麻豆传媒

A number of years ago, while making house calls as a nurse practitioner to homebound, low-income elderly patients in West Baltimore, Sarah Szanton noticed that their environmental challenges were often as pressing as their health challenges. Since then she has developed a program of research at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing on the role of the environment and stressors in health disparities in older adults, particularly those trying to 鈥渁ge in place鈥� or stay out of a nursing home. The result is a program called CAPABLE, which combines handyman services with nursing and occupational therapy to improve mobility, reduce disability, and decrease healthcare costs. She is currently examining the program's effectiveness through grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Innovations Office at the Center on Medicaid and Medicare Services. She is also conducting a study, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, of whether food and energy assistance improve health outcomes for low-income older adults. A former health policy advocate, Dr. Szanton aims her research and publications toward changing policy for older adults and their families.

Thomas N. Denny, MSc, M.Phil, is the Chief Operating Officer of the Duke Human Vaccine Institute (DHVI) and the Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology (CHAVI), and a Professor of Medicine in the Department of Medicine at Duke University Medical Center. He is also an Affiliate Member of the Duke Global Health Institute. He has recently been appointed to the Duke University Fuqua School of Business Health Sector Advisory Council. Previously, he was an Associate Professor of Pathology, Laboratory Medicine and Pediatrics, Associate Professor of Preventive Medicine and Community Health and Assistant Dean for Research in Health Policy at the New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey. He has served on numerous committees for the NIH over the last two decades and currently is the principal investigator of an NIH portfolio in excess of 56 million dollars. Mr. Denny was a 2002-2003 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellow at the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (IOM). As a fellow, he served on the US Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee with legislation/policy responsibilities in global AIDS, bioterrorism, clinical trials/human subject protection and vaccine related-issues.

Antonia M. Villarruel, Ph.D., RN, FAAN is the Margaret Bond Simon Dean of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing and Director of the School鈥檚 WHO Collaborating Center for Nursing and Midwifery Leadership.

As a bilingual and bicultural nurse researcher, Dr. Villarruel has extensive research and practice experience with diverse Latino and Mexican populations and communities, and health promotion and health disparities research and practice both here and abroad. She incorporates a community-based participatory approach to her research. Specifically, her research focuses on the development and testing of interventions to reduce sexual risk behaviors among Mexican and Latino youth. As part of this program of research, she developed an efficacious program to reduce sexual risk behavior among Latino youth 鈥� entitled Cu铆date! which was disseminated nationally.

Dr. Villarruel serves in such national leadership roles as chair of the IOM Roundtable on the Promotion of Health Equity and co-chair of the Strategic Advisory Council of the AARP/RWJ Center for Health Policy Future of Nursing Campaign for Action. She is an invited member of the American Board of Internal Medicine and the Aspen Health Strategy Group as well as an elected Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and the National Academy of Medicine. She is the recipient of the President鈥檚 Award for Health Behavior Intervention Research from the Friends of the National Institute of Nursing Research; an inducted member of the Sigma Theta Tau International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame; was named one of NBC鈥檚 Latino20; and received the Al Dia 麻豆传媒 Media鈥檚 Hispanic Heritage Award for leadership in Pennsylvania.

Dr. Bozlak is an associate professor in the Department of Health Policy, Management, and Behavior at the University at Albany School of Public Health. She also co-directs the HRSA-funded Maternal and Child Health Program at the School of Public Health. She will serve as the co-faculty director of the Maternal and Child Health certificate program at the University at Albany, once approved. Her expertise is in the area of maternal and child health. Dr. Bozlak previously co-chaired the American Public Health Association MCH Section鈥檚 Adolescent and Young Adult Health Committee, and she is a member of the New York State Youth Development Team. She is also a member of the National MCH Workforce Development Center鈥檚 Pipeline Team.  

Prior to joining the University at Albany in 2012, Dr. Bozlak was the Advocacy Program Manager for the Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children (CLOCC), a program of the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children鈥檚 Hospital of Chicago.  She holds her MPH in health policy and management, and she completed a fellowship in the Illinois Governor鈥檚 Office. She received her PhD in 2010 from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) School of Public Health Community Health Sciences Division. She also served as an instructor and program administrative coordinator for the UIC Center of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health (formerly the Maternal and Child Health Program).

