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Showing 1 - 10 of 63 Postings ( summary) Created by Lorena Porras-Javier, last modified by Daniel Yee 10 Jan 2012, at 12:00 AM
 NATALIA A. ZHIVAN received her M.S. in Mathematical Economics from St. Petersburg State University in Russia. She earned her M.A. (2004) and Ph.D. (2009) in economics from Boston College. She joined the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College in 2002 as a Research Assistant and later as a Research Economist where she participated in multiple projects related to retirement issues including the development of policies toward the protection of the vulnerable elderly population and modeling health outcomes and out-of-pocket health care costs to help older workers plan for retirement. She is currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Department of Economics and the Department of Health Systems Management, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University. Her research interests are in aging and retirement, health disparities, and efficiency in healthcare. As a Healthcare Quality Scholar, Dr. Zhivan will examine disparities in health care utilization and health outcomes among Latino and non-Latino elderly.
Project Title: “Disparities in Health Care Utilization and Health Outcomes among the Latino and Non-Latino Elderly using the Health and Retirement Study”
Recent and Pending Publications
"Disparities in Health Services Utilization among Latino, Black and White Elderly Americans." In Preparation.
Zhivan NA, Ang A, Amaro H, Vega WA and Markides KS. (2011). "Ethnic/Race Differences in the Attrition of Older American Survey Respondents: Implications for Health-Related Research." Health Services Research, Epub Sep.
nzhivan@tulane.edu
Created by Lorena Porras-Javier, last modified by Daniel Yee 10 Jan 2012, at 12:00 AM
 Alma Guerrero, MD, MPH, is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at UCLA. She received her medical degree in 2003 from the David Geffen School of medicine at UCLA and completed a pediatric residency training program at UCLA through the Community Health Advocacy and Training track. Following her clinical training Dr. Guerrero completed a Maternal and Child Health Fellowship at UCLA and concurrently received a Masters in Public Health in 2008 through the UCLA School of Public Health. Dr. Guerrero practices general pediatrics working with vulnerable populations in the Los Angeles area who have high unmet medical and psychosocial needs. Dr. Guerrero’s research has focused on understanding Latino parental perspectives on health care experiences for their young children. She is a recipient of the 2009 Academic Pediatric Association Young Investigator Award and has examined Latino parental perceptions of childhood obesity, child development, and family-centered care. Guerrero’s work includes a primary intervention to improve child development education among low-income largely Latina mothers who participate in the Los Angeles County WIC programs. As a Health Care Quality Scholar, Dr. Guerrero will study the racial and ethnic health care disparities in addressing parental concerns about child development in pediatric primary care.
Project Title: Addressing Parental Concerns about Child Development in Pediatric Primary Care
Project Database: National Survey of Children’s Health 2007
Recent and Pending Publications
Guerrero AD, Rodriguez MA, and Flores G. (2011). "Disparities in Provider Elicitation of Parents' Developmental Concerns for U.S. Children." Pediatrics, 128(5): 901-909.
Guerrero AD, Chen J, Inkelas M, Rodriguez HP, Ortega AN. (2010). "Racial and ethnic disparities in pediatric experiences of family-centered care." Medical Care, 48(4): 388-393.
aguerrero@mednet.ucla.edu
Created by G Lacson, last modified by Daniel Yee 10 Jan 2012, at 12:00 AM
 Leo S. Morales is an Associate Professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research at the UCLA School of Medicine. He received a medical degree and Masters of Public Health from the University of Washington and a doctorate in philosophy from the RAND Graduate School. He completed an internship and residency in primary care internal medicine at the University of California at San Francisco and is board certified in internal medicine. Dr. Morales’s research interests include Latino and immigrant health, disparities in healthcare, and cross-cultural survey research methods including the application of advanced psychometrics. He is a past recipient of a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Harold Amos Career Development Award and a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Investigator Award. Dr. Morales is a regular member of an NIH study section and on the editorial board of Health Services Research. In addition to his research and academic activities, Dr. Morales is a practicing general internist at the UCLA Medical Center.
Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research
Recent and Pending Publications
Moreno G, Tarn DM and Morales LS. (2009). "Impact of Interpreters on the Receipt of New Prescription Medication Information Among Spanish-Speaking Latinos." Medical Care, 47(12): 1201-1208.
"Self-Reported Utilization of Eye care among Latinos in the Los Angeles Latino Eye Study (LALES)." Mei Ying Lai, Kashif Mazhar, Rohit Varma, Ronald M. Andersen, Sylvia Paz, Stanley P. Azen, Los Angeles Latino Eye Study Group. American Journal of Ophthalmology. In press.
lsmorales@mednet.ucla.edu
Created by G Lacson, last modified by Daniel Yee 10 Jan 2012, at 12:00 AM
 Margarita Alegría, Ph.D. is the Director of the Center for Multicultural Mental Health Research and a professor of psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Alegría researches mental health services for Latinos and other ethnic populations. She is currently the Principal Investigator of the Advanced Center for Mental Health Disparities, and the Latino arm of the National Latino and Asian American Study, as well as the Co-Principal Investigator of the CHA-UPR Excellence in Partnerships for Community Outreach, Research on Health Disparities and Training (EXPORT) Center. Her published works focus on mental health services research, conceptual and methodological issues with minority populations, risk behaviors, and disparities in service delivery. Dr. Alegría received her Ph.D. from Temple University.
Center for Multicultural Mental Health Research
Cambridge Health Alliance-Harvard Medical School
Recent and Pending Publications
"Will Behavioral Health Service Disparities Diminish with Expansion of Insurance Coverage and for Whom?" Under Review.
Alegria M, Vallas M and Pumariega AJ. (2010). "Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Pediatric Mental Health." Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 19(4): 759-774.
Alegria M, Sribney WM, Perez D, Laderman M and Keefe K. (2009). "The Role of Patient Activation on Patient-Provider Communication and Quality of Care for US and Foreign Born Latino Patients." Journal of General Internal Medicine, 24(3): 534-541.
Bates, L., Acevedo-Garcia, D., Alegría, M., & Krieger N. (2008). Immigration and Generational Trends in Body Mass Index and Obesity in the United States: Results of the National Latino and Asian American Study, 2002-2003. American Journal of Public Health, 98(1), 70-77.
Cortés, D., Mulvaney-Day, N., Fortuna, L., Reinfeld, S., & Alegría, M. (2008). Patient/Provider Communication: Understanding the Role of Patient Activation for Latinos in Mental Health Treatment. Health Education & Behavior, EPub.
Duan, N., Meng, X-L., Lin, J. Y., Chen, C.-n., & Alegria, M. (2008). Disparities in Defining Disparities: Statistical Conceptual Frameworks. Statistics in Medicine, 27 (20), 3941-3956.
Alegria, M, Chatterji, P, Wells, K, Cao, Z, Chen, C, Takeuchi, D, Jackson, J, & Meng, X-L. (2008). Disparity in Access to and Quality of Depression Treatment among Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the U.S. Psychiatric Services, 59 (11) 1264-1272.
Alegría, M., Nakash, O., Lapatin, S., Oddo, V., Gao, S., Lin, J., Normand, S.L. (2008). How Missing Information in Diagnosis Can Lead to Disparities in the Clinical Encounter. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice. November(Suppl): S26-S35.
Nakash, O., Dargouth, S., Oddo, V., Gao, S., Alegría, M. (2009). Patient Initiation of Information: Exploration of its Role during the Mental-Health Intake. Patient Education and Counseling, 75(2), 220-226.
malegria@charesearch.org
Created by Lorena Porras-Javier, last modified by Daniel Yee 03 Jan 2012, at 12:00 AM
Edna A. Viruell-Fuentes, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Assistant Professor
Latina and Latino Studies
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Professor Viruell-Fuentes̓ health disparities research seeks to unravel the complex relationships between immigration and health. Her work builds on the premise that studying immigrant health offers insights into the impact of social contexts on health status, which in turn can contribute to the elimination of health disparities. Based on her field research in immigrant communities, she has proposed several conceptual re-directions to immigrant health research. She is currently testing these ideas in her quantitative work and conducting a project to examine the (health) impacts of migration in immigrant-sending communities.
