Search Results for "tseng"

LSU: Continuity of Outpatient Care and Avoidable Hospitalization: a Systematic Review

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Continuity of care (COC) is a core element of primary care, which has been associated with improved health outcomes. Hospitalizations for ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSCs) are potentially preventable if these conditions are managed well in the primary care setting. The team of researchers, including from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center School of Public Health, Dr. Kao and Dr. Tung-Sung Tseng’s aim, was to conduct a systematic review of literature on the association between COC and hospitalizations for ACSCs. They used the Systematic literature review, a method which all published literature was searched for in PubMed and MEDLINE using PRISMA guidelines for collecting empirical studies. Studies published in English between 2008 and 2017 that measured the association between COC and at least one measure of ACSC hospitalizations were included in this review

Their results, a total of 15 studies met the inclusion criteria and applied claims data to examine the association between COC and ACSC hospitalizations. Most studies (93.3 percent) demonstrated a statistically significant association of higher COC in the outpatient setting with reduced likelihood of hospitalization for either all ACSCs or a specific ACSC. A strong association was observed among studies focusing on patients with a specific ACSC.  The team concluded that this systematic review identified an increased COC in outpatient care is associated with fewer hospitalizations for ACSCs. Increasing COC is favorable for patients who are managing a specific ACSC.

Click here to read the full article on ASPPH Friday Newletter May 3, 2019

Racial and Income Disparities in Health-Related Quality of Life among Smokers with a Quit Attempt in Louisiana

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February 13, 2019 – New Orleans, LA

In the recent study, “Racial and Income Disparities in Health-Related Quality of Life among Smokers with a Quit Attempt in Louisiana,” published in Medicina 2019, smoking was found to be associated with a lower health-related quality of life (HRQOL). However, there is little information about the association between HRQOL in relation to race, income, and smoking status. The present study aimed to assess the association between HRQOL and smoking status for those of different races and income levels.

Authorship and contribution to this research and publication  from the LSU Health Sciences Center School of Public Health includes current Fellow Yu-Hsiang Kao,  Dr. Tung-Sung Tseng, Mr. Michael D. Celestin, Jr. , Dr. Sarah Moody-Thomas from Behavioral & Community Health. Also, contributing to this research is Mrs. Krysten Jones-Winn from the Tobacco Control Initiative Program and  Dr. Qingzhao Yu from Biostatics.

This study’s conclusions state that racial and income disparities were evident with regards to HRQOL, with lower-income black or African Americans who were current smokers with a quit attempt having a lower HRQOL. Intervention programs for smoking cessation should target lower-income black or African American smokers who have a prior quit attempt and provide effective cessation services to help them quit smoking and improve their HRQOL.

The full publication can be read here.

LSU: Faculty and Researchers Used Emergency Department Data to Estimate Prevalence of Smoking in Young Adults

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Faculty and researchers at the LSU School of Medicine (Drs. Stephen Kantrow and Sarah Jolley), Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center School of Public Health (Ms. Xinnan Wang, Dr. Tung-Sung Tseng, Dr. Dodie Arnold, Dr. Claudia Leonardi, Dr. Richard Scribner, Dr. Edward Trapido, Dr. Hui-Yi Lin), Ochsner Health System (Eboni Price Haywood) and the Louisiana Public Health Institute (Dr. Lisanne Brown) used emergency department (ED) data to estimate the prevalence of smoking in young adults. Most state or national surveys of smoking are limited in size- especially when looking at county level data, and phone based surveys have had decreasing responses. School based surveys are helpful, but limited by age.

The researchers used data from electronic health records (EHRs) for five EDs within U.S. Census-defined metropolitan New Orleans (New Orleans–Metairie, LA) for persons 18-24 years old. (15 percent of young adults are reported to have used EDs in the past year). Smoking status was available for 55,777 persons (91 percent of the total Emergency Departments); 61 percent were women, 55 percent were black, 35 percent were white, and 8 percent were Hispanic. One third of patients were uninsured. Most smokers used cigarettes (95 percent ). Prevalence of current smoking was 21.7 percent for women and 42.5 percent for men. Smoking prevalence was highest for substance use disorder (58 percent ), psychiatric illness (41 percent ) and alcohol use (39 percent ), and lowest for pregnancy (13.5 percent ). In multivariable analyses, male gender, white race, lack of health insurance, alcohol use, and illicit drug use were independently associated with smoking. Smoking risk among alcohol and drug users varied by gender, race, and/or age.

