Digital Commons Network^™

Fall 2021

Scientia

A Decade of Progress and Success; Speech Language Pathology Program; COVID-19 Long-Hauler Study; Peer Mentors Initiative; Faculty Update; Expert Engagement: Three CSH initiatives further education and scholarship while supporting communities in need; Strategic Command: Business consultant and med tech expert Stephen Sichak helps others face pandemic challenges; Taking Care: A School of Nursing research team plumbs the pandemic experiences of nurses nationwide

From State To Nation: A Federal Framework For Breast Cancer Primary Prevention Informed By California's Paths To Prevention, Serena Padda

Master's Projects and Capstones

The United States’ federal government should adopt a primary prevention framework for breast cancer modeled after Breast Cancer Prevention Partners’ (BCPP) Paths to Prevention: the California Breast Cancer Primary Prevention Plan. The plan focuses on systemic actions to reduce breast cancer risk through a social and racial justice lens. Breast cancer is the leading diagnosed cancer among women in the United States, with incidence rates increasing annually by 1% since 2012. Disparities persist in communities disproportionately burdened by chemical and environmental exposures, contributing to unequal and preventable risk. Current federal policy focuses primarily on secondary prevention through screenings, which does …

Community-Based Well Testing And Outreach To Mitigate Human Health Risk From Unsafe Drinking Water, W. Adam Sigler, Katharine Sutphen, Margaret J Eggers, Kaleena Miller, Michelle Grocke-Dewey

Journal of Extension

Twenty-two percent of groundwater wells tested nationwide have one or more contaminants above a health threshold, yet many private well owners are unaware of these risks because they have not tested their water. Researchers piloted a community well testing clinic for education/outreach and surveyed participants about outcomes. Two months later, 75% of participants with high or intermediate health risk water quality results had taken action or intended to, indicating that community private well testing clinics can be effective in mitigating human health risks from contaminated drinking water.

Expression Levels Of Heat Shock Protein 72 And Their Correlation With Biomarkers Of Renal Function Among Hispanic Construction Workers Exposed To Ambient Heat In El Paso, Texas, Maria Fuentes

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Heat shock proteins (HSP) are intracellular molecular proteins that are upregulated in response to cellular stress, including heat exposure. Through their protective functions, HSP help maintain protein structure, prevent protein denaturation, and preserve cellular homeostasis during states of physiological stress. Because of their cytoprotective properties, HSP have emerged as potential biomarkers for detecting early signs of tissue injury and predicting clinical outcomes associated with heat related illnesses (HRI), including acute kidney injuries (AKI). AKI is a leading cause of hospitalizations due to heat stress exposure and heat stroke. In the absence of early detection and effective therapeutic interventions, AKI may …

The Effects Of An Educational Intervention To Enhance Knowledge And Awareness Of The Prevention Of Sexually Transmitted Infections Among College Students, Darcy Yates

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Purpose

The DNP student implemented a single group pretest-postest design underpinned by the Health Belief Model to address the PICOT question: Among a purposive sample of college students at a mid-west college (Population) to what degree does participation in an evidence-based intervention providing information about STIs (Intervention), compared with before that intervention (Comparison), result in to an increase in knowledge and awareness regarding STI infections and associated risks and treatment options (Outcomes) over a six-week period (Time)?

Methods

The pretest and postest scores of 15 students for the 27 items in the Sexually Transmitted Diseases Knowledge Questionnaire (STD-KQ) were evaluated. …

Clearing The Air: Tracking Spatial And Temporal Pm2.5 Variability Along A Biking Transect In Chicago, Beau R. Rass

DePaul Discoveries

Fine particulate matter (PM₂.₅) poses significant risks to human health and disproportionately affects marginalized communities in urban environments (World Health Organization [WHO], 2021; Tessum et al., 2021). Using low-cost mobile sensors, this study explored spatiotemporal PM₂.₅ concentration patterns along a north–south transect of Halsted Street in Chicago. A 2B Technologies Portable Aerosol Monitor (PAM) mounted on a bicycle was used to continuously record PM₂.₅ concentrations with associated GPS coordinates at approximately two-second intervals during 16 sampling events between 08-12-2025 and 10-05-2025. PM₂.₅ concentrations did not differ significantly among the South Side, West Loop, and North Side regions, contrary to the …

