Minority Health Disparities | University at Albany

Eliminating Minority Health Disparities in a 21st-Century Pandemic

Gov. Cuomo charged the University at Albany with leading a team of public health, social welfare, emergency preparedness and other experts to engage stakeholders to study the environmental, socioeconomic and occupational factors causing Latinx and Black populations in the state to be disproportionately harmed by COVID-19.

The team is looking at factors such as housing and food security; employment opportunities; how communities learned and responded to the dangers of COVID-19; and the availability and access to health insurance coverage and health care. By further analyzing and building upon research that’s already been done on these disparities, the team will develop data-driven prevention strategies to help inform New York’s response to this and future public health threats. The University is partnering in this work with the NYS Department of Health and Northwell Health, as well as a number of additional community partners. The project is another demonstration of the University’s longstanding commitment to address and eliminate racial and ethnic disparities. Beyond 2020, UAlbany intends to build on its extensive expertise and strong commitment to social and economic justice to expand its health equity research portfolio.

Research

Differential Impacts of COVID-19 in NYS: Final Report

Differential Impacts of COVID-19 in NYS: Issue Brief #1

Strategies to Counter COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy and Mitigate Health Disparities in Minority Populations

Does Serum Vitamin D Level Affect COVID-19 Infection and Its Severity?

Data, Politics and Public Health: COVID-19 Data-Driven Decision Making in Public Discourse

Cumulative incidence and diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection in New York

Assessing racial and ethnic disparities using a COVID-19 outcomes continuum for New York State

Scholars Archive

3 Campus Community Conversation Report

Join the Conversation

Turning the Tide: Understanding and Eliminating Minority Health Disparities

Health Equity & Disparities in a 21st Century Pandemic

News

UAlbany and Department of Health Examine Breastfeeding Disparities in the State

November 18, 2021

Study aims to increase breast feeding, and its health benefits for children and mothers, in communities where the rates are lower.

WAMC News Podcast – Episode 164

March 30, 2021

Part of the challenge of vaccinating millions of Americans for COVID-19 is logistical: racing to create a vaccine, distributing it, and determining the order in which certain people will get the shots.

Effort aims to overcome vaccine wariness in local minority communities

January 10, 2021

Historic and ongoing racial injustices will influence whether some will line up to get a shot. Trusted messengers are trying to help.

Refugee access to health care during COVID-19 should not be an afterthought

August 26, 2020

The racial and ethnic disparities in health care and unequal health burdens of refugee populations put them at disproportionate health risks from COVID-19.

Study of racial disparities in health care due soon

June 25, 2020

Although Covid-19 cases and deaths are slowing in New York, efforts to study the pandemic's effects — particularly on the state’s minority communities — are only just beginning.

Decentralization and Pakistan’s response to COVID-19

June 16, 2020

As the global COVID-19 pandemic soars to 4.1 million cases, the search to identify the ingredients of a “successful” national response has already begun in earnest. This yearning to categorize and make predictions forces us to assess our priors about what characteristics of states might be likely to produce better or worse than anticipated outcomes.

UAlbany President Havidán Rodríguez On COVID-19, Distance Learning, And The State Of SUNY

June 5, 2020

Higher education is in a time of flux in the country as college campuses try to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. In New York, classes moved online in March when it was deemed unsafe to keep thousands of college students and their professors in close quarters. Now, the fall semester is fast approaching.

Havidán Rodríguez: This moment is an opportunity for change

June 5, 2020

As I witness the waves of protests across the U.S. in the aftermath of George Floyd’s shocking death, I continue to challenge myself to think clearly about the myriad ways that the University at Albany can help shape a fairer and more just society.

Researchers

Rukhsana Ahmed

Associate Professor and Department Chair

Communication

Eliminating Minority Health Disparities in a 21st-Century Pandemic