Scholars

Katherine Dickson will complete her Ph.D. in Environmental Economics in Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment in May of 2008. The title of her doctoral dissertation is, "Indian Toilets and Tanzanian Mosquito Nets: Understanding Households' Environmental Health Decisions in Developing Countries." While many social, economic, and health-related policies focus on increasing the supply of certain technologies (e.g., latrines, malaria medicines, agricultural tools), inadequate attention to demand-side factors often leads to disappointing policy outcomes. Katie's dissertation is explores the drivers of households' environmental health decisions through two distinct studies involving latrine use in Orissa, India, and malaria control knowledge and behavior in Tanzania. More broadly, Katie is interested in the ways households perceive and respond to environmental health threats. As a Robert Wood Johnson Health & Society Scholar, she will continue to pursue research into links between health and the environment in developing countries, as well as developing new projects that address similar linkages and behavioral issues among vulnerable populations in the United States. Katie received Bachelor's and Master's of Science degrees in Earth Systems from Stanford University.

Pre-Program Email: klh28@duke.edu

Lindsey Leininger is a health policy researcher whose work focuses on public policy regarding the uninsured. Her dissertation examined the impact of recent public insurance expansions on the insurance coverage of older adolescents. She has also written on the effects of partial-year insurance coverage on children's access to health care as well as the association between family structure, insurance coverage, and access to care. During her time in the Robert Wood Johnson Health & Society Scholars Program, she will examine the effects of public insurance expansions on the consumption patterns of low-income families as well as pursue new work on the effects of health insurance on health outcomes among children. She is keenly interested in contributing to decision-making in the public policy sphere; accordingly, she will actively pursue collaborations with health care policymakers during her two years as a scholar. She received a Ph.D. in Public Policy Studies from the University of Chicago, an M.A. in Economics from Northeastern University, and an A.B. in Economics from Princeton University.

Pre-Program Email: leiningr@uchicago.edu

Carmen Mandic will receive her ScD from the Harvard School of Public Health, Department of Society, Human Development and Health, in July 2008. Her doctoral research focuses on three areas: disparities in social participation and functioning among children and youth with disabilities, financial and employment-related impacts of the state policy context on families and children with disabilities, and literacy-related barriers to effective caregiver advocacy. Related inquiries include the multilevel influences on friendship and social participation of children with developmental disabilities, the interactive effects of child disability and working conditions on caregiver mental health, and the implementation and feasibility of supported employment in developing country contexts. Prior to her doctoral studies, Carmen received her MPH in Health Promotion from San Diego State University, and her BA in Integrative Biology from the University of California at Berkeley. As a Health & Society Scholar, Carmen plans to focus on the measurement of the social, political, and economic contexts of caregiving, how these contexts affect the experience of caregiving and disability across the lifespan, and on comparative approaches to the framing and evaluation of policy interventions that impact caregiving families.

Pre-Program Email: cmandic@hsph.harvard.edu

Tiffany Green is a health economist who completed her Ph.D. in economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2007. Her dissertation research focused on whether ethnic disparities in asthma diagnosis and morbidity can be attributed to differences in medical care utilization and/or to other maternal health behaviors such as smoking and breastfeeding. She has previously researched the association between skin shade and hypertension among African-Americans as well as the birth outcomes of 1st generation Mexican immigrants in North Carolina. As a Robert Wood Johnson Health & Society Scholar, Tiffany will continue her research into the economic determinants of childhood asthma. She will also expand her research agenda to study the economic and spatial factors that influence childhood obesity. Tiffany received her B.A. in economics from Florida A&M University.

tlgreen2@wisc.edu

Sheryl Magzamen received her Ph.D. in epidemiology from the University of California, Berkeley in 2007. Her dissertation explored factors related to the disproportionate burden of childhood asthma in urban communities. She combined a geographic information systems approach with causal inference models to investigate the independent contributions of environmental exposures and sociodemographic factors to asthma-related morbidity among adolescents. Her goals are to further refine understanding of community-level factors related to asthma, and to provide relevant epidemiologic research for the development of effective health policy. As a Health & Society Scholar, Sheryl will focus on incorporating economic constructs of time preference and risk preference into community-based epidemiologic studies to develop interdisciplinary models of household-level asthma management practices. In addition, she plans to utilize GIS to investigate the relation between spatial-temporal patterns in viral infections and childhood asthma incidence and asthma-related exacerbations. Previous to her doctoral work, Sheryl was a postgraduate researcher at the Institute for Health Policy Studies at the University of California, San Francisco. Her research focused on state-level tobacco control policy, specifically, the development of clean-indoor air legislation and the health impact of tobacco excise taxes. Sheryl completed her MPH in health policy at Emory University, and a holds a BS in biology from Cornell.