Dr. Bozlak鈥檚 research is in the area of maternal and child health, and specifically childhood obesity prevention with a focus on policy, systems, and environmental change strategies. She has conducted community-engaged research with faith-based organizations, youth-serving organizations, and organizations dedicated to addressing food insecurity. Her current partnership with the Alliance of New York State YMCAs began in 2013 and has resulted in three studies focused on childhood obesity prevention. She is also a co-investigator on the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research-funded 鈥淓nvironmental and Nutritional Benefits of Food Recovery and Redistribution: A Pilot Assessment in New York鈥檚 Capital Region鈥� study. Along with colleagues, she co-edited the book, "Participatory Action Research" (Oxford University Press).

Dr. Debra Vinci is the associate professor of health promotion. She currently teaches courses in social marketing, health promotion, and nutrition. Dr. Vinci uses her professional expertise as a community health educator and registered dietitian to prepare students for careers in health promotion. 

Her current research interests focus on using children鈥檚 picture books as an innovative approach to increase physical literacy and movement in preschool teachers. Over the past two years, she has worked with Dr. Christopher Wirth in the development of two picture books, Walker Finds His Wiggle and Play the Walker Wiggle Way featuring Abby Fitt that will be used in interventions with preschool teachers to incorporate movement in childcare settings. Prior to working on this project, Dr. Vinci was the co-principal investigator for Let鈥檚 Wiggle 5-2-1-0, a program that trains child care providers on ways they can increase physical activity in the classroom setting. 

Dr. Vinci has also worked with community coalitions in promoting their role in obesity prevention. She has helped facilitate community efforts to develop strategies that help at-risk community groups and individuals adopt healthier lifestyle behaviors. Additionally, she has been involved in a childhood hunger task force to increase access to fresh fruits and vegetables to neighborhoods in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties that experience food insecurity at rates higher than national and state averages. This initiative is also interested in linking these neighborhoods with community resources that promote healthy lifestyles and decrease diet-related chronic disease.

In addition to her work on obesity prevention, Dr. Vinci is also involved in program evaluation efforts related to state-wide cancer prevention efforts. 

Before coming to UWF in 2004, she developed health education interventions targeting college-age students and worked as the Director of Health Education at Hall Health at the University of Washington. As a registered dietitian, she spent 15 years working as an outpatient nutritionist with expertise in diabetes education and nutrition therapy with individuals with eating disorders.

Dr. Vinci received a bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 degrees in human nutrition from University of Vermont, and a doctorate in health education from Loma Linda University. 

Dr. Daudet Ilunga Tshiswaka is an Assistant Professor of Public Health. He has a PhD. in Community Health from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research interests focus on health disparity, global health, and minorities鈥� health.

Much of his research has involved health promotion and studies of health issues of minorities such as Africans who immigrated to the United States. His doctoral dissertation, for example, examined perceptions of diabetes risk factors among Congolese immigrants in Illinois.

His current research examines such topics as understanding colorectal and prostate cancer screenings uptake among US and foreign-born men in the US, stress factors in transnational West African women, aspects of the Ebola outbreak, and knowledge of condom use as an HIV preventative measure in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

He has conducted studies on assistive technology use by people with disabilities, health insurance knowledge among Congolese immigrants and African-Americans, high blood pressure among African transnational migrants, and health education and health awareness. Peer-reviewed publications carrying his work include Journal of Public Health, Journal of Race and Policy, Journal of Pan African Studies, and Transnational Social Review: A Social Work Journal.

Dr. Danielle Smith is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Behavior at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. She is formally trained in behavioral epidemiology and public health, receiving her PhD in Community Health and Health Behavior from the University at Buffalo School of Public Health and Health Professions in 2021. She also has experience working in select areas of health psychology and pharmacology/toxicology.

Dr. Smith has published nearly 50 papers on topics related to nicotine and cannabis use. Her work has appeared in Lancet Respiratory Medicine, JAMA Network Open, Nicotine and Tobacco Research, Tobacco Control, Thorax, and Cancer, Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.

Positions
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center
Assistant Professor of Oncology
Department of Health Behavior
School of Public Health and Health Professions, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY
Research Assistant Professor, Community Health and Health Behavior
Background
Education and Training:
2021 - PhD - Community Health and Health Behavior, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY
2013 - MPH - Community Health and Health Behaviors, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY
Professional Memberships:
2021-present - Canadian Consortium for the Investigation of Cannabinoids (CCIC)
2019-present - International Cannabinoid Research Society (ICRS)
2019-present - Research Society on Marijuana (RSMj)
2015-present - Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT)
Honors & Awards:
2020 - Delta Omega Public Health Honorary Society, Gamma Lambda Chapter, State University of New York at Buffalo School of Public Health and Health Professions
2020 - Outstanding Doctoral Achievement Award, Department of Community Health and Health Behavior, State University of New York at Buffalo School of Public Health and Health Professions
2020 - Canadian Consortium for the Investigation of Cannabinoids (CICC) Trainee Research Spotlight Award
Research
Research Overview:
Dr. Smith鈥檚 research focuses on behavioral and policy aspects of cannabis use, and ultimately seeks to address the question, 鈥淯nder what circumstances can cannabis yield therapeutic benefits, and how might cannabis-related harms be minimized?鈥� Her work addresses this question through studies that examine: 1) overlapping aspects of nicotine and cannabis and their impact on use behaviors and health; 2) contextual factors that contribute to cannabis use behaviors and associated health outcomes (e.g., policy and use contexts); and 3) cannabis use in the context of cancer prevention, care, and symptom management.

