The findings of the study by PhD students Jessica Friedman and Junia N. de Brito will help clinicians and policymakers improve their understanding of how the pandemic is affecting the health of mothers and connect women and their families with community resources and support.
Maternal & Child Health
Black newborns die less when cared for by Black doctors
A study co-authored by Associate Professor Rachel Hardeman found that the in-hospital death rate of Black newborns is a third lower when they are cared for by Black physicians rather than white physicians.
Children eat healthier school meals following Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act
The study by recent graduate Aaron Berger (PhD ’20) found that kids ate a regular amount of the improved meals, which sets them up for healthier lives.
Nearly one in four young people experience food insecurity from adolescence to adulthood
The study was completed by researcher Nicole Larson prior to the economic disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, which likely has increased the extent and severity of food insecurity in the U.S.
Food insecurity raised risk for disordered eating in low-income adolescents
The study led by PhD student Laura Hooper surveyed a group of diverse, low socioeconomic status adolescents and found that 39% experienced household food insecurity and 43% reported disordered eating.
Linking brain function to adolescent suicide risk
Biostatistician and Assistant Professor Mark Fiecas is co-leading a study looking at the emergence of depression and suicide risk in thousands of adolescents and how it relates to the behavior of specific brain regions over time.
Hardeman receives AcademyHealth’s emerging leader award
Associate Professor Rachel Hardeman received AcademyHealth’s Alice S. Hersh Emerging Leader Award for her reproductive health equity research focusing on how racism creates health inequities.
Slaughter-Acey earns NIH honor for research on racism in maternal health
Assistant Professor Jaime Slaughter-Acey earned a a Matilda White Riley Early Stage Investigator Award for her study “Skin tone matters: Racial microaggression and delayed prenatal care.”
Teens take opportunity to sleep longer when high schools start later
The study led by Associate Professor Rachel Widome showed that teens slept roughly 40 minutes more each night when schools delayed their start times to approximately 8:30 a.m.
Rapid deployment of school-based mental health providers during the COVID-19 crisis
Assistant Professor Susan Mason is leading a study involving school-based mental health providers to test strategies for protecting children’s academic engagement and parent-child mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As Minnesotans stay home, risk of domestic and sexual violence grows
Associate Professor Ruby Nguyen is co-leading a study investigating how best to provide sexual and intimate partner/domestic violence services in Minnesota during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kids or teen smokers are less likely to kick the habit as adults
Research led by Professor David Jacobs found that the younger people start smoking, the more likely they are to smoke daily as an adult — even into their 40s — and the harder it will be to quit.