Dr. Viruell-Fuentes is the co-author of several publications on community-based participatory research. In addition, she is the author of "‘My heart is always there’: The Transnational Practices of First-generation Mexican Immigrant and Second-generation Mexican American Women, Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power, 13(July-September 2006), 335-362. Her article "Beyond acculturation: Immigration, Discrimination, and Health Research among Mexicans in the United States" will soon appear in Social Science and Medicine.
Dr. Viruell-Fuentes holds an M.P.H. from the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and a Ph.D. from the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan. She recently completed a joint Yerby-Kellogg Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Harvard School of Public Health.
Project Title: Health Care Access, Neighborhood Context, and Social Resources among Latinos in Chicago
Recent Publications:
Andrade, F. & Viruell-Fuentes, E.A. (2011). Latinos and the Changing Demographic Landscape: Key Dimensions for Infrastructure Building. In L. P. Buki & L. M. Piedra (Eds.), Haciendo camino al andar: Creating infrastructures for Latino mental health. New York: Springer.
Miranda, P.Y., Viruell-Fuentes, E.A., Wilkinson A.V., Strong L.L., Zhou, R., Etzel, & C.J., Bondy, M.L. (Under review). Construct vs. measurement: Mixed findings and the limitations of “acculturation” in health research. American Journal of Public Health.
Taverno, S., Francis, L., BeLue, R. & Viruell-Fuentes, E.A. (In Preparation). Associations between Physical Activity and Overweight among U.S. Children of Immigrants: Results from the 2007 National Survey of Children’s Health.
Viruell-Fuentes, E.A. (2011). “It’s a lot of work”: Racialization processes, ethnic identity formations, and their health implications. Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race. Special issue on Racial Inequality and Health, 8(1): 37-52.
Viruell-Fuentes, E.A., Ponce, N., & Alegría, M. (In press). Hypertension outcomes and neighborhood contexts among Latinos in Chicago. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health.
Contact Information: eviruell@illinois.edu
Created by Lorena Porras-Javier, last modified by Daniel Yee 03 Jan 2012, at 12:00 AM
 Julie Smith-Gagen MPH, Ph.D. is a Research Assistant Professor and Manager of the Nevada Center for Health Statistics and Informatics at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Community Health Sciences. She completed her Masters degree at the University of South Florida and her Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis. Dr. Smith-Gagen's research has focused on underserved and vulnerable populations, including Native Americans, Latinos, and low-income children. Her current research has focused on evaluating the barriers to care that low-income minority children and youth face when using preventive healthcare. She is also evaluating the impact that an intervention to inform parents about the healthcare delivery process has on utilization of preventative health care in low-income and minority children. Her work also includes an examination of the "historical trauma" experienced by Native Peoples and the impact on health behaviors. She also has investigated health behaviors in the Nevada Hispanic population.
Project Title: "Is A Lack Of Quality Follow-Up Care Related To Shorter Survival In Latino Cancer Survivors?"
Project Databases: SEER-Medicare
Recent and Pending Publications
"Longitudinal, population-based study of racial/ethnic differences in breast cancer care among women using Medicare Fee-for-Service and Managed Care Organization models." In preparation.
"Is a lack of Quality Follow-Up Care related to Shorter Survival in Latino Breast Cancer Survivors?" In preparation.
jsmithgagen@unr.edu
Created by G Lacson, last modified by Daniel Yee 03 Jan 2012, at 12:00 AM
2008 Scholars
2009 Scholars
2010 Scholars
Created by Lorena Porras-Javier, last modified by Daniel Yee 03 Jan 2012, at 12:00 AM
 Angela Brega, PhD, is an Assistant Professor with the Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health (CAIANH) in the Colorado School of Public Health. Dr. Brega is a social psychologist with training and expertise in measurement, health outcomes, and health psychology. Since joining CAIANH in September 2008, her work has focused on interventions to improve health outcomes among American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations, focusing primarily on outcomes related to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and oral health. She has particular interest in understanding the implications of health literacy for diabetes and cardiovascular outcomes among AI/ANs with diabetes, and is working to develop a theoretical framework through which the impact of health literacy on clinical outcomes can be understood.
