Fall 2023 Journal Club Series 1/3: Optimizing healthcare interventions through effective trial design and implementation of adaptive strategies
| Date | November 2, 2023 |
| Time | 1:00 to 2:00 PM EST |
| Lead Discussant | K. Marie Sizemore, PhD |
| Facilitator | Sitaji Gurung, MD, MPH, PhD (Check out Health Sciences Department Faculty Profile) |
Description:
The first session of the Fall 2023 Journal Club Series will highlight the importance of considering a just-in-time adaptive, ecological momentary intervention for enhancing the well-being of sexual minority men living with HIV.
Learn how to:
- Read and analyze medical research
- Understand research concepts in healthcare
- Analyze quantitative papers on adaptive interventions
- Effectively communicate research findings
- Discuss feasibility and acceptability in healthcare interventions
Who Will Benefit:
Students from all majors are welcome to attend. Students will need to read the selected article below in advance of our session. The article is available for free via the City Tech library online database system. Log into the proxy server using your CUNYFirst username and password. The Journal Club seeks to engage with a wide range of students including non-science majors as well as those having science backgrounds.
Dr. Marie Sizemore is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and is Core Faculty in the Center for Population Behavioral Health at Rutgers Institute for Health, as well as Rutgers Addiction Research Center. Dr. Sizemore’s work stretches across two complementary areas of research. Her primary research interests are rooted in prevention/implementation science; with secondary research interests in methodology and measurement. She is especially interested in how research designs (e.g. factorial designs, SMART, and micro randomized trials) can be leveraged to optimize interventions prior to efficacy testing in a standard RCT. Her current research examines adaptive intervention designs and their application to the field of mHealth. Dr. Sizemore is currently MPI on an R34, which builds upon a pilot project in which she and her team developed and tested an app-based intervention using a just-in-time adaptive intervention (JITAI) to reduce stress and provide “in-the-moment” support to sexual minority men (SMM) living with HIV. This R34 will further tailor the app for SMM living with HIV and comorbid substance use, as well as test the addition of smartwatch integration and random craving prompts using a factorial optimization trial, guided by the Multiphase Optimization Strategy. Dr. Sizemore is also MPI on a mHealth pilot project, funded through Weill Cornell CTSC, in collaboration with MIT Media Lab to develop of a virtual gaming tool designed to reduce physician stigma toward SMM patients with substance use disorders. For more information, visit the Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research website.
Fall 2023 Journal Club Series 2/3: Health disparities among immigrant Latinx sexual and gender minorities compared to U.S.-born counterparts: Exploring the impact of queer heterogeneity
| Date | November 9, 2023 |
| Time | 3:00 to 4:00 PM EST |
| Lead Discussant | Jonathan López-Matos, MA |
| Facilitator | Sitaji Gurung, MD, MPH, PhD (Check out Health Sciences Department Faculty Profile) |
Description:
The second session of the Fall 2023 Journal Club Series will highlight the significance of considering queer heterogeneity when examining the health outcomes of immigrant Latinx sexual and gender minorities.
Learn how to:
- Read and analyze social and behavioral sciences research
- Understand the central focus of the article
- Develop the ability to interpret and discuss the identified health disparities and their potential contributing factors
- Explore the concept of queer heterogeneity and its relevance in understanding the health outcomes of immigrant Latinx sexual and gender minorities
- Discuss implications of the research findings, including their relevance to public health policy, healthcare interventions, and future research directions
Who Will Benefit:
Students from all majors are welcome to attend. Students will need to read the selected article below in advance of our session. The article is available for free via the City Tech library online database system. Log into the proxy server using your CUNYFirst username and password. The Journal Club seeks to engage with a wide range of students including nonscience majors as well as those having science backgrounds.
Jonathan completed a B.A. in Psychology at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez and an M.A. in General Psychology at Hunter College in New York City. He is currently a sixth-year doctoral candidate in the Health Psychology and Clinical Science Doctoral Program at the Graduate Center of City University of New York (CUNY-GC). He has worked in various not-for-profit organizations in Puerto Rico and the United States, focusing on LGBTQ+ health and sexual health among marginalized sexual, gender, and racial underserved populations. Additionally, he served as a Research Assistant at various research centers, and as a Health Educator in community-based organizations in Puerto Rico and the United States and have managed pilot studies and large-scale grants funded by NIH aiming to develop interventions to reduce substance use and sexual risk behaviors and improve positive mental health outcomes among self-identified gay, bisexual, and queer men. Recently, he has focused his research work on minority stress, intersectionality, health inequities, and immigrant sexual and gender minority’s’ health.
Fall 2023 Journal Club Series 3/3: Cardiovascular risk in adolescents and youths living with HIV: EHR evaluation and implications
| Date | November 17, 2023 |
| Time | 1:00 to 2:00 PM EST |
| Lead Discussant | Sitaji Gurung, MD, MPH, PhD (Check out Health Sciences Department Faculty Profile) |
Description:
The third session of the Fall 2023 Journal Club Series will connect the dots of how the use of electronic health records can help us identify potential implications of cardiovascular risk among adolescents and youths with HIV and its impact on their overall health.
Learn how to:
- Read and analyze medical research
- Interpret electronic health record (EHR) findings related to cardiovascular health
- Identify potential implications of cardiovascular risk assessment among adolescents and youths with HIV and how it impacts their overall health
- Engage in discussions about the broader healthcare implications of the study’s findings and how they may inform healthcare practices
- Develop the ability to analyze the research findings presented in the article
Who Will Benefit:
Students from all majors are welcome to attend. Students will need to read the selected article below in advance of our session. The Journal Club seeks to engage with a wide range of students including nonscience majors as well as those having science backgrounds.
