognitive, emotional, or other impairments.
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Corresponding author Andrea De Vizcaya Ruiz and co-author Michael Kleinman, who are both members of the UCI Air Pollution Effects Lab, published a study that found exposure to PM2.5 and fructose rich diets led to insulin resistance in mouse models. Results can be found in the journal of Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology.
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Senior author Denise Payán published a study on California’s failed attempts to enact a statewide sugar-sweetened beverage tax. The authors looked at strategies from both the public health agencies and beverage industry, their results could help inform agencies about what industry interference looks like when another attempt is made to pass legislation. Study can be found in the American Journal of Health Promotion.
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Corresponding author Marizen Ramirez found that in schools where administrators implemented anti-bullying policies, they saw noticeable reductions in bullying incidences. Specific tactics that administrators used to decrease rates were referrals for counseling and interviews of teachers and counselors. Study can be found in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
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Co-author Denise Payán helped conduct a publication review of papers on telemedicine implementation between 2013 and 2021. They screened 244 articles from an initial search of 343 articles and extracted and analyzed data from 45 articles. They found that the use of telemedicine as an acceptable care modality to deliver primary care in safety net settings. Study can be found in the journal of Telemedicine and e-Health.
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Leigh Turner and the Health Ethics Research Group published a study about the safety and efficacy claims made by U.S. businesses purporting stem cell treatments. Of the ~1,000 businesses, less than half made identifiable claims about safety and efficacy. Study can be found in the journal Regenerative Medicine.
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Voices of Public Health: Illegality, Work, and Health
UC Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow, Alein Haro-Ramos, PhD, MPHS, has dedicated her career to unveiling the structural sources of work-related inequities that matter for health in immigrant populations.
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Discrimination and psychological distress among Asian Americans during COVID-19
Doctoral candidate Michael P. Huynh, MPH was the corresponding author on a study that found receiving emotional support was beneficial to lower levels of psychological distress among Asian Americans who felt discrimination and psychological distress during COVID-19. Huynh was joined by MPH alumni Nancy Mai and Jay Mantuhac. Study can be found in the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry.
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Finding Public Health Synergies to Benefit Orange County Residents
Founding Dean Boden-Albala held meetings with mayors from Irvine and Anaheim to discuss their city's public health initiatives, including health and wellness of their respective communities and to identify synergies between UCI Public Health and their health related programs.
Pictured left to right: Berenice Ballinas (Chief of Staff to Mayor Ashleigh Aitken), Mayor of Anaheim Ashleigh Aitken, Dean Boden-Albala, and Assistant Vice Chancellor for Government Relations P. Alberto Sandoval.
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Matthew Landry was invited to speak at the American College of Lifestyle Medicine’s Annual Conference on the ‘Health Benefits of a Plant-Based Dietary Pattern & Implementation in Healthcare and Clinical Practice.’ The annual conference is the premiere event for transformational healthcare leaders, including physicians, pharmacists, nurses, dietitians, and health coaches.
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Ms. Evelyn Gonzalez '12 was recognized as UCI Public Health's Lauds and Laurels honoree at the annual ceremony. Ms. Gonzalez may not be a UCI Public Health alum, but she embodies our vision, serves on our Community Advisory Council, and is a consummate public health practitioner – living and breathing health in the community.
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UC Regents Awards Funding to Three Community-Based Participatory Research Projects
Three UCI Public Health faculty members, who are all with the Department of Health, Society, and Behavior, have been awarded funding from the California Collaborative for Pandemic Recovery and Readiness Research (CPR3), for equity-focused projects. Brittany Morey will create two new surveys to illuminate 1) mental health impact and 2) evaluate the socioeconomic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on California’s Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) population. Morey will be joined by Sora Tanjasiri for the second project. Alana LeBron’s project seeks to understand mental health issues affecting residents with whom community health workers advocated for and supported throughout the pandemic.
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Principal investigator Annie Ro, Dylan Roby, and Luohua Jiang were awarded an R21 grant from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities for their project, titled: "Access to medical care and health care utilization among low-income immigrants.” The project will examine a long- standing local program that provides health coverage for ~130,000 undocumented patients annually to investigate how expanded access to care affects undocumented patients’ outcomes and health care utilization.
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Principal investigator Ulrike Luderer, professor of environmental and occupational health, was awarded nearly $800,000 from the U.S. Department of Defense’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs to study the effects of exposure to PM2.5 on fertility as well as the progression of Alzheimer's disease in both men and women. Luderer’s team expects that their study will show that PM2.5 exposure depletes the ovarian supply of eggs and has reversible effects on sperm production in the testicles and causes inflammation in the brains of both males and females.
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Matthew Landry was a recipient of the American Society for Nutrition Foundation Early Career Grant. The funding will support his project, titled "Predictors of Long-Term Weight Loss and Maintenance: A 10 Year Follow-Up of the DIETFITS Study."
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Public health serves as a foundation for a career in law
Nicole Balucanag, a UCI Public Health alumna with the Class of 2015, found her way to the Veterans Legal Institute, which is also a current Practicum Program Site, where she has dedicated her current career path to supporting VLI’s attorneys to make certain that veterans have access to justice.
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Annual Pop-up Flu Vaccine Clinic
Every Monday & Wednesdays (November & Early December)
11 a.m. - 3 p.m. | Social Sciences Plaza on Ring Road
Attention Students! The Pop-up Flu Vaccine Clinic is back! Stop by on your way to class at Social Sciences Plaza along Ring Road. You’ll be in and out in less than 15 minutes. No appointment necessary!
No out-of-pocket cost for students covered by UC SHIP. For "non-SHIP" students, the cost is $40.00 and can be paid by cash or charged to your Zot Account.
The flu vaccine pop-up is a joint effort among the UCI Program in Public Health, UCI School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences, and UCI Student Health Center.
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