Dr. Smith is also interested in new and emerging forms of drug delivery, specifically electronic vaping products and heat-not-burn products used to administer nicotine and cannabis. Her work integrates mixed methods including laboratory, clinical, and observational studies. She is also involved in development and analysis of longitudinal cohort studies of nicotine use, including the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Survey and Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study.

Publications
Smith DM, Goniewicz ML. The role of policy in the EVALI outbreak: solution, or contributor? Lancet Resp Med. Feb 7 2020. pii: S2213-2600(20)30065-5. doi: 10.1016/S2213-2600(20)30065-5.

Smith DM, Miller C, O鈥機onnor RJ, Kozlowski LT, Wadsworth E, Collins RL, Wei B, Goniewicz ML, Hyland AJ, Hammond D. Modes of delivery in concurrent tobacco and cannabis use (co-use) among youth: findings from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Survey. Substance Abuse. 2020; DOI: 10.1080/08897077.2019.1709603

Smith DM, O鈥機onnor RJ, Wei B, Travers MJ, Hyland A, Goniewicz ML. Nicotine and toxicant exposure among concurrent users (co-users) of tobacco and cannabis. Nicotine & Tobacco Research. 2020; ntz122, https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntz122.

Smith DM, Kozlowski L, O鈥機onnor RJ, Hyland A, Collins RL. Reasons for individual and concurrent use of vaped nicotine and cannabis: their similarities, differences and associations with product use. Journal of Cannabis Research. 2021;3(39). https://doi.org/10.1186/s42238-021-00097-7.

Driezen P, Gravely S, Wadsworth E, Smith DM, Loewen R, Hammond D, Li L, McNeill A, Borland R, Cummings KM, Fong GT. Increasing cannabis use is associated with poorer cigarette smoking cessation outcomes: Findings from the ITC Four Country Smoking and Vaping Surveys, 2016-2018. Nicotine and Tobacco Research. Jun 10 2021;ntab122. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntab122.

Dr. Agui帽aga is committed to advancing the scientific knowledge that addresses health disparities in cognition and dementia-related diseases through community-based physical activity research. She received an Alzheimer's Association Research Fellowship to Promote Diversity grant for a study of sitting time, activity, and dementia in underserved populations in central Illinois and Chicago. She also has investigated relationships among cognitive function, lifestyle, and exercise after cancer treatment. Through her research, she hopes to increase diversity in dementia-related research and reverse growing disparities in physical activity and dementia-related diseases, with the ultimate goal of creating culturally appropriate physical activity interventions for racially and ethnically diverse older adults with cognitive impairment and dementia-related diseases.

Yvens Laborde, MD, leads Ochsner’s community health programs and promotes the organization’s outreach programs to improve health outcomes for at-risk populations. He was a founding member of the Ochsner Health Disparities Task Force.
Since joining Ochsner in 1995, Dr. Laborde has served in a number of leadership positions while maintaining a clinical practice. He led efforts in establishing the first inpatient hospital medicine service in New Orleans’ Westbank area, where he also served as medical director for Ochsner nursing home patients. He was an early adopter of incorporating advanced practice providers into his practice.
A native of Port au Prince, Haiti, Dr. Laborde was instrumental in Ochsner’s relief efforts in Haiti following the devastating 2010 earthquake. He served as a co-leader of Ochsner’s on-the-ground relief efforts in the Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian in 2019.
Dr. Laborde completed his undergraduate studies in New Orleans then earned a medical degree from the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport. He completed an internship in internal medicine at Tulane University in New Orleans and a residency in internal medicine at Ochsner Health System. He is board certified in internal medicine.
He is the first Black physician elected to the Ochsner Health System board of directors and served two terms from 2006-2013. Among his numerous professional honors, he was a finalist for the 2017 U.S. Cooperative for International Patient Programs International Humanitarian and Global Health Leader Award.