The BRFSS estimated 29 percent prevalence during the same time, and had data on 597 subjects aged 18–30 years. Although ED data are likely to overestimate tobacco use, the large sample size is useful- especially for stratum-specific estimates- particularly in a demographically diverse population. Dr. Stephen Kantrow, the lead investigator, stated ”this approach provides smoking data for a large sample of young adults in one metropolitan area, and may support longitudinal studies of smoking in high and low risk populations.

Full article

ASPPH | LSU: Association between Continuity of Care and Emergency Department Visits and Hospitalization in Senior Adults with Asthma-COPD Overlap

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Dr. Tung-Tseng, associate professor of Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center School of Public Health behavioral and community health sciences, explains that the objective of the research was to investigate associations between continuity of care (COC) and emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalization for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or asthma among elderly adults with asthma-COPD overlap (ACO).

The study was performed using the Taiwan National Health Insurance research database. A total of 1141 ACO patients aged ≥65 years during 2005–2011 were observed and followed for two years. The Bice and Boxerman COC index (COCI) was used to evaluate COC by considering ambulatory care visits due to COPD or asthma in the first year; ED visits and hospitalization for COPD or asthma were identified in the subsequent year, respectively. The COCI was divided into three levels(COCI < 0.3= low, 0.3 ≤ COCI<1=medium, COCI = 1=high). The Cox model was used to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) for ED visits and hospital admissions due to COPD or asthma. The team concluded that increasing COC is beneficial for elderly patients with ACO in disease management.  Policy-makers could create effective pay-for-performance programs for the elderly ACO population to enhance COC and improve care outcomes.

READ entire article here

LSUHSC SPH Study: Improving low-income residents’ utilization of farmers markets

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Read the full news released featured in the AAAS and EurekAlert!, “Improving low-income residents’ utilization of farmers markets”

February 20, 2018

New Orleans, LA – A pair of studies conducted at LSU Health New Orleans School of Public Health found reasons and possible solutions to improve low-income residents’ access to fresh, local produce at farmers markets. The first study, published in the Journal of Public Health Research, available at http://www.jphres.org/index.php/jphres/article/view/815, found a lack of awareness of the existence of farmers markets, and of discounts and benefits available to low-income residents among those who did know about farmers markets.

“Our study for the first time shows that one barrier to farmers market utilization is simply not being aware that they exist.,” noted Henry Nuss, PhD, Assistant Professor at LSU Health New Orleans School of Public Health.

The researchers developed a questionnaire to assess demographic information, awareness of farmers markets in New Orleans, food-purchasing behaviors, internet use, diet and preferences among a variety of marketing media. They found that nearly two-thirds (63%) of low-income participants had never been to a farmers market. The research team reported that 73% of participants did not know that farmers markets accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, and 77% were not aware that patrons could receive additional discounts with SNAP purchases. The researchers then tested the feasibility of their novel, internet-based social marketing strategy, Healthy Roots for You.

The second study, published in Ethnicity & Disease, available at https://www.ethndis.org/edonline/index.php/ethndis/article/view/786/943, built upon the first study. Its findings included that low-income residents have adequate access to the internet and a variety of social media channels and that web-based marketing could be a cost-effective and efficient way to not only increase awareness of farmers markets, but also that they are sources of affordable and nutritious local foods. Researchers found that the majority of participants had internet access via smart phones or home PCs and used social media and the internet frequently, often as a means of obtaining health-related information. The research team used data from the preliminary study to target low-income residents with tailored content for both those who had never been to a farmers’ market and to encourage future use among those who had been to one before.

“Most participants liked the sample Healthy Roots marketing media we shared with them and agreed that notifications via social media, email and a dedicated website would increase their awareness of farmers markets,” Dr. Nuss said.

Researchers say the importance of this research is that farmers markets are being underutilized by the at-risk community members they intend to help. This research is working to identify and remove barriers to improve health in these underserved populations.

“Farmers’ markets were originally established to provide fresh, healthy and affordable food to underserved communities,” Nuss noted. “Unfortunately, this is not a case of ‘if you build it they will come.’ What we’re seeing now is that we need to put the word out that farmers’ markets are there for low-income residents, and that the affordability and quality of fresh, LOCAL produce are better and healthier that what they’d find at retail chains.”

