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Student research opportunities
There are opportunities for students to get involved with research projects. |
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Current Research Projects
(1) In a study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Investigator Award in Health Policy (2008 award year), Ilan Meyer and I are investigating whether, when and why the promise of the American Dream acts as a negative health determinant for African Americans. We will describe the distribution and variation of meritocratic ideology in the United states across historical periods and geographic regions and to assess the relationship between this ideology and other ideologies that more explicitly advance inequality. We then describe narratives of meritocratic ideology among African Americans and assess their impact on their health. (2) A new study funded by the NIH Director's New Innovator Award (2009 award year) will investigate the health effects of multiple levels of racism for African Americans. Health outcomes will range from self-reported to health to immune function. The second phase of the study will constitute a "countermarketing" intervention against racism using outdoor advertising. (3) We just completed data collection for a small pilot project investigating the circumstances under which residential segregation acts as a negative health determinant and the ways in which Black residents utilize urban space. Analyses will soon be underway. |
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Completed Research Projects 
(1) Project REACH was a study funded by The Department of Defense's Breast Cancer Research Program . Alcohol intake is an established risk factor for breast cancer, and is a modifiable behavior for cancer prevention. Research shows that African American neighborhoods bear a disproportionate burden of both public tobacco and alcohol advertisements and liquor stores. We investigated individual-level factors (experiences with racism, cultural identity, and depression) and the built environment (public alcohol advertisements, liquor stores) as determinants of alcohol intake among African American women. Although Project REACH was based in Central Harlem, alcohol advertisements are prevalent in predominantly Black neighborhoods throughout the city, including Brooklyn . You can read more information about the project, including bios on the staff, updates on findings, and more. 
(2) A study on fast food was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's (see Resources page) Healthy Eating Research Program . Here in NYC, we investigated the role of school and neighborhood segregation in shaping children's food environments. This work grew in part out of our work on inequality in the distribution of fast food across the five boroughs (see recent papers), where we found that the food environment in Black, but not White, neighborhoods is characterized by a heavy density of fast food. Papers from the Healthy Eating grant are coming soon.
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