Project Title: Health Literacy & Diabetes Outcomes among American Indians and Alaska Natives.”
Project Databases: “Special Diabetes Program for Indians Healthy Heart Project”
Recent and Pending Publications
"Health Literacy & Diabetes Outcomes among American Indians and Alaska Natives." Under review.
Brega AG, Crisler KS, & Barhydt NR (2008). Improving the outcomes of home care services in New York State: A national model. Home Healthcare Nurse, 26(10), 614-622.
Grigsby B, Brega AG, Bennett RE, DeVore PA, Paulich MJ, Talkington SG, Floersch NR, Barton PL, Neal S, Araya TM, Loker JL, Krohn N, & Grigsby J (2007). The slow pace of interactive video telemedicine adoption: The perspective of telemedicine program administrators on physician participation. Telemedicine and e-Health, 13(6), 645-656.
angela.brega@ucdenver.edu
Created by G Lacson, last modified by Daniel Yee 03 Jan 2012, at 12:00 AM
 Thomas D. Sequist, MD MPH is an Associate Professor of Medicine and of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He also practices general internal medicine and is the Director of Research at Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, a multispecialty physician group practice. He received his medical degree in 1999 from Harvard Medical School and completed a residency in internal medicine and primary care at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 2002. Following his clinical training, he completed the Harvard General Medicine fellowship, concurrently receiving a Masters in Public Health degree in 2004 from the Harvard School of Public Health.
Dr. Sequist maintains an active research agenda in quality improvement and racial disparities. His work in this area involves the use of health information technology, patient and provider education, disease management strategies, and performance reporting to improve patient care, with a focus on care for minority patients. Dr. Sequist is also a member of the Taos Pueblo tribe in northern New Mexico, and works closely with the Indian Health Service to study the quality of health care delivered within this organization, seeking to improve the health status of all Native Americans as well as expand our knowledge of the role that integrated health systems play in improving quality and reducing disparities.
Project Title: “Understanding Barriers to Quality Improvement within the Indian Health Service”
Project Databases: Survey of all 873 federally employed physicians in the HIS and HIS national electronic medical record system.
Recent and Pending Publications
Sequist TD, Cullen T, Bernard K, Shaykevich S, Orav J and Ayarian JZ. (2011). "Trends in Quality of Care and Barriers to Improvement in the Indian Health Service." Journal of General Internal Medicine, 26(5): 480-486.
tsequist@partners.org
Created by G Lacson, last modified by Daniel Yee 03 Jan 2012, at 12:00 AM
Dr. Hector P. Rodriguez, PhD, MPH, is assistant professor of health services at the UCLA School of Public Health. His research focuses on understanding the organizational influences on medical care quality and public health system effectiveness, performance measurement, and patients’ experiences of ambulatory care. His work is widely published in prominent peer-reviewed health services and medical journals.
Dr. Rodriguez received his PhD in Health Policy/Medical Sociology from Harvard University, MPH in Health Policy and Administration from the University of California, Berkeley, and BA in Urban Studies and Planning from the University of California, San Diego.
Project Title: The Influence of Utilization and Care Site Factors on Latino
Patients’ Experiences of Chronic Illness Care
Project Databases: Pew Hispanic Center’s survey of Hispanics in the United States
Recent and Pending Publications:
Rodriguez HP, von Glahn T, Elliott MN, Rogers WH, Safran DG. The effect of performance-based financial incentives on improving patient care experiences: A statewide evaluation. J Gen Intern Med. 2009; 24(12): 1281-1288.
Rodriguez HP, Chen J, Rodriguez MA. (2010). "A national study of problematic care experiences among Latinos with diabetes." Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 21(4): 1152-1168.
Rodriguez HP, Laugesen MJ, Watts CA. A randomized experiment of issue framing and voter support of tax increases for health insurance expansion. Health Policy. 2010 (In Press)
hrod@ucla.edu
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Project Director
Project Director