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In addition to Nuss, the research teams also included Meg Skizim, MPH; Melinda Sothern, PhD; Ondrej Blaha; Tung-Sung Tseng, DrPH; Lauren Griffiths, MPH; Jonathan Joseph; Hasheemah Afaneh; and Lucio Miele, MD, PhD.

These research projects were supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship, Hollygrove Market and Farm, Hollygrove community and LSU Health New Orleans School of Public Health.

LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans educates Louisiana’s health care professionals. The state’s most comprehensive health professional university, LSU Health New Orleans includes a School of Medicine, the state’s only School of Dentistry, Louisiana’s only public School of Public Health, and Schools of Allied Health Professions, Nursing, and Graduate Studies. LSU Health New Orleans faculty take care of patients in public and private hospitals and clinics throughout the region. In the vanguard of biosciences research in a number of areas in a worldwide arena, the LSU Health New Orleans research enterprise generates jobs and enormous economic impact. LSU Health New Orleans faculty have made lifesaving discoveries and continue to work to prevent, advance treatment, or cure disease. To learn more, visit http://www.lsuhsc.edu, http://www.twitter.com/LSUHealthNO or http://www.facebook.com/LSUHSC.

LSU Program Director Awarded Grant to Develop an Interactive Voice Response System Intervention for Pregnant Smokers

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Mr. Michael Celestin, Director of the Louisiana Tobacco Control Initiative and Instructor of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center School of Public Health, has been awarded pilot funding by the Louisiana Cancer Research Consortium to develop a culturally tailored intervention using Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) technology to promote and maintain smoking cessation among socioeconomically disadvantaged pregnant women in Louisiana.

In the U.S., one in five women smoked the three months before pregnancy, one in ten smoked during the last three months of pregnancy, and one in seven smoked postpartum. Maternal smoking is associated with miscarriage, preterm delivery, restricted fetal growth, infant mortality, birth defects and ADHD in children. Socioeconomically disadvantaged pregnant women have a greater risk of smoking during and after pregnancy. Evidence-based cessation interventions exist to aid quit attempts, but few target pregnant smokers and enrollment in and utilization of cessation programs remain low.

IVRS technology will serve as an innovative approach to recruit and enroll pregnant smokers into various types of cessation treatment. “This study will use a mixed method approach to explore pregnant smoker’s knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and perspectives on the facilitators and barriers to smoking cessation,” Mr. Celestin said. “These findings will inform IVRS message development to promote cessation and triage ready-to-quit smokers for preferred treatment.”

Mr. Celestin will collaborate with co-investigators Dr. Tyra Toston-Gross, assistant professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at Xavier University of Louisiana, as well as associate professor Dr. Tung-Sung Tseng and professor emeritus Dr. Sarah Moody-Thomas of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences at LSU.

SOURCE: https://www.aspph.org/lsu-program-director-awarded-grant-to-develop-an-interactive-voice-response-system-intervention-for-pregnant-smokers/

APHA Live! Available for On-Demand

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Couldn’t make it to APHA 2017 in Atlanta?
You can still watch on-demand sessions and presentations that you missed – learn, be inspired APHA Live.
Contact mcuccia@lsuhsc.edu  for the LSU password to access the on-demand sessions of APHA for Faculty, Students and Staff.

13th Annual Public Health Finance Roundtable
Sunday, November 5th, 2017 Georgia World Congress Center – Room A405 3:00pm to 5:30pm
Click here for more information

APHA Film Festival: Screening of LSU Sponsored film “Michelle’s Story”
Session FF12: Global Public Health Film Festival: Inform, Educate, Empower, session 4 scheduled for Tuesday, November 7, 2017: 6:30 p.m.-8:00 p.m. 

Individual Presentations:

  • Oral Presentation
    “Expanding Patient Navigation Services in the Louisiana Breast and Cervical Health Program”
    Courtney S. Wheeler, MPH, Nannozi Ssenkoloto, MPH, Joann Lee, MPH, Donna Williams, DrPH
  • Poster Presentation
    “Drowned Out: The Smoke-Free East Baton Rouge Campaign and the Impact of a Thousand Year Flood”
    Authors: Aubree Thelen, MPH, Mikal Giancola, MPH, Lydia Kuykendal, MPH, Tonia Moore
  • Poster Presentation
    “Gender And Age Disparities In Relationship Of Acculturation, Sugar-sweetened Beverages Consumption And Obesity Among Latino Immigrants”
    Authors: Tung-Sung Tseng, DrPH, Shuang Yang, MS, Daesy K. Behrhorst, BA , Yu-Wen Chiu, DrPH, Chih-Yang Hu, MSPH, ScD , Hui-Yi Lin, PhD

Meet the PHAC Team

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Public Health Analytic Center (PHAC) Team

We are here to assist you and provide a breath of expertise across quantitative analysis to qualitative analysis from study design to program and policy evaluations.