magzamen@wisc.edu

Sejal Patel is interested in the methodologies used in population-level health research. Specifically, she is interested in understanding why individual-level analyses of risk have become such a prominent theme in health research, policy and intervention. Sejal's doctoral research focused on the 1960s, a period when methodologies used in health research were rich in variety, and she used the Roseto study, recognized by current investigators for reporting on community-level variables of cardiovascular disease, as a window into the underlying values and interests that guided early investigators in their debates over best methods. Her work highlighted how currently used styles of research in population health were the products of specific institutional and disciplinary contexts, conceptions of disease etiology and prevention, and research and medical center cultures. As a Health & Society Scholar, she plans to trace how early and influential investigations guided how later investigators entering the field of coronary heart disease research designed their studies, selected their populations, interpreted their findings, and recommended policy. She hopes to contribute to the field's efforts to reorient research, policy and interventions around the more contextual factors of behavior and biology, and to debates about how research should be organized at the national and institutional levels. Sejal received her Ph.D. in the History and Sociology of Science from the University of Pennsylvania in 2007.

sspatel2@wisc.edu

Haslyn E. R. Hunte's main area of research is social determinants of health, focusing on the causes and solutions of racial/ethnic disparities in health. Using three unique large socioepidemiological surveys, Haslyn's current research activities include (a) studying the impact of perceived racial/ethnic discrimination as a psychosocial stressor on the observed racial/ethnic disparities in high blood pressure/hypertension and on maladaptive coping health behaviors such as smoking, drinking and substance use/abuse and (b) the impact that Black Caribbeans in the U.S. may have on the observed Black-White disparities in various health outcomes. His dissertation examines the impact of perceived interpersonal racial/ethnic discrimination on smoking, drinking, body mass and blood pressure/hypertension status. As a Health & Society scholar, Haslyn intends to broaden his understanding of the physiological process of perceived interpersonal experiences of racial/ethnic discrimination in relation to other perceived stressors. He also intends on investigating viable interdisciplinary solutions to racial/ethnic disparities in high blood pressure/hypertension and other health outcomes. Haslyn received his Ph.D. in Health Services Organization and Policy from the University of Michigan in 2006, and he holds Masters degrees in Community and Behavioral Health Sciences and Economic and Social Development from the University of Pittsburgh. Haslyn will become an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health and Kinesiology at Purdue University in the fall of 2008.

hunte@wisc.edu

Jeff Niederdeppe received his doctorate from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania in 2006. He received a BA in communication from the University of Arizona in May 1999 and an MA in communication from the University of Pennsylvania in May 2001. Jeff spent two years at RTI International, a not-for-profit research firm, before returning to Penn to complete his Ph.D. His research explores the effects of mass media campaigns and health news coverage on health behavior and policy. Much of his published work has focused on the effectiveness of large-scale anti-tobacco campaigns and anti-drug media campaigns. Specifically, he has tested how various combinations of audio-visual features can enhance anti-tobacco message effectiveness, explored cognitive pathways between anti-tobacco campaign exposure and behavior change, and examined the role of news coverage in shaping tobacco control policy. His dissertation examined how existing health knowledge, social integration, and media use patterns moderate cancer-related news coverage effects on health behaviors. As a Health & Society Scholar, Jeff combines insights from social epidemiology and health communication to study how social capital and community structural characteristics enhance, impede, and/or interact with health media messages to explain growing health disparities in the US. In turn, he plans to use this knowledge to develop media campaign and media advocacy strategies aimed at changing structural and social determinants of health through policy change. In the fall of 2008, Jeff will become an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at Cornell University.

niederdeppe@wisc.edu

David Van Sickle received his PhD in medical anthropology from the University of Arizona in 2004. His dissertation research, funded by the National Science Foundation, examined the rising prevalence of asthma and allergy in India, a topic he previously studied among Native Americans in Alaska, Arizona and New Mexico. Before joining the Health & Society Scholars Program, David was an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, where he was assigned to the Air Pollution and Respiratory Health Branch. During this time, he provided epidemiological support to the National Asthma Control Program, and investigated the health effects of exposure to mold in New Orleans, to chlorine gas in South Carolina, to carbon monoxide in Florida, and to ambient ozone among student athletes in Georgia. In addition, he helped establish emergency illness and injury surveillance in coastal Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina. As a Health & Society Scholar, David continues to develop experimental methods to examine clinical decision-making in asthma and to investigate ethnic disparities in diagnosis and treatment of the disease. In addition, he plans to study the development of asthma and allergy among immigrants to the United States, and use new biomarkers of airway inflammation to explore the environmental factors influencing respiratory health at the population level. He has been awarded a 3rd year in the Health & Society Scholars Program (2008-2009), during which time he will develop and carry out a short-term research study to collect pilot data on the potential applications and utility of an asthma medication use surveillance system that he has devised.