Assessing Indoor Heat Vulnerability And Cooling Strategies In Three Mobile Home Communities In Boulder, Colorado, Usa, Mehdi P. Heris, Skye Niles, Alana Wilson, Megan Mccurdy, Amy Lacourse, Nick Lankau

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Extreme heat is an increasing public health and environmental threat shaped by both physical and social factors. This study assesses the vulnerability of mobile homes and their residents at three mobile home parks in Boulder, Colorado. We examined indoor temperature, housing conditions, and social and personal risk factors of the households. We monitored indoor and outdoor temperatures using 27 indoor and 5 outdoor temperature data loggers, comparing mobile homes with air conditioning, swamp coolers, and passive cooling designs. This work provides a detailed analysis of indoor temperature patterns and demonstrates how evaluating trends yields insights into the performance and effectiveness …

The Legacy Of Lead: Lead Exposure's Harmful Effects And Its Concentration In Poc Communities, Layla Sophronia Barber

Student Theses 2015-Present

This thesis examines the disproportionate burden of lead exposure carried by low income, POC communities. The systemic nature of this problem is a symptom of a longstanding legacy of environmental injustice in the United States. Decades of federal neglect are reflected in the higher statistics of lead exposure and poisoning in predominantly black communities. While it is understood that lead exposure poses a serious threat to physical health and early cognitive development, there is a discouraging lack of urgency to remove the toxin from non-wealthy communities. The material covered by this thesis aims to identify and correct the discriminatory social …

Health Outcomes In Heat-Intense Areas In Response To Socioeconomic Status, Victoria Zheng, Chandni Patel, Emily Fried, Jayanth Ambat, Lincoln Opara, Rohan Gupta

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Background: As ambient temperature rises, regions experiencing extreme heat face serious health concerns. This disproportionately affects lower socioeconomic status (SES) individuals in urban areas. This review examines how these “heat islands” affect the health outcomes for those in different socioeconomic statuses.

Methods: The databases used were PubMed, Embase, and Medline, and were searched with keywords such as “heat islands”, “social inequality”, “SES”, and “health outcomes”. After compiling, articles were screened using the inclusion criteria of ages, gender, peer-reviewed and English-written publications, from any location, social determinants as a primary outcome, and directly compared heat with social determinants of health. Articles …

Observation And Reflection Of Neighborhood And Community 2026: Quality Housing, Education And Healthy Environment In 48219 Reflection, Dina Charara, Edward Hill, Michelle El-Sayah, Zaid Jani, Joseph Gjonaj, Zaynab Lughmani, Maxwell Braker, Melanie Cohn

Patient Education Projects

No abstract provided.

Assessing The Needs Of Public Health Professionals In The Inland Empire, Esteban Silva-Garcia

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

An effective public health system relies on the need for highly trained professionals with degrees or certifications within the field of public health. As public health continues to evolve, professionals are required to improve and evolve with the pace of technology and knowledge advancements. This project focuses on reviewing literature on the current ongoing needs of public health professionals and providing them with resources that are available at low to no cost. It surveys the needs of public health professionals in the Inland Empire and the solutions created by organizations and federal agencies to support professional development for current and …

Show And Tell: Integrating The Arts Into Transdisciplinary Public Health And Community Organizing Education, Bree L. Hemingway, Margaret Hawkins

The Transdisciplinary STEAM+ Journal

This field note examines the integration of arts-based pedagogy into a transdisciplinary graduate course that brings together students from public health, medicine, the social sciences, humanities, education, technology, and the arts. Central to the course is the Show and Tell assignment, in which students select and present a work of art connected to a social movement. Over three years and 42 student submissions, this assignment has served as an accessible entry point for exploring how artistic expression shapes activism, fosters community, and deepens understanding of justice-oriented work. Through an inductive content analysis of student-selected artworks and presentations, five major thematic …

2026 Abstract Book (Pdf), School Of Public Health

School of Public Health Delta Omega Honors Day Poster Sessions

The collection of abstracts for the 2026 Delta Omega Honors Day Poster Session.