 

Director
Tekeda Ferguson, MPH, MSPH, CHES, PHDAssociate Professor and Chair
EpidemiologyDr. Ferguson is a chronic disease epidemiologist and has experience in the design and management of multi-site cohorts and clinical trials, surveillance data systems, and longitudinal analysis in multiple, population cohorts.
Associate Director
Yu-Wen Chiu, DrPHAssistant Professor
Health Policy & Systems ManagementDr. Chiu is a health systems analyst and has expertise in health systems management and cost benefit analysis.
Associate Director
Adrienne Katner, DEnv, MSAssociate Professor and Chair
Environmental & Occupational HealthDr. Katner is an environmental health scientist and has expertise in environmental exposure and risk assessment and environmental public health policy.
Associate Director
Tung-Sung Tseng, DrPH, MS, CHES/MCHESAssociate Professor
Behavioral & Community HealthDr. Tseng is a behavior scientist. His is an expert in cancer prevention, childhood obesity, gene-environment interactions, risk behavioral patterns, health promotion interventions and evaluations, and health disparities.
Associate Director
Qingzhao Yu, PhDFull Professor and Interim Associate Dean of Research
BiostatisticsDr. Yu is a biostatistician. She has expertise in developing statistical methods for public health, health care, clinical and lab research. Her research of interests falls in Bayesian modeling, causal inferences, clinical trials, genetic statistics, machine learning method, spatial analysis, statistical computation, survey data analysis, and many other fields.

Delta Omega

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Alpha Psi Chapter

Delta Omega is the honorary society for graduate studies in public health. The society was founded in 1924 at Johns Hopkins University, School of Public Health. There are currently 48 chapters throughout the United States and Puerto Rico.

Delta Omega is governed by a Delta Omega constitution, by-laws and a governance manual. The governing body is the National Council of elected officers and representatives of each chapter. The council meets annually, usually in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of the American Public Health Association.

Since Delta Omega’s establishment in 1924, the meaning and scope of public health has broadened tremendously. While it is still seriously concerned with problems of environmental sanitation and communicable disease control, public health action has come to embrace all aspects of health and disease in populations. These include the planning, organization, and support of health promotion, disease prevention, and medical care. Basic to modern public health are the social sciences as well as the natural sciences–both in the United States and internationally.

Membership

Each year at the School of Public Health annual award ceremony, induction of new members is conducted.  The chapter may elect new members from four groups according to national standards:

  1. Students who are candidates for a graduate degree in public health: Up to 10% of the graduating student body, who must be in the upper 25% academically. This is across the whole year: summer, winter, and spring
  2. Faculty members at the school of public health: Either five members or 3% of the full-time faculty, whichever is less
  3. Alumni actively engaged in public health work, and a maximum of ten graduates of the local school of public health whose work in the practice of public health would serve as a model for future graduates of the school, and
  4. Honorary members possessing exceptional qualifications: This membership shall be limited to one every year conferred only upon persons possessing exceptional qualifications, who have attained meritorious distinction in the field of public health.

Election from all groups is based on outstanding performance—student scholarship, faculty in teaching and research, and alumni in public health practice.  Election to membership in Delta Omega is intended, not only to recognize merit, but also to encourage further excellence in, and devotion to, public health work.

Election to membership in Delta Omega is intended, not only to recognize merit, but also, to encourage further excellence in, and devotion to, public health work. Membership in Delta Omega reflects the dedication of an individual to quality in the field of public health and to protection and advancement of the health of all people.

Election from all four groups is based on outstanding performance–scholarship in students, teaching and research in faculty members, and community service in alumni.

Call for Nominations

The Alpha Psi Chapter will accept nominations in the alumni category from anyone.  To submit a LSUH-NO School of Public Health alumnus for consideration, send:

  1. Nomination letter summarizing the individual’s accomplishments relevant to public health — maximum of two pages
  2. Biographical sketch

Email the nomination to deltaomega@lsuhsc.edu

Nominations are due by February 1 of each year.