vansickle@wisc.edu

Rachel Tolbert Kimbro received her Ph.D. in Sociology in 2005 from Princeton University, with a focus in Demography. She received her B.A. in Sociology and Policy Studies from Rice University and her M.A. in Sociology from Princeton. Rachel's research focuses on racial and ethnic health disparities and family influences on health behaviors and outcomes. Her dissertation examined the determinants of intergenerational differences in health behaviors for Mexican-Americans. Other projects examined the relationship between maternal employment and breastfeeding initiation and duration, racial and ethnic differences in obesity prevalence among preschoolers, racial and ethnic differences in socioeconomic gradients for health outcomes and behaviors, and the influence of multiracial contact early in life on adult social networks. As a Health & Society Scholar, Rachel worked on projects examining how risk propensity in adolescence predicts prenatal risk behaviors, and how family structure and relationship quality influences prenatal health behaviors. She is currently Assistant Professor of Sociology at Rice University.

rtkimbro@rice.edu

Elizabeth Rigby received her Ph.D. in Politics and Education from Columbia University in 2005. Her dissertation examined the politics of early care and education policymaking in the American states in order to better understand how political contexts may shape other contextual factors influencing young children's healthy growth and development. As a Health & Society Scholar, Elizabeth continued her work on the politics of social policymaking in the United States expanding her current focus to include health policymaking as well as education, welfare, and taxation policy. By bridging these policy areas, this research allowed for a fuller conceptualization of the package of policies that affect disparities in outcomes among children and families. Elizabeth holds a B.A. in Political Science from Emory University and an M.A. in education from Washington University in St. Louis. Prior to her doctoral study, she coordinated a state-wide lobbying campaign, worked for a voter information service, and spent three years teaching in St. Louis Public Schools. In addition, she held a research fellowship at the National Center for Children and Families where she worked on national research projects (e.g., Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study, Head Start Quality Research Centers) and consulted with state governments regarding their early childhood policies. Together these experiences convinced her of the importance of structural and institutional influences on both individual outcomes and the inequalities we see among population sub-groups. This conviction motivates her research on the causes and consequences of public policy in our society. Elizabeth is currently Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Houston.

erigby@uh.edu

Marilyn Sinkewicz is studying gender-specific disparities in health conditions and health seeking behaviors as they relate to men. Her particular focus is on understanding the social determinants and consequences of the physical and mental health status of men, and within this category, race-ethnic and socioeconomic disparities. Marilyn holds an MSW from Columbia University and received her Ph.D. in Social Policy from the Columbia University School of Social Work in 2006. Marilyn's dissertation concerned the mental health of men. This study constructed a profile of the mental health status of urban American fathers. It also investigated the predictive value of social causation and social selection theories with respect to the inverse association between socioeconomic status and psychopathology. Marilyn's broader research interests include comparative cross national social welfare expenditures, including health expenditures and other dimensions of the social safety net. She is also interested in research methodologies pertaining to missing data. Previously Marilyn was a partner in an information technology consulting firm. She is currently working with several community-based research initiatives in the U.S. and in sub Saharan Africa. Marilyn currently holds a Research Fellow position at Columbia University. In September 2008 she will become Assistant Professor of Social Work at the University of Michigan.

ms2054@columbia.edu

Richard Carpiano completed his Ph.D. in Sociomedical Sciences from Columbia University in 2004. He received his B.A. and M.A. in Sociology from Baylor University and M.P.H. in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention from Case Western Reserve University. Richard's interests center on individual and community socioeconomic determinants of physical and mental health. Among his Health & Society Scholar projects were a qualitative study of social capital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin neighborhoods that aims to better understand how neighborhood resources foster, maintain, and even constrain residents' quality of life and health. Richard and several University of Wisconsin faculty were awarded a grant from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to evaluate the population health impact of American Indian tribal casinos throughout the US. Additionally, he collaborated with UW researchers and local community stakeholders in developing a study that involved youth in using geographic information systems, photography, and written narratives for mapping health and safety issues in south Madison neighborhoods. Richard's other projects focused on the importance of theory development in population health research, the influences of neighborhood social ties and resources on individual health using multilevel statistical modeling, the relationship between social prestige and mortality, measures of neighborhood social and physical conditions for health research, and public conceptions of mental illness and their implications for mental health treatment-seeking. He is currently Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of British Columbia.

