PhD in Public Health

My research interests lie in the Latino/a paradox, health disparities among immigrant populations, and maternal and child health. I am interested in examining child health outcomes by comparing US-born mothers to foreign-born mothers in order to better understand potential protective factors among immigrant populations. Currently, I am working on projects that examine state-level birth data.

As a data and policy analyst in healthcare for two more years, she is eager to apply insights from economics and methods from statistics to investigate possibilities of benefiting the vulnerable population through the lens of empirical research. Her research interests include health disparities, infectious disease prevention, social epidemiology, and women’s health. Mimi’s current work is focusing on COVID-19 preventive behaviors.

An important experience I gained in my career was interning for Community Action Partnership of Orange County (CAP OC), a nonprofit dedicated to alleviating the cause and effects of poverty. Interning at CAP OC helped pinpoint my specific interest in public health. I am highly interested in learning and understanding the challenges and barriers vulnerable populations face to in turn, help mobilize, advocate and direct programs and services to assist in alleviating those challenges. With the guidance of my advisor, my current research focuses on the social epidemiology of stroke and cardiovascular disease.

My research interests lie in better understanding vaccination behaviors among African American and Latinx communities and improving health disparities as they relate to infectious diseases. I am interested in intervention design, mixed methods approaches, and health communication strategies as ways to address these disparities. My current work is focused on investigating COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among parents and understanding risk perceptions via mask-wearing discussions on social media.

My research interests include natural disaster risk perception, preparedness, and other factors influencing the two variables. I am currently focused on the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake and how risk perception and preparedness have changed after experiencing, or not experiencing, the disaster. My training is in gerontology, and I received my MPH from Columbia University with a concentration in Aging and Society. I have received my Bachelor’s degrees from UC Davis.

My research interests lie in infectious diseases, particularly neglected tropical diseases and public health responses to infectious disease outbreaks in low-resource settings. My interests are informed from my educational background at The London School of Economics where I studied for a BSc and then an interdisciplinary MSc in African Development during which I researched the barriers to the international response to the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone. Building from this previous work, I am now trying to research how local and international health responses coexist, interact and how they influence health behavior in outbreak situations.

My research focuses on contagious disease threats that disproportionally affect vulnerable populations. I am particularly interested in the epidemiology and prevention of antibiotic resistant pathogens in long-term care settings. I received an NIAID F31 Pre-Doctoral Training Award to conduct an epidemiological investigation that will inform potential strategies to mitigate the burden of two key drug-resistant organisms in nursing homes: methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and the emerging fungal pathogen Candida auris. Through this work, I seek to bridge my background in systems biology and genomics with advanced training in epidemiology, clinical research, and disease prevention.

My research interests include mental health and its health services utilization, aging and dementia, and health inequality. I am especially interested in the time-serious evidence and trajectory of health outcomes and health services performance. I completed my MPH degree at Yale School of Public Health in the Health Policy track, with a research thesis on “Early Life Environments and Health Inequality among Chinese and American Older Adults: Comparative Evidence from Machine Learning.”

• Los Angeles Basin CSU Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Training Program (MHRT)
• Lived and performed research in Chiang Mai, Thailand in Summer 2023 in partnership with Chiang Mai University and California State University, Fullerton.

Li achieved her MPH in epidemiology & Biostatistics from USC in 2019 for her capstone, “Association between prenatal and adolescent exposure to air pollution and IQ/cognitive function in emerging adulthood.” Her research interests lie in modeling the Spatio-temporal trends of environmental exposures such as biodiversity, green space, air pollution, etc. to better understand its impact on health outcomes.

My research interests lie in refugee health and climate change-induced displacement, particularly in the relationship between the built environment in refugee camps and quality of life. I am currently working on a research project focusing on the cultural concepts of distress within recently resettled Afghan refugees in California.

My research interests include investigating disparities in cancer incidence, prevalence and survival. I am also interested in looking at diet quality and quality of life among cancer survivors by enhancing nutrition related knowledge and reducing risk factors such as obesity.

My current research focuses on understanding how maternal substance exposure during pregnancy alters children’s brain and endocrine development. I am a physician by training from Bangladesh. My interest in public health research ignited during my work in the International Center for Diarrhoeal Diseases Research, Bangladesh, where I explored several public health issues like childhood stunting, malnutrition, and antimicrobial resistance.

Her research interests primarily focus on the interaction between sociocultural and social ecological factors in health behaviors among ethnic minority and immigrant populations around the globe. Celina looks forward to contributing to the fields of epidemiology and demography, and hopes her research findings will contribute to the development of culturally competent interventions and policies which are urgently needed. She is currently working on projects focusing on violence, socio-cultural stressors, and chronic health conditions.

My research interest lies in the social determinants of health, primarily as they relate to sexual and reproductive health within the Asian American community. Specifically, I am interested in understanding how socio-cultural perspectives and expectations impact the sexual/reproductive health and help-seeking behaviors of South Asian Americans, focusing on underserved populations such as gender and sexual minorities. My work seeks to destigmatize the topic of sexual/reproductive health within the Asian community as well as improve access to care and information. I also have the goal of contributing to research and policies that address the reproductive health disparities within the United States.

• Climate Justice Initiative Fellowship
• UCI Environmental Racism and Health Equity Fellowship
• Health Equity Research Summer Scholarship
• H&H Lee Charitable Foundation Scholarship
• Northgate Market Scholarship Program

Anais is a first-year PhD student in public health focusing on chronic disease management, health equity, and health in the Hispanic/Latinx community. With a research background in diabetes management and promoting health among vulnerable populations, Anais is dedicated to exploring innovative approaches to improve chronic disease outcomes and advance health equity. She aims to develop culturally sensitive strategies that promote better health and well-being.

Awards & Fellowships: Dean’s Fellowship Recipient

I am interested in studying vector borne diseases in Sub Saharan Africa. I have a background in biochemistry and worked extensively in a lithium battery lab (the project focused on the discovery of new analytical techniques) and marine molecular biology lab (where I studied the genomic selection of different species of brown algae).

My research interests center on infectious diseases during times of conflict and war. I am particularly interested in how conflict affects infectious disease trends and how warring parties can weaponize health infrastructure and healthcare. I am also interested in the use of informal and syndromic disease surveillance systems during conflicts. Prior to beginning my PhD, I ran the Massachusetts Tuberculosis Drug Assistance Program, which provides medication access to patients with tuberculosis in Massachusetts at no charge. I am also a fellow with the Tufts Initiative for the Forecasting and Modeling of Infectious Diseases.

My research interest lies in cancer survivorship, especially among the Asian American population. I am particularly interested in how cultural factors and related stressors influence the cancer survival experience, coping strategy, and change in inflammation biomarkers. I am also interested in the development of culturally tailored behavioral interventions to improve the quality of life of survivors for certain ethnic groups in Asian American cancer survivors.

Alec Xia’s research focuses on understanding the confluence of environmental exposure (e.g., air pollution, noise, and area deprivation) and prenatal substance exposure (prenatal alcohol and tobacco exposure) on structural brain development in children and adolescents. Prior to joining UCI, he obtained his MA in cognitive and behavioral neuroscience from San Diego State University, with a research focus on the impact of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders on brain.

Recent Biology graduate from the University of Riverside, Zimmer is part of the Dean’s Fellowship.