Seminars

The Gun Violence Policy Lab: Research and Evaluation to Inform Strategic Gun Violence Prevention Interventions
Amanda Hammack, PhD, MSW (September 15th, 2022):
https://mediasite-ent.lsuhsc.edu/Mediasite/Play/139940bdd81d423e8ab27a6626634f911d

The intersection of Public Policy and Behavioral Health
Karen Stubbs Church, J.D. (September 29th 2022):
https://mediasite-ent.lsuhsc.edu/Mediasite/Play/5d2ece7d4cc94b768dc37789c24bbabb1d

2024 SPH and Delta Omega Honors Day Poster Session

OVERVIEW
RESEARCH POSTER ABSTRACT
RESEARCH POSTER TEMPLATE
RESEARCH POSTER ASSESSMENT RUBRIC

NON-RESEARCH POSTER ABSTRACT

2023 SPH and Delta Omega Honors Day Poster Session

Poster Session

2022 LSUHSC School of Public Health Delta Omega Honors Day

OVERVIEW
ABSTRACTS
RESEARCH RUBRIC
NON-RESEARCH RUBRIC
RESEARCH POSTER TEMPLATE
PROJECT DESCRIPTION TEMPLATE
INFOGRAPHIC TEMPLATE

Awards

All Delta Omega awards are judged by the active membership of the Alpha Psi Chapter:

  • Honors Day posters
  • Doctoral Award – for outstanding work while pursuing the doctorate degree. Award is judged on the entire body of work including publications, presentations, and service in addition to the dissertation.  One each year.

For more information, contact us at deltaomega@lsuhsc.edu

2022 Awards

Student Inductees:

Olivia Sugarman
Kaylin Beiter
Lisa Kam
Michael Stocker
Mirandy Li

Faculty inductee:  Michael Celestin
Alumnus inductee:  Amanda Hammack

Poster Session Awards:

Mirandy Li
Minority Stress among LGBTQ Smokers in the Deep South: A Mixed Methods Study
Co-authors:  Holly Mayeaux, Jackson Fritz, Gabrielle Gonzalez, Stephen Phillippi, Qingzhao Yu, Edward Trapido, Michael Celestin, Tung Sung Tseng

Thomas Luke
Adolescent Reproductive Health Education during COVID-19: Evaluation of a Model for Virtual Reproductive Health Intervention in New Orleans
Co-authors:  Carey MA, Dunn R, Chau KN, Mehdizadeh R , Greene S, Mecklosky J, Pasternak RH

In third place and winner of the practice category is:

Kelly Chau
The Role of Minority Stress Processes on Smoking Behaviors among LGBTQ Individuals: A Systematic Review
Co-authors:  Mirandy Li, Tung Sung Tseng

Doctoral Award:
Olivia Sugarman, Community Health Sciences.  Dissertation:  HIV Outcomes after Release from State Corrections:  Examining the Impact of Two Pre-release Interventions

Research Projects

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BCHS / CHSP Research
(Faculty in alphabetical order)

Amber Brown, MPH, CHES
Ms. Brown’s research includes viewing microaggressive experiences of students of color in graduate degree programs and the impact on their mental health and degree progression.

Stephanie Broyles, PhD
Dr. Broyles research has shifted from an early interest in HIV/AIDS epidemiology to a focus on the epidemiology of physical activity and obesity, primarily in pediatric populations. Within this area, her research also seeks to understand contextual (e.g., neighborhood, school, policy) influences on these health and behavioral targets and on longitudinal changes in them, in both observational and interventional settings. Her research was featured in the 2012 HBO documentary series, “The Weight of the Nation.” Dr. Broyles’s work relies heavily on community engagement, and frequently integrates research and service. She brings this approach to her work as co-Director of the Community Outreach and Engagement Resource Core for the Louisiana Clinical and Translational Science Center, a collaboration among all major academic, research, and health care institutions in Louisiana. Methodologically, she has expertise in investigating environmental determinants of health using spatial methods and geographically-linked variables, as well as in multilevel statistical analysis, and she enjoys collaborating on research projects that use novel analytic or study-design techniques.

