News & Research

Masonic Cancer Center Scholar Rachel Isaksson Vogel, is featured in articles about melanoma survivorship. The study compares sun exposure times and protection behaviors in melanoma survivors and those who have never had the disease, including time spent outdoors and choices about protective measures in the sun. Overall, the study concludes that surivors are more likely to make favorable decisions about sun protection, although notes that some survivors reported sunburns and high sun exposure in the last year.

While most melanoma survivors limit sun exposure, some report getting suntans and sunburns: MedicalXpress, March 2, 2017

Some Melanoma Survivors Still Seek Out the Sun: HealthDay, March 2, 2017

Some Melanoma Survivors Are Still Getting Too Much Sun Exposure: NPR, March 2, 2017

Previous scholar Jerica Berge is featured in a January 2017 Reuters article by Lisa Rapaport, "Few dad take part in trials of obesity treatment for kids." The article discusses the small amount of fathers who participate in studies preventing or treating obesity in children. The research report finds that when one parent was allowed to join the study, only 6% of parent participants are fathers. Though concluded through limited research, lead study authors hope to learn how the absence of fathers in obesity trails may affect treatment of childhood obesity. Dr. Berge, co-director of the UMN Healthy Eating and Activity across the Lifespan Center, suggests that differing parenting styles could affect children's health behaviors.

Read the article here: Few dads take part in trials of obesity treatment for kids

A Journal of Women's Health article reports that the risk of metabolic syndrome and related disorders may be reduced in women who spend a longer time breastfeeding. The article, entitled "Association Between Duration of Breast Feeding and Metabolic Syndrome: The Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys," features a study of Korean women aged 19-50 years assessing their risk of developing metabolic syndrome based on their total duration of breastfeeding throughout their lifetime. (Citation: Choi Se Rin, Kim Yong Min, Cho Min Su, Kim So Hyun, and Shim Young Suk. Journal of Women's Health. January 2017, ahead of print. doi:10.1089/jwh.2016.6036.)

“The advantageous effects of breastfeeding for newborns and babies are well established, and this study, which suggests that breastfeeding may protect the mother against metabolic syndrome, further adds to the evidence base supporting the benefits of breastfeeding for maternal health,” says Susan G. Kornstein, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Women’s Health, Executive Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women’s Health, Richmond, VA, and President of the Academy of Women’s Health. (via Journal of Women's Health)

This cycle will be open to researchers and graduate students from any of the University of California campuses, University of Arizona, University of Texas at El Paso, and the University of Houston, working in collaboration with researchers from the National Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT for its Spanish acronym) accredited institutions in all Mexican states and Universidad National Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM), or from Mexico's Secretariat of Health research institutions. 

PIMSA is administered jointly by the Health Initiative of the Americas (HIA) and the California Program on Access to Care (CPAC) under the auspices of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health.

Research Priority Areas

All research proposed should highlight the migratory context and impact on health of the issue or problem of interest. Research questions should be focused on the projected impact of results on public policies.

The following research areas will be given priority:

1. Mental health, including domestic violence and violence from a public health perspective, alcohol and substance abuse, and its relation with culture;
2. Chronic diseases, including nutrition related conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, and obesity;
3. Infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, hepatitis, and sexually transmitted infections (STIs);
4. Women’s health, including reproductive care, breast and cervical cancer, and women’s rights;
5. Occupational health, including farmworkers rights, injury prevention, respiratory illness, heat-related illness, and pesticide exposure;
6. Access to health care, including best practices for health prevention and promotion; strategies for expanding health insurance; legal aspect of access to health care; and the use of medical technology to reduce health disparities and web-based health information technologies.*High value will be given to proposals concerning immigration and/or the healthcare reform.
7. Health Economics under the current political environment" (University of California Berkeley, The Health Initiatives of the Americas)

Required LOI due February 14th, 5:00pm PDT.