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News and Events
2024
May
Dr. Anna Rybinska-Campbell Publishes Article on the Relation Between Short Birth Spacing and Child Maltreatment
Dr. Anna Rybinska-Campbell recently published an article in the journal Child Abuse Review titled “Understanding the Relation between Short Birth Spacing and Child Maltreatment: Are Associations Due to Parental History of Childhood Abuse and Neglect?”
Child maltreatment is a serious public health problem of common incidence. Understanding the predecessors of maltreatment constitute a pressing research topic because such studies can improve maltreatment prevention efforts.
In an observational study recently published in Child Abuse Review, Anna Rybińska-Campbell, a Research Data Scientist at the Population Health and Equity Research Institute, and her colleagues use longitudinal data for a cohort of infants born in two hospitals in a Southeastern city to examine connections between parental history of child maltreatment, their child’s birth spacing, and their child’s risk of abuse and neglect. The authors demonstrate that maternal history of childhood maltreatment and short birth spacing are independent predictors of a child’s abuse and neglect.
April
Dr. Susan De Luca of PHERI Discusses Black Suicide Rates With the Columbus Dispatch
Dr. Susan De Luca, Associate Professor in the Population Health and Equity Research Institute at MetroHealth, was featured in the Columbus Dispatch discussing increase in black suicide rates in Cleveland. Dr. De Luca points out, “Men tend to use firearms, but we are seeing more and more females using guns as well. But what we have found recently is that since 2022, Latina females have been the highest for 30 years, and now Black females have actually superseded them in terms of attempts.”
March
PHERI Grant Awardee team led by Dr. Del Rincon publishes paper examining quality of life in transmasculine and transfeminine individuals receiving gender-affirming hormone therapy
Saloni Lad, Dr. Juan P. Del Rincon, Dr. Brian Khong, Jacob Sinopoli, Dr. Britt Conroy, and Dr. Adam Perzynski have published their paper on quality of life and other indicators in a prospective cohort study of transmasculine and transfeminine patients receiving gender-affirming hormone therapy The paper is published in Social Science and Medicine, which is among the most prestigious publications in the field of population health.
The study aims to better understand the impact of depressive symptoms and quality of life among transmasculine and transfeminine by examining social and clinical characteristics. This paper is notable for being one of the largest-ever prospective cohort studies of social drivers of health among transgender individuals. Saloni Lad, a medical student at CCLCOM, programmed and conducted the statistical analysis, which included in-depth and impressive data visualizations.
The results from this study can be used by healthcare workers and policymakers to enhance clinical and social practices to better health equity for gender-diverse folks.
February
MetroHealth's Christina Randolph, DO, Creates Book Club for High School Students
Population Health and Equity Research Institute's Christina Randolph, DO, a population health research fellow and trained pediatrician, promotes literacy every day in clinical practice. Now, she's combining her love for reading into her research by creating a book club with students at Garrett Morgan High School. She received funding from the American Academy of Pediatrics and MetroHealth's Brittingham Memorial Library to study how a weekly book club with doctors could inspire students to pursue careers in medicine.
She's recruited fellow doctors, Toluwalope Odukoya, MD, and Amma Boakye, DO, along with aspiring medical student Ifey Mbanefo to join her in reading, "The Pact: Three Young Men Make a Promise and Fulfill a Dream," with students each week.
"If we want a more diverse workforce, then we need novel, creative ways to do it," Dr. Randolph said.
Dr. Randolph is looking for a diverse group of healthcare workers from various fields to help with this project. In particular, she's interested in recruiting people to help with future iterations of the book club or caregivers who can share short videos about their careers. She's also seeking individuals to serve on a panel when students visit MetroHealth. If interested, you can contact Dr. Randolph at [email protected].
2023
December
STRIDES Team Featured on WKYC Good Company
Jasmine Johnson, MSN, RN, and Renae Sabella, RDN, LD, recently joined the program to talk about the importance of healthy eating during the holiday season. They also promoted MetroHealth's STRIDES program, a one-year, individually tailored program that helps people with prediabetes lower their risk of developing diabetes or even prevent diabetes altogether.
Dr. Douglas Gunzler Appointed to Serve on Ohio Parkinson’s Disease Registry Advisory Committee
Douglas Gunzler, PhD was appointed to serve on Ohio Parkinson’s Disease Registry Advisory Committee (PDRAC) under the role of Researcher. His appointment was made in accordance with Ohio Revised Code 3701.252, which provides for an advisory committee to assist the Ohio Department of Health in the development and implementation of the Ohio Parkinson’s Disease Registry and to advise the director of health on maintaining and improving the registry. The committee will meet at least biannually.
November
Dr. Eileen Seeholzer publishes on educating medical students on obesity as a preclinical elective
Dr. Eileen Seeholzer and team had their research published in the International Journal of Obesity. Main findings present a feasible model for providing medical students with meaningful experiences and education related to obesity, including elective reflection structure and evaluation method.
Newly Published Editorial Urges Actions Towards Eliminating Pulmonary Health Disparities by Addressing Social Determinants of Health
Adam Perzynski and team were recently published in Annals of the American Thoracic Society for their editorial titled, Place and Pulmonary Health Inequality.
