Projects

Working in collaboration with Valleywise Health to study COVID-19 impact on pregnant women, including identification of high-risk groups, characterizing delivery outcomes, surveying health status of refugee populations, and understanding effects of pandemic on health worker.

Clinical trial of a proactive speech and language intervention that is provided to infants as young as 2 months old. The purpose is to find out if severe speech and language disorders can be prevented in children who are born with a known risk for these disorders, in this case children with a newborn diagnosis of classic galactosemia. Initial results are promising. The trial will conclude in 2023 when the participating children will all be at least 4 years old.

For children with complex health care needs.

This study aims to create an adapted intervention of the New Beginnings (NBP) and Resilient Parenting for Bereaved Families (RPBF) that is design specifically for caregivers of children with incarcerated parents. 

Health promotion program with families that have children ages 2-5. Childhood obesity prevention thorugh tailored parenting education, motivational interviwing and connection to resources. 3-year study.

The MCH Policy TrT is partnering with 4th Trimester Arizona and Arizona Birthworkers of Color to establish a coalition of key stakeholders in AZ to identify key issues around MCH in the state and identify action items and deliverables to advance our advocacy efforts around these issues. The coalition is in the early stages of implementation and the goals will evolve over the next few months. Prefer student commitment for at least two semesters (1 year)

A Pilot Study of a Brief Meditation Intervention.

This observational study examines how two understudied factors, sleep-wake patterns and the gut microbiome, affect rapid weight gain in infancy, an early risk factor for obesity. The development of sleep-wake patterns and gut microbe communities will be evaluated, in the context of diverse feeding, maternal, and environmental influences, on infant weight gain.

Analyze the effectiveness of telehealth in home visitation programs to reduce social isolation in the time of Covid. Examine effects with families affected by Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) in collaboration with Southwest Human Development’s Smooth Way Home and High Risk Perinatal (HRPP) Program, previously Newborn Intensive Care Program (NICP).

This study is guided by two aims: 1) to assess how doula training programs currently recognized by the Arizona Department of Health Services incorporate the core competencies delineated by SB 1181 and address issues of birth equity, 2) To better understand the advocacy and policy priorities of community-based birth workers of color and assess the acceptance level of the voluntary state certification for doulas process and of AHCCCS reimbursement for doulas as a policy goal in Arizona

This study will examine the maternal health-seeking behaviors, maternal health experiences, and unique care needs of African refugee women. Participants will be assigned to three study groups; women who received maternal care through Valleywise Health-Refugee Women’s Health Clinic (VH-RWHC), women who received maternal care through Dignity Health, and women who received care through other general health clinics in Phoenix, Arizona.

Listen to the villages: A culturally responsive, community engaged process to promote maternal-infant health equity in Indigenous, Black, and Latinx communities in Arizona