Fall 2025 CEMHD Newsletter
CEHD's New Health Disparities Fellows
Jason Choi - Clinical Psychology
Jason Choi entered the Fellowship program this Fall as a doctoral student in the Department of Psychology under Dr. Sarah Domoff. Jason is from Detroit, Michigan, and graduated from Case Western Reserve University with a B.A. in Psychology and Cognitive Science, as well as an M.A. in Bioethics. Before coming to Albany, Jason worked as a Clinical Research Assistant at the University of Michigan on the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. His focus in health disparities is guided by two research questions: 1) How does exposure to social media content affect LGBTQ+ adolescents, particularly regarding internalizing disorders like depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation? 2) How can intersectionality and narrative medicine be integrated into clinical practices to enhance care for individuals facing socio-cultural stigma surrounding mental health? Through this fellowship, he is excited to expand his horizons in clinical psychology by incorporating holistic approaches from other areas of healthcare.
Julia Francis – Epidemiology
Julia Francis is a doctoral student in the College of Integrated Health Sciences’ PhD in Epidemiology under Dr. Allison Appleton. While pursuing an MPH in epidemiology and a certificate in molecular epidemiology, Julia studied the impact poor nutrition and exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals can have on child and maternal health. She also investigated differences in immune response between males and females as a post-baccalaureate fellow at the National Cancer Institute. Julia’s interests include studying gene-environment interactions, examining how socio-cultural factors may influence disease risk, and promoting better health outcomes among structurally marginalized populations. As a fellow, her goal is to address issues related to environmental health disparities and gender inequality.
The Annual President's Forum
On October 16 and 17, the CEHD hosted its signature annual event, the President’s Forum on Health Disparities, in partnership with the Harvard JPB Environmental Health Fellowship Program. This year’s forum explored the environmental and social determinants of health and the importance of bridging disciplines for health equity research and action. The forum spanned two days, bringing together students, scientists, practitioners and community leaders dedicated to eliminating unjust differences in health that persist across communities locally, nationally and globally. To read more on the event, please see the article published in UAlbany’s News: President’s Forum article.
Upcoming CEHD Events!
The Prescription for Progress Coalition Fall Summit on November 20th, 2025, 8 a.m. to 4 pm., located in the ETEC building. The Coalition is an initiative started by George Hearst pre-covid. The Coalition involves many Capital Region leaders including our President Havidán Rodriguez. Prescription for Progress is a coalition of leaders in healthcare, media, law enforcement, education, and business committed to raising awareness and taking positive steps to address the opioid crisis. The coalition draws support from across the Capital Region to change how addiction is understood, treated, and ultimately prevented. Speakers and panelists will include UAlbany members Joyce DeWitt-Parker, Assistant Vice President for Health & Well-Being, Dr. Muntasir Masum, Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, and Dr. Tomoko Udo, Associate Professor for the Department of Health Policy, Management, and Behavior and the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and Co-Director of the Center of Collaborative HIV Research in Practice and Policy.
Dr. Elizabeth Vásquez, CEHD director, will be presenting at the Gerontology Society of America’s Annual Meeting in Boston, MA, November 12 – 16, 2025. She will chair several symposium sessions and present both a paper and a poster:
- Paper presentation (November 13): “Caregiver Stress and Social Determinants of Health: Comparing Alzheimer's Disease Caregivers to Other Caregivers”
- Poster presentation (November 16): “Who Moves in Matters: Move-in Patterns, Household Headship, & Financial Strain Among Latino Adult Child Caregivers”
Mirza Noor, a Ph.D. candidate and a research assistant at the CEHD, will also be presenting a Late Breaking Poster (November 16th) entitled: “Hispanic/Latino(a) Aging With HIV: Insights from the MWCCS Cohort.”
CEHD’s Albany Minority Health Task Force’s Formerly Incarcerated Persons Subcommittee is in the planning stages for an event to tackle issues relating to incarceration in the Albany community in Spring 2026.