The publication focuses on contextualizing health disparities in pulmonary health while also pushing investigators and clinical leaders towards actions like large-scale observational studies, programming, and policy changes that act on the social determinants of health.
September
The Population Health and Equity Research Institute (PHERI) announces two MetroHealth faculty researchers for the 2023 Pilot Grant Award.
The Pilot Grant Program provides one year of seed funding for MetroHealth faculty investigators to conduct research projects in population health.
Sarah Sweeney, MD
"A Pilot Study to Identify Key Research Priorities and Areas of Inquiry for the Impacts of Gun Violence on Survivors and Families – The “Centering Families and Survivors Project”
Developed collaboratively between Dr. Sarah Sweeney, a MetroHealth Family Physician, The Cleveland Peacemakers Alliance, the MetroHealth Trauma Recovery center and directly impacted community members, this interview-based project aims to center survivors and families who are directly impacted by gun violence. It brings focus to the devastating and broad range of impacts that the ongoing epidemic of gun violence has on a growing proportion of MetroHealth patients and the NEO community.
The information gained from this pilot study will help to bolster the care provided to families and survivors in both the immediate and long-term aftermath of firearm injuries and deaths and to develop research and program priorities that center this population. This project also aims to provide a practical set of resources and a framework for conducting research with survivors and family members in a way that provides rather than extracts resources.Dr. Sweeney would like to thank the dedicated collaboration of Ms. Myesha Watkins and Ms. Mar’Yum Patterson of the Cleveland Peacemakers Alliance, Ms. Shanell Harris of the MH Trauma Recovery Center, Faith leader Dr. Tony Minor and community partner Ms. Kimberley King."
Shahdi Malakooti MD
Role of Vitamin D in Neuropsychiatric and Cognitive Post-Acute Sequelae of Covid-19
Post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC) include emergence, persistence, and worsening of neuropsychiatric and cognitive deficits. In the general population, Vitamin D deficiency correlates with neurocognitive and neuropsychiatric disease. In addition, several social determinants of health associate with Vitamin D deficiency.
This project will fill a critical knowledge gap through understanding the relative contribution of disparities in Vitamin D status to neuropsychiatric and cognitive symptoms of post-COVID syndrome and in identifying barriers perpetuated by existing infrastructure, aligning directly with the MetroHealth mission to develop a healthier community and promote accountability and racial equity.
March
CHEEER Director Receives 5 year NIH Grant to Increase Diversity in Scientific Workforce
Dr. Daryl Thornton, Director of the Center for Health Equity, Engagement, Education, and Research (CHEEER) and Director of the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine and Dr. Ronald Hickman, Associate Dean for Research at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing were awarded a 5-year, $540,000 R25 Research Education Grant from NIH to increase the diversity of the scientific workforce.
Entitled “An Intensive Summer Education Program in Translational Research for Underrepresented Students (INSPIRE-US)”, the grant complements the 7-year Clinical and Translational Science Collaborative (CTSC) grant recently awarded to Case Western Reserve University.
The INSPIRE-US program will support 25 undergraduate students from 9 historically Black colleges and universities to spend 10 weeks at Case and its affiliated teaching hospitals including MetroHealth where they will receive hands on research experiences in a lab under the direction of a mentor, training in research methods, and professional career coaching.
February
Questions of Faith: Suicidality Among Sexual Minority Adolescents & Young Adults
Dr. Susan De Luca gave a presentation for CWRU’s Special Topics in Social Justice and Public Health around her work with LGBQ adolescents and how religious affiliation and levels of religiosity are related to suicidal ideation and attempts this population.
Religion is a protective factor for suicide, yet Dr. De Luca and her team’s research finds repeatedly that it does not function as such for sexual minorities. Her research also found that if these same adolescents are part of an affirming religious affiliation, they enjoy the same protective factors as heterosexual and cisgender adolescents.
Food Insecurity Trajectories in the US During the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Doug Gunzler and Adam Perzynski’s work with Dr. Jin Kim-Mozeleski was recently featured in the CWRU Daily. Their publication in Preventing Chronic Disease looked at the trajectory of food insecurity during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The team found food insecurity was highly variable with one-third of the US population experiencing some form of food insecurity risk. Check out the article in the daily here: CWRU Daily or the full publication here: Food Insecurity Trajectories
January
Redlining Article in Cleveland Scene Magazine
Congratulations to Dr. Adam Perzynski and Dr. Kristen Berg for their published work on Redlining being featured in Cleveland Scene Magazine in an article titled Case Western Reserve Study Confirms Racism as ‘Overriding Factor’ in Redlining Neighborhoods. The Scene article highlights research from Adam and Kristen’s manuscript in the Du Bois Review and explains how Black residents were 40 times more likely to be redlined in the 1930s.
“When we look at redlining, we have to think about the consequences of racist policies,” Perzynski said. “Community gardens are a good thing and managing blood pressure is never a bad idea, but they don’t correct 100 years of discrimination and institutionalized racism.”
“We’ve created these neighborhoods,” said co-author and assistant professor at the school of medicine Kristen Berg. “These are the consequences of deeply intentional policy decisions. There needs to be intentional work, then, to transform neighborhoods and invest in families whose generations have been harmed by redlining.”
Check out the full article from Scene here: CLE Scene Redlining Article
Their work was also featured in the CWRU Daily: CWRU Daily Redlining
