Category: College of Health Sciences
August College of Health Sciences For the Record
September 05, 2024 Written by CHS Staff | Photos by Ashley Barnas
For the Record provides information about recent professional activities and honors of University of Delaware faculty, staff, students and alumni.
Recent appointments, presentations, publications and honors in the College of Health Sciences include the following:
Awards
Peyton Free, a second-year master of public health student in the epidemiology program, has been selected by the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH) as a 2024-2025 Ambassador. Free, who was nominated for the position by MPH Program Director Jennifer Horney, joins nearly 100 exceptional graduate students from more than 60 ASPPH member schools worldwide as part of this year’s This is Public Health Ambassador Cohort. The cohort exemplifies ASPPH’s core mission of improved health and well-being for everyone, everywhere. As an ambassador, Free will have the opportunity to connect with professionals nationwide and spread public health awareness through social media takeovers.
“I am so honored to represent our program nationally and spread awareness for our initiatives and outreach,” said Free. “I hope to take full advantage of the opportunity and make long-lasting connections.”
Free was nominated for the role by MPH Program Director Jennifer Horney.
“The MPH Program at the University of Delaware is very proud that Peyton Free was selected for this honor,” said Horney. “This raises the profile of our MPH Program and provides Peyton with a powerful professional network from public health programs across the U.S. and globally.”
Publications
Ashley Darling recently graduated after completing her doctoral training in the University of Delaware College of Health Sciences Cardiovascular Psychophysiology Laboratory under the mentorship of Jody Greaney, assistant professor of health behavior and nutrition sciences. Her dissertation focused on understanding cardiovascular disease risk in young adults with major depressive disorder (MDD). The first of her dissertation studies, titled “Sympathetic-Cardiovascular Stress Reactivity in Adults with Major Depressive Disorder,” was recently published in the Journal of Affective Disorders. Darling has accepted a contract analyst position at Tamayo Federal Solutions in Virginia.
The first of her dissertation studies, titled “Sympathetic-Cardiovascular Stress Reactivity in Adults with Major Depressive Disorder,” was recently published in the Journal of Affective Disorders.
“Our data suggest that the clinical management of MDD in young adults, particularly in those with more severe manifestations of the disease, may be a viable strategy to secondarily reduce cardiovascular disease risk in these patients,” Darling said.
Greaney said Darling has been an impressive doctoral student.
“Ashley is exactly the type of doctoral student that a faculty member hopes for as a trainee. She is smart, passionate about science, and always excited to get involved. Her attitude brings positive energy to projects in the lab and motivates others around her, myself included,” said Greaney. “Her dissertation work will make a significant contribution to the field and highlights the importance of understanding future cardiovascular risk in those suffering from depression.”
Darling recently accepted a contract analyst position at Tamayo Federal Solutions in Virginia.
First-of-its-kind research by Tarang Parekh, assistant professor of epidemiology, was recently published in the American Journal of Epidemiology. Parekh’s study reviewed the State Innovation Models (SIM), a payment system introduced by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in 2013, which provides financial incentives to states to develop innovative payment models to improve healthcare systems. In the study, “From Policy to Practice: Assessing the State Innovation Models Initiative’s Early Success in Incorporating Social Determinants of Health in ASCVD Hospitalizations in the United States,” Parekh compared data from 2010 to 2015 from three SIM participating states, Arkansas, Massachusetts and Vermont, to Florida, Nebraska and New Mexico, which do not participate in SIM. He studied the effects of capturing social risk factors in adults hospitalized with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). His research identified small but statistically significant improvements in capturing social determinants of health using Internal Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes, particularly among Medicare enrollees with ASCVD.
“Currently, we try to address social determinants of health, but we are focused on very selective populations and regions, and different systems are asking about topics like food insecurity in different ways, so the severity of the social determinant is unclear,” said Parekh. “A standardized collection method using ICD codes to capture social determinants of health will help us better understand the population we need to target. We'll also learn whether a specific condition is more heavily influenced by social determinants of health, allowing us to target those factors more effectively."
Honors
Christine Hoch, assistant professor in the School of Nursing, received the oral research abstract presentation award from the American Association of Heart Failure Nurses (AAHFN) at its annual meeting in June. Hoch’s research was a secondary analysis to determine the relationship between heart failure related fatigue and serum osmolality. At the annual meeting, three abstracts were selected for oral presentation. The research committee determined the best presentation based on delivery and clinical implications. On the last day of the meeting, Hoch received a certificate for her presentation and its impact on clinical practice.
“This study shows that low serum osmolality, which fluctuates with fluid volume changes, has an association with HF-related fatigue, suggesting excess fluid or physiologic processes that contribute to fluid retention may influence the symptom. Another finding in my research was that women with heart failure are five times more likely to experience fatigue compared to men,” explained Hoch. “Despite this, current treatment modalities are the same for both men and women. This is a call to action to develop sex-based interventions, aiding us to better support the challenges women face with fatigue.”
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