Michael D. Celestin, Jr., PhD, MA, CHES, CTTS
Dr. Michael Celestin conducts population health and health services research to prevent cancer by promoting tobacco cessation at the patient, clinician, and healthcare system levels. Dr. Celestin uses novel methods and innovative study designs for effective theory-driven behavioral intervention research and the latest dissemination and implementation science to accelerate evidence-based tobacco use treatment in safety net healthcare delivery systems. His research contributes to eliminating tobacco-related cancers, chronic diseases, and health disparities for underrepresented high-prevalence tobacco users in Louisiana.

Richard Culbertson, PhD
Dr. Culbertson is currently engaged in research on the dissemination of robotic assisted surgery (RAS) and its availability to all patients who might benefit from these procedures as an option to open or laparoscopic surgery. He is on site at Intuitive Surgical Co., the largest producer of such devices globally. While at Intuitive, he is charged with developing and operationalizing a Center of Excellence for Health Policy and Patient Access. Current projects include (1)health equity and patient access research, outlining determinants of health challenging global health and systems; (2)Synthesizing, informing and enriching health policy discussions; (3) Shaping and optimizing payment/funding incentives to address adoption barriers and utilization of RAS; (4) Investigating innovative implementation practice programs to assess barriers to receipt of RAS services from the vantage of equity of access.

Denise Moore Danos, PhD
Dr. Danos is a biostatistician with a prolific research and publication record. Her focus is experimental design and data analysis in observational research, with expertise in large scale data collection and consolidation, generalized linear models and multilevel models. Dr. Danos’ research has centered around social and built environmental factors in chronic health conditions and other public health outcomes. Much of this work has focused on socioeconomic and regional disparities in cancer in Louisiana. Additionally, she has contributed to investigations of how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted trends in traumatic assaults in the greater New Orleans area and determinants of COVID-19 testing strategies in southern US states. Dr. Danos is part of the biostatistics core at the LSUHSC Cancer Center and collaborates with investigators in the school of medicine regarding study design, power and sample size calculation, statistical analyses, and dissemination of results.

Claudia Leonardi, PhD
Dr. Claudia Leonardi is a biostatistician with more than 20 years of research experience in various settings. She consulted and collaborated on numerous projects in the basic, clinical and population sciences, and I have therefore acquired extensive experience in a variety of statistical areas. She currently collaborates with the Departments of Surgery and Orthopedics within the School of Medicine and the School of Public Health by providing study design and statistical support to progress ideas into projects/grants and papers.

Henry Nuss, PhD
Dr. Henry Nuss is the Director of Testing, Measurement and Evaluation for the Southeast and Southwest Louisiana Area Health Education Centers. Dr. Nuss’ research interests are in obesity prevention, metabolic syndrome and other related chronic conditions in disparate communities, as well as quality improvement for local, statewide and national public health initiatives.

Stephen Phillippi, Jr., PhD, LCSW, CCFC
Dr. Phillippi’s research focuses on identifying needs and gaps in behavioral health and justice systems, informing policy and practice changes to support research driven prevention and intervention, and employing implementation science to develop translational methods that disseminate such programming to scale in a sustainable fashion. These efforts have been published in peer-reviewed literature, textbooks, and/or converted into monographs, curricula, and technical reports to reach a multi-disciplinary group of practitioners, scholars, policy makers, and administrators in Louisiana and nationally. He leads research at two nationally recognized Centers for the School of Public Health—the Center for Evidence to Practice and the Institute for Public Health & Justice.

William Robinson, PhD
Dr. Robinson’s training is in experimental and quantitative methods in Psychology and he is an expert in many statistical techniques including multilevel modeling, structural equation modeling, and geographic information systems. Dr. Robinson’s research involves the behavioral, epidemiologic and structural factors that place people at risk for diseases such as HIV/AIDS. He is currently lead the Louisiana arm of the CDC funded National HIV Risk Behavioral Surveillance, a study of HIV risk behaviors in a sample of populations at high risk in New Orleans, and has led the NHBS study since its inception. Dr. Robinson holds a joint appointment as the Research and Evaluation Manager for the Louisiana Department of Health’s Office of Public Health STD/HIV/Hepatitis Program (SHHP). In this role he has completed evaluation and implementation science studies including an OAH funded statewide teen pregnancy prevention evaluation, developed methods to evaluate the impact on the Louisiana HIV/AIDS epidemic following the diaspora caused by Hurricane Katrina, assessed the impact of structural changes including alcohol outlet policies on the geographic distribution of HIV and STD cases and a PCORI study to increase resilience among LGBT individuals. He is also the Lead Evaluator for all HIV Prevention, Surveillance, and Services state programs including the recent PrIDE and THRIVE HIV prevention demonstration projects to increase uptake of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), utilization of data-to-care strategies, and to provide behavioral health and social services to men who have sex with men as well as the current Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative.

