PHDR Faculty Spotlight, Serena Xiong
Serena Xiong, PhD, MPH is a PHDR faculty. She earned her MPH and PhD from the University of Minnesota. She shares her story growing up in MN and what influenced her to pursue a career in public health. Learn about the work she is doing on HPV and Hmong Promoting Vaccines!
Where did you grow up?
My parents are Hmong refugees, they settled in California in the late 1980’s. I was born in California and grew up there for most of my childhood. We relocated to Minnesota in the early 2000s. I consider myself a Minnesota native, having lived here for more than 20 years.
Why did you pursue a career in public health?
My sister inspired me to pursue a career in public health. She was a volunteer health educator and was doing outreach on health education through a local health care clinic. I was able to learn and observe from her experience in navigating the health system and educating the community. As a Hmong American, I helped my parents navigate the healthcare system and translated for them. Thus, I knew I wanted to pursue a career that would allow me to contribute to removing barriers in healthcare. This initial exposure sparked my interest in public health.
When I began my undergraduate studies, I matched with a research internship at the University of Minnesota Masonic Cancer Center, currently known as M-ASCEND, through the Program in Health Disparities Research. Through this, I interned with a medical anthropologist who was doing great work with migrant workers and healthcare access. It exposed my purview and the possibilities of community-based research. From that experience, I knew I wanted to do practice-based research in public health. It influenced my interest in dissemination and implementation science.
However, my interest in cancer prevention began when I was working with the Hmong American Partnership as a healthcare navigator. In this role, I supported Hmong women with cancer screening. Through this experience, I witnessed the difficulties of starting and completing cancer screenings, especially as a minoritized woman. I'm fascinated with how we can adopt research evidence and integrate it into practice and programs to improve health equity.
By doing those internships I realized I enjoy research, so the next natural step was to pursue my MPH. I continued my education and pursued an MPH and a PhD at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. After completing my doctoral training, I did my one-year postdoc at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
What does your current research entail?
I am currently focused on cancer prevention strategies and tools and how to gather research evidence for them. My interest in cancer research began after completing my undergraduate program. This includes Hmong Promoting Vaccines (Hmong HPV), a project that I participated in as a graduate research student during my master's at the University of Minnesota. Hmong HPV is a bilingual, bicultural website that provides important information for Hmong parents and teenagers to learn about Human papillomavirus (HPV). Including information on the HPV vaccine, and where to get vaccinated against HPV. This work began in 2014 and resulted in the development of a website with funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The website has been implemented and shared with the larger community. We have discovered a lot of interest in spreading this tool. Therefore, we are in the process of updating the website since its creation in 2014.
The website has been pilot-tested with Hmong parents and teenagers. Currently, I am supporting efforts to update the website, and we are partnering with software developers at the University of Minnesota to finalize it. I am excited for this work to continue and expand to rural settings.
A different research area I am focused on is cervical cancer screening. I'm working with the Primary Care Research Learning Network at the University of Minnesota. It is a network of clinics that primarily provide primary care services. We are trying to adopt a new screening tool for practice. That includes HPV cell sampling. The intent is to allow women to collect their own HPV samples for testing for HPV. The work is ongoing but I am excited as we have received interest from both patients and providers to move this forward.
What parts of the PHDR mission/value resonate with you?
“I can’t imagine working with another department or program. PHDR values collaborative research and trusted partnerships. As I have alluded to, my work is deeply rooted in participatory approaches. So, I really believe to achieve health equity, we have to engage and develop strong, meaningful partnerships.”
What are your interests outside of work?
I'm a huge foodie and cafe enthusiast. I love experiencing and exploring new cuisines and discovering hidden gems, at least on the restaurant scene. Recently, I discovered a bakery in Saint Paul that serves really good congee. If you're craving something warm and savory, I recommend checking it out. It’s the Zao Bakery Cafe on University Ave.