Untangling Impacts Of Socioeconomic Position, Chronic Disease, And Low-Level Pm2.5 Exposure On Mortality Among Native American Medicare Beneficiaries, Judy Wendt Hess, Wenyaw Chan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is associated with increased mortality at concentrations below current regulatory standards. Studies of low-level exposure often rely on large administrative cohorts whose geographic and demographic composition may influence observed associations. In a prior analysis, we observed an association between long-term PM2.5 and all-cause mortality among Native American Medicare beneficiaries living in zip codes within the lowest decile of PM2.5 exposure. The present study, a case-control analysis of 1,713,399 low-PM2.5-exposed beneficiaries enrolled in traditional Medicare during 2015-2016, evaluated whether this association could be explained by geographic context, socioeconomic position (SEP), or baseline health status. We used …

Investigating Social Justice Implications Of Glyphosate Residues In Human Urine, Ananya Malhotra

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Background: Glyphosate, the nominal active ingredient in professional-grade Roundup weed and grass killer, is the most extensively used herbicide globally and in the United States (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2020). An increasing level of concern has surfaced regarding its health consequences, particularly because of contamination of our food supplies. Recent research indicates distressing levels of detection of glyphosate in human blood and urine samples, revealing many instances of frequent human exposure (Conrad et al., 2017; Zhang et al., 2020).Most of the research about exposure is focused on agricultural workers or individuals living in close vicinity to agricultural lands.  Few …

Heat And Socioeconomic Deprivation Compound To Drive Coronary Heart Disease In Los Angeles, Shutong Huo, Tessa R. Pulido, Reginald S. Archer, Joshua B. Fisher, Jason A. Douglas

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Background:

Socioeconomic deprivation and environmental heat exposure each increase cardiovascular risk, yet evidence is limited on how these stressors co-occur and jointly shape disease burden within cities. Mapping their overlap can inform equity-oriented planning and needs-based allocation of health and social protection resources.

Methods:

We conducted an ecological geospatial analysis of 2,513 census tracts in Los Angeles County. Adult coronary heart disease (CHD) prevalence was obtained from CDC Population Level Analysis and Community Estimates (2021). Socioeconomic deprivation was measured using the Social Deprivation Index (SDI), and heatwave surface heat hazard was measured using land surface temperature (LST) retrieved from the …

Beyond "Place Matters": Making Spatial Analysis Accessible With Dashboard-Driven Geography, Stephen Borders

Public Health

This article presents an instructional module that uses Tableau to teach spatial thinking and policy geography through an analysis of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participation. Tableau’s ability to integrate custom spatial files with demographic and health data makes it an accessible platform for introducing geographic inquiry without requiring specialized GIS expertise. The lesson guides instructors through building maps, bullet charts, and scatterplots that highlight gaps between eligibility and enrolment, while connecting food insecurity to health outcomes. By lowering technical barriers, Tableau provides a pedagogical bridge that helps educators foster spatial literacy in diverse classroom contexts.

This article was published …

Association Between Environmental Exposures To Perfluoroalkyl And Polyfluoroalkyl Substances And Military Veterans Cancer Determination, Stephen A. Pereira Jr

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study involved evaluating whether cumulative exposure to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) was associated with kidney cancer, bladder cancer, and adult leukemia among U.S. veterans. Pooled National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data from 2005–2015 were analyzed for sample of 2,500 veterans with available serum PFAS measurements and physician-diagnosed cancer histories. This study employed a cross-sectional, correlational design grounded in a post-positivist paradigm. Inclusion required complete data for (a) serum PFAS concentrations, (b) kidney cancer, bladder cancer, and adult leukemia, and (c) covariates age, sex, race/ethnicity, smoking status, and body mass index. Cumulative PFAS was modeled as a …

Forward Momentum

DePaul Magazine

Mission: Forward, the most ambitious philanthropic campaign in DePaul’s history, is fueling purpose-driven education to solve society’s biggest challenges. Learn and watch videos about DePaul programs and initiatives that exemplify the campaign through academic innovation, interdisciplinary collaboration, service-oriented community partnership and activist scholarship.

