Overview
- Keynote: Professor Chloe Teasdale
- Speaker: N/A
- Networking
Conference Summary
The SPH Epi/Bios Conference is a forum for students, staff, alumni, faculty, and other interested attendees to learn about recent research in the CUNY community, talk to representatives of the department, school, and related institutes, and meet each other in random 1:1 networking using a full online conference platform. Make sure to register below, and contact us if you’re interested in organizing, contributing, or doing peer review for future events.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER ON THE EVENT PAGE
Implementation research and program evaluation: Examples from the field
What is implementation science and how does it help us understand what works for improving public health? Dr. Chloe Teasdale, PhD, MPH, will give an overview of implementation science and describe examples from her own work of program evaluations and implementation research conducted in Eswatini, Kenya and Mozambique. The talk will include a description of how we can move from evidence to action, as well as how to evaluate public health interventions in resource limited settings and challenges of this work.
Chloe Teasdale, PhD, MPH, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics.
The impact of food insecurity on the educational experience of CUNY students during the COVID-19 pandemic
With food insecurity rates estimated to have tripled since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, increased attention has recently been brought to this enduring issue. We used data from a cross-sectional, population-representative survey of CUNY students in 2020 to conduct a secondary analysis looking at the association between food insecurity and potential mediation by anxiety/depression. We used weighted Poisson regression with robust standard errors to estimate adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR) for educational outcomes based on food security status. The prevalence of decreased ability to do work was greater in those with moderate food insecurity (aPR=1.12, 95% CIs 1.02, 1.23) and severe food insecurity (aPR=1.18, 95% CIs 1.08, 1.29) compared to food secure students. The prevalence of dropped/withdrawn courses was also greater in those with moderate food insecurity (aPR=1.64, 95% CIs 1.02, 2.65) and severe food insecurity (aPR=1.94, 95% CIs 1.22, 3.08). Delayed or uncertain graduation was still significantly higher in those experiencing moderate food insecurity (aPR=1.27, 95% CIs 1.15, 1.41) and severe food insecurity (aPR=1.50, 95% CIs 1.37, 1.65) as well. After adjusting for anxiety/depression as a mediator, the association between food insecurity and decreased ability to do work was no longer significant in either group. The association with dropped/withdrawn courses was only significant in the severe food insecurity group, and the association with delayed/unsure graduation remained significant for both groups. These findings suggest that poor mental health is a partial mediator between food insecurity and poor educational outcomes and emphasize the urgent need for expanded food assistance and mental health services on college campuses.
Emily Berger is an MPH student in the Epidemiology program on track to graduate in May. She previously earned her BS in Health Sciences from Boston University in 2019. Emily is currently working at the Research Foundation of CUNY as a Resource Navigator on NYC’s COVID-19 Test and Trace team. Upon graduation, Emily is interested in pursuing research in nutritional and environmental epidemiology.