Dean G. Smith, PhD
Dr. Smith’s research aims to provide a better understanding of the financial aspects of health care operations and public health programs. Current projects include assessment of the cost-effectiveness of nursing interventions for patients with heart failure and the economic impact of hospitals on their communities.

Benjamin Springgate, MD, MPH
Dr. Springgate conducts community-partnered participatory research on policy-relevant topics including expanding and improving care for opioid use disorder, integrating behavioral health into primary care settings, and building resilience in communities threatened by climate change and disasters. With this research, he advises policymakers at local, state, and federal levels on matters relating to the opioid overdose crisis, improving care for incarcerated and reentry populations, climate and health, behavioral health strategies for Medicaid and Medicare, pandemic responses, and public health decision-making.

Tung-Sung Tseng, DrPH, MS, CHES/MCHES
Dr. Tseng’s research focuses on understanding the disparities and elucidating the determinants of health behaviors to change unhealthy/risky behaviors among ethnic minorities and underserved populations. His expertise includes cancer, tobacco control, obesity, health disparities, genetic and behavioral interactions, community-based participatory research (CBPR), implementation sciences, community/ behavioral intervention, and evaluation methods (social media, big data, GIS, AI, and smart devices).

Ashley Wennerstrom, PhD
For the past 15 years, Dr. Wennerstrom has conducted community-engaged research with a focus on community health worker (CHW) policy, interventions, and workforce development, as well as the link between incarceration and health. She has published over 60 peer-reviewed papers and four book chapters. Her work has been supported by over 30 grants and contracts from CDC, HRSA, OMH, NIH, PCORI, the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH), and other agencies.

Donna Williams, MS, MPH, DrPH
For over 20 years, Dr. Williams’s research has focused on cancer health disparities and gaps in cancer prevention and control efforts. In 2002, she assumed leadership of the Louisiana Breast and Cervical Health Program, focusing on screening services for under- and uninsured low-income women in Louisiana funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That single program expanded to become the Louisiana Cancer Prevention & Control Programs (LCP), a group of research and practice programs that focus on cancers that are preventable or can be detected early and cured. LCP continues to be funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as other organizations. While most of this work has been based upon prevention and early detection at the community level, it has been her philosophy to lay translational and interventional research on top of these programs whenever possible. The majority of her work focuses on removing barriers to cancer screening and early detection. While this is important in general, a further focus is on underserved and under-resourced populations including underserved minorities, under-and uninsured people, the working poor, and rural populations.

Center for Evidence to Practice
At the Center we envision a Louisiana where all individuals have access to a high quality, responsive and effective behavioral health system delivered by a well-trained workforce. We achieve this through the Center’s mission to support Louisiana and its agencies, organizations, communities, and providers in the selection and implementation of research-driven behavioral health interventions while understanding and helping to address challenges related to sustaining quality practice that promotes well-being and improves outcomes. As one aspect of the center, our research focuses on examining the behavioral health workforce, assessing gaps and needs in Louisiana’s mental health and substance use services array, and exploring impact through Medicaid claims analyses and provider surveys- using implementation science frameworks. This work is funded by LDH, OBH, Medicaid, SAMHSA, and other entities.

Institute for Public Health & Justice
The Institute is a policy, research, training, and technical assistance enterprise positioned at the intersection of behavioral health policy and practice, and the legal system. Many behavioral and other health conditions have social determinants. At the Institute, we seek to bridge the divide between prevention and treatment of behavioral health issues and the negative impacts on individuals, families, communities, and the justice systems. The agency has a diverse funding portfolio including, but not limited to, DOJ, OJJDP, SAMHSA, BJA, MacFound, the Public Welfare Foundation, RWJF, and more. Its research has included examining the age of criminal responsibility, justice reform initiatives, status offender interventions, screening and assessment, evidence-based treatments, school safety, police and public health, justice data collection and reporting, mentoring, holistic public defense models, diversion, and much more.