Respiratory Health And Environmental Risks Among California Children: The Role Of Socioeconomic Status, Wen Chieh Chia

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Abstract Air pollution has been cited as a factor in the development of respiratory illness in children. Socioeconomic differences can intensify the effects of air pollution exposure on low-income children compared to higher-income children. This correlational study examined the relationship between air pollution exposure and respiratory health outcomes among California children, as well as the moderating role of socioeconomic status. The study was guided by the environmental health disparities framework and used secondary data from the California Environmental Health Tracking Program, analyzing data from 49 California counties (n = 49). Independent variables were PM2.5 concentrations and the number of ozone …

Guidelines For Community Engaged Health Research, Carrie Leach, Hayley Thompson, Alex Sass, Patricia Wren, Rodlescia Sneed, Rhonda Dailey, Elizabeth Towner, Maha Albdour, Carla Caringi, Alyssa W. Beavers, Theresa A. Hastert, Vanessa Rorai, Peter A. Lichtenberg, Angulique Outlaw, Ijeoma Nnodim Opara

Institute of Gerontology

Executive Summary:

Wayne State University’s Guidelines for Community Engaged Health Research provide a practical framework for designing, conducting, and evaluating ethical, equitable, and impactful health research that engages community experts in projects that advance health equity in Detroit.

Purpose 

Developed for WSU faculty, staff, and research teams, the guidelines support the meaningful involvement of community experts across all phases of research. They respond to common challenges in community-engaged work, including limited experience with engagement approaches, the need for reflexive and equitable practices, and the time and coordination required for authentic collaboration.

The document defines Community-Engaged Research (CEnR) as collaborative work …

Meconium Metal Concentrations And Infant Temperament And Development, Fiona Fogarty

Dissertations and Theses

BACKGROUND: Prenatal exposure to metals poses significant health consequences for early childhood development. Understanding the factors influencing metal concentrations that infants are exposed to in-utero is crucial for developing targeted interventions, particularly when maternal characteristics and environmental factors, may contribute to varying levels. Meconium offers insight into in-utero exposures for the developing infant, and the effect of each individual metal may be mediated or exacerbated by another and therefore should be studied in the context of a mixture. The effect of metal mixture exposure, as measured in meconium, on milestone and temperament outcomes has yet to be determined.

DESIGN: …

When Climate Change Forces Flight: Legal Duties In The Age Of Retreat, Mark P. Nevitt

Faculty Articles

In the face of climate-driven disasters, government officials and individuals alike must decide whether to invest in climate-exposed areas or retreat. This Article analyzes emerging legal and policy issues associated with both climate retreat (when the government relocates people and infrastructure away from climate-exposed areas) and abandonment (when individuals leave climate-exposed areas, following natural disasters or otherwise). I argue that government-driven climate retreat must consider four overlapping legal duties, raising novel questions in an era of climate destabilization. First, does the government have an affirmative duty to rescue its citizens, and is this duty transformed by the government’s role in …

Left In The (Road) Dust: Analyzing Advanced Clean Cars Ii In California’S Disadvantaged Communities, Jj Hoffman

Pomona Senior Theses

Across the United States, air pollution disproportionately impacts minority groups. California’s Advanced Clean Cars II (ACC II) waiver was positioned to lead to significant environmental justice impacts, such as reductions in emissions and adverse health outcomes, by establishing stricter regulations for vehicle emissions and ensuring that 100 percent of new passenger vehicle sales are zero-emission by 2035. As the federal government recently nullified ACC II, pollution, and by extension health, could worsen, especially in disadvantaged communities. The thesis established several important relationships, including how disadvantaged communities experienced higher traffic, pollution, and worse health outcomes than non-disadvantaged communities. Though the results …

Wastewater Surveillance For Sars-Cov-2 In Rural Kentucky, 2021–2023, James W. Keck, Reuben Adatorwovor, Ann Noble, Savannah Tucker, William Strike, Soroosh Torabi, Mohammad Dehghan Banadaki, Blazan Mijatovic, Steven K. Roggenkamp, Donna Mcneil, Lindell Ormsbee, Scott M. Berry

