INTERESTS
multimedia education
RESEARCH SUMMARY
I am a NIDDK funded health disparities researcher with a focus on improving organ donation opportunities for priority populations. To do so, I conduct interdisciplinary collaborative research with experts in bioethics, epidemiology, biostatistics, and multimedia education, communications and technology. My short-term research objectives include applying mixed methods approaches to reducing health disparities for priority populations, specifically in using digital media to assist with education about organ donation. Mixed methods research combines quantitative and qualitative methodology to design and validate interventions. This approach is well suited for evaluating culturally sensitive approaches to reduce health disparities. My research also is focused on linking patients from emergency department settings to primary care and injury prevention for vulnerable roadway users including pedestrians and bicyclists who navigate through inner city traffic. Byproducts of our research included the development of research software for electronic data capture and intervention delivery that is being refined and distributed in West Africa as part of the NIH Fogarty sponsored eCapacity program.
Topics of interest include:
1. Behavioral Interventions to Increase Organ Donation
2. Multimedia-based Patient Education
3. Applications of Mixed Methods Research
4. Health Educational Program Evaluation
Work in these areas is designed to improve healthcare outcomes through improved patient understanding of risk for illness, treatment of existing conditions, and health educational reform to meet the needs of underserved, multi-ethnic populations.