carpiano@interchange.ubc.ca

Elliot Friedman received his Ph.D. in Behavioral Neuroscience from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, completed postdoctoral work in Psychoneuroimmunology at the University of California, San Diego, and was a member of the Psychology faculty at Williams College. Elliot is interested in the biological mechanisms underlying the impact of psychological experience on vulnerability to illness. As a Health & Society Scholar, Elliot focused his research on interactions between psychological and contextual variables and their collective impact on biological markers of health and illness, particularly inflammatory proteins, in human populations. He has presented his work at conferences for various scientific organizations, including the American Psychosomatic Society, the Psychoneuroimmunology Research Society, and the Gerontological Society of America. He has also published the results of this work in the journals Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Health Psychology, and Neurobiology of Aging. In August 2007, the National Institute on Aging granted Elliot a K01 Mentored Scientist Award, providing 5 years of support for research on demographic, socioeconomic, and psychological predictors of disease-related biomarkers in a national sample of middle-aged and older Americans. Elliot is currently conducting this research as an Associate Scientist at the Institute on Aging at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

friedman1@wisc.edu

Maggie Weden completed her Ph.D. in Population Dynamics and Masters in Biostatistics from the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2004. As a Health & Society Scholar she explored methodological and theoretical issues related to social disparities in health. Her research considered how contextual factors (such as work, family, and neighborhood environments) contribute to health disparities by gender, race, and ethnicity. This research evaluated the role of environmental resources and stressors in shaping behavioral determinants of poor health, such as tobacco use, overweight, and obesity. Maggie's prior research addressed US racial and ethnic differences in adolescent risk behavior, trends in family formation patterns in less developed countries, and multi-state life course modeling. Currently Maggie is an Associate Social Scientist at RAND Corporation's Santa Monica, California, office. She works as a demographer at the Center for the Study of Aging, housed within RAND's Labor and Population Program.

mweden@rand.org

Dorothy Daley was a Health & Society Scholar at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 2003 to 2005. She is now an Assistant Professor at the University of Kansas with a joint appointment in Political Science and Environmental Studies. In 2001, Dorothy received her Ph.D. in Ecology with an emphasis in Environmental Policy Analysis from the University of California, Davis. Her research to date examines the ecological, political and socio-economic determinants of hazardous waste policy and urban redevelopment in the United States. Dorothy's work also evaluates the impact of environmental policy implementation with a specific focus on distributional or equity considerations. As a Health & Society Scholar, her research focused on intergovernmental collaboration, in particular examining the conditions under which local public health departments and state and federal environmental agencies effectively collaborate to achieve common policy goals.

daley@ku.edu

Michelle Frisco was a Health & Society Scholar at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 2003 to 2005. She is now an Assistant Professor of Sociology and Demography at Pennsylvania State University. Michelle received her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Texas at Austin in 2001. Her research focuses on relationships between family life, education, and health and well-being during adolescence and the transition to adulthood. She is currently working on two primary projects. The first investigates how family transitions experienced in conjunction with residential and school mobility influence adolescent risk-taking, mental health and academic achievement. She is working on this project with colleagues at the University of Texas at Austin. The second project investigates the causes and consequences of overweight and obesity during adolescence and the transition to adulthood. She is working on this project with Molly Martin, a Health & Society Scholar at Columbia University and Gary Sandefur, Professor of Sociology and Dean of the College of Letters and Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. They received a three year R01 grant from the National Institution of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), which began in September 2005, to pursue this research agenda.

mfrisco@pop.psu.edu

Catlainn Kristina Sionéan was a Health & Society Scholar at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 2003 to 2005. She is now an Assistant Professor of Community Health at the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign. She came to the Robert Wood Johnson Health & Society Scholars Program from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As a behavioral scientist in the National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention, she conducted applied research, specifically, the design, implementation and evaluation of behavioral interventions. Kristina received her Ph.D. in medical sociology in 1999 from the University of Kentucky. While finishing her degree, she completed interdisciplinary training and mentored research as an NIMH pre-doctoral fellow in the Department of Behavioral Science, UK College of Medicine. Prior to joining CDC, Kristina completed a postdoctoral fellowship in public health at Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University. Her research as a Health & Society Scholar involved the interaction of neighborhood conditions with individual characteristics associated with health-related behaviors and outcomes. As a member of CDC's Social Determinants of Health Working Group, she collaborates with other academic and public health researchers and officials to promote the incorporation of indicators of social context into surveillance systems.

sionean@uiuc.edu