Family and Community Medicine Faculty Publications

Wastewater testing for SARS-CoV-2 provided useful public health information during the COVID-19 pandemic yet was underutilized in rural communities. We addressed this gap by implementing wastewater surveillance and assessing its performance in 10 communities in Eastern Kentucky. We collected wastewater samples 1–2 times weekly at 10 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) from May 2021 until April 2023 and measured SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations using polymerase chain reaction testing. We calculated time-lagged correlations between wastewater concentrations and county-level reported COVID-19 cases by site. We developed a generalized linear model to estimate COVID-19 incidence from wastewater SARS-CoV-2 concentrations. The 10 participating WWTPs served 2430 …

Evaluating The Mediating Role Of Gestational Phthalate And Replacement Biomarkers In The Associations Between Race/Ethnicity And Birthweight, Amir J. Lueth, Danielle R. Stevens, Sarahna A. Moyd, Elena Sinkovskaya, Ann Przybylska, Antonia M. Calafat, Julianne C. Botelho, George Saade, Alfred Abuhamad, Kelly K. Ferguson

Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology Faculty Publications

Background

Gestational exposure to phthalates is higher among non-Hispanic black (NHB) women than non-Hispanic white (NHW) women and may contribute to racial/ethnic differences in birthweight z-scores.

Objective

We aimed to investigate whether gestational phthalate and replacement biomarkers mediate the association between race/ethnicity and birthweight z-scores.

Methods

We analyzed data from 271 pregnancies in the Human Placenta and Phthalates study, a prospective cohort recruited from 2017 to 2020. Urinary phthalate metabolite concentrations were measured at up to eight time points during pregnancy and averaged to represent gestational exposure. Metabolites were grouped by parent compound. Linear regression models estimated associations in phthalate …

Structural Inequities, Environmental Toxicants, And Cardiometabolic Pathways In Cardiovascular Disease: Evidence From A Nationally Representative U.S. Population, Ese F. Oghaghare

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States and continues to disproportionately burden racial/ethnic minorities and socioeconomically disadvantaged populations. Traditional risk factors and behavioral explanations fail to fully account for these persistent disparities, motivating increased attention to intermediate biological pathways and environmental toxicant exposures through which structural inequities may become biologically embedded. This dissertation investigates how cardiometabolic biomarkers, diet quality, and exposure to persistent organic pollutants jointly contribute to cardiovascular disease risk in a nationally representative U.S. population.

Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), three complementary studies were …

Food Apartheid And The Retail Food Environment In The Bronx, Aissatou Barry

CUNY Mexican Studies Institute

This project examines the structural mechanisms that contribute to unequal food access, both historical and ongoing, in the South Bronx, and applies the food apartheid framework created by Bronx food activist Karen Washington. This paper applies the framework to two food retail initiatives in NYC: the New York State Regional Hub and the New York City FRESH food program to assess whether their policies address the structural mechanisms that contribute to food inequality. I ask: How does the unequal distribution of healthy food access in the Bronx reflect broader patterns of racial and economic exclusion? To what extent do current …

Environmental Health Risks To Children In Sub-Saharan Africa: A Scoping Review Of Evidence And Gaps In Global Interventions, Tadius C. Chitambwe, Dewi Susanna

Jurnal Epidemiologi Kesehatan Indonesia

Sub-Saharan Africa’s (SSA) children experience a disproportionate burden of environmental health risks, contributing to over half of global under-five deaths despite representing only 27% of live births ¹. This scoping review synthesised evidence from sixty-seven (67) eligible studies (2010–2025) to map out environmental exposures affecting children (0–18 years) in Sub-Saharan Africa, and to identify gaps in global interventions. Included studies focused on children (0-18 years) in SSA, addressed one or more of the four predefined environmental exposure domains (air pollution, WASH, toxic chemicals, climate-related risks), and reported on child health outcomes or interventions. Guided by the PRISMA and Arksey …

Understanding The Rural Environmental Health Landscape: Exploring The Link Between Arsenic Concentration And Cancer Rates In Hartford City, Indiana, Hannah Bard

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.