{"id":88449,"date":"2018-12-07T14:47:53","date_gmt":"2018-12-08T00:47:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=88449"},"modified":"2020-01-31T13:20:14","modified_gmt":"2020-01-31T23:20:14","slug":"public-health-students-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2018\/12\/07\/public-health-students-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Public health students present research on indigenous peoples, disease prevention"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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Public health junior Robert Nieto, right, explains his literature review on ethnic disparities in obesity with a student peer. (Photo by: Denise Nelson-Hurwitz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After months of data collection, analysis and thinking critically about public health issues, more than 50 undergraduates in the Office of Public Health Studies<\/a> at the Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work<\/a> put their hard work on display at the Public Health Undergraduate Summit.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Graduating public health student Telesia Tuipulotu, left, with her project mentor Michelle Tagorda, a public health alumna and UH<\/abbr> regent. (Photo by: Denise Nelson-Hurwitz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The bi-annual event drew students and faculty members from the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at Mānoa<\/a> campus, as well as alumni and public health community members, who viewed posters and exhibits at the Biomed building.<\/p>\n

“This semester’s summit was a huge success,” said Denise Nelson-Hurwitz<\/strong><\/a>, assistant professor and chair of the public health undergraduate program. “These projects make a valuable contribution to the public health community and to research being conducted in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>.”<\/p>\n

Projects focus on indigenous peoples<\/h2>\n

Student projects spanned all aspects of public health, and many focused on the health of Native Hawaiians and other indigenous peoples.<\/p>\n

Leila Chang<\/strong> explored the relationship between globalization and changes in the diet of Samoans, while Cherry Yamane<\/strong> looked at ways to reduce health disparities in indigenous populations using interventions based on culture.<\/p>\n

In one project, which dealt directly with public health at UH<\/abbr> Mānoa, Pua Yang<\/strong> conducted an assessment of mosquito breeding sites on campus. She discerned that mosquito-borne infections due to the insect’s larvae, which accumulate in standing water, could be reduced by cleaning up littered coffee cups.<\/p>\n

Prevention was a popular theme with other students as well, with projects focusing on cardiovascular disease from Kelly Knowles<\/strong>, breast cancer from Nathalie Lozano<\/strong> and diabetes from Haleigh Romero<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Some students presented their literature reviews, an early step of completing a project, and are slated to present their completed findings at the next Public Health Undergraduate Summit in May 2019. Julia Andaya<\/strong> shared her literature review on promoting oral health education in kids, and Charlene Mikee Nguyen<\/strong> is looking at early findings of promoting breastfeeding to expectant women.<\/p>\n

Capstone projects cap off academic learning<\/h2>\n

Undergraduates nearing graduation presented their capstone projects, which are completed over three semesters. The students first familiarize themselves with a public health topic, then work to address it under the mentorship of a community-based or research faculty advisor. They finally link their field experiences and academic learning into a final paper and poster presentation.<\/p>\n

“Student capstone projects make a difference in the way we understand the public health issues facing our communities,” said Nelson-Hurwitz. “The projects show that our students are truly well-prepared to enter the public health workforce in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> or go on to graduate school. It is always exciting to see where our students go next with their work.”<\/p>\n

For the full story, see the Office of Public Health Studies website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

—By Theresa Kreif<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hard work was on display for campus and community attendees at the Office of Public Health Studies undergraduate summit held at the Biomed building.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[449,596,9],"class_list":["post-88449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-news","tag-public-health-sciences","tag-myron-b-thompson-school-of-social-work","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88449"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88520,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88449\/revisions\/88520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}