Population Health
Pop Health
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Different populations of America struggle with unique health problems. In order to truly promote a equitable healthcare system, the specialized needs of individual populations need to be understood. Investments and research into population health create a fairer system where more people’s needs can be reached.
Associated Researchers
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Kate Calder
Dr. Catherine (Kate) Calder is a Professor in the Department of Statistics and Data Sciences (SDS) in the College of Natural Sciences and currently serves as Department Chair. Calder’s research focuses on the development of statistical methodology for complex, structured data (e.g., statistical statistics, network analysis). Her current applied projects aim to better estimate routine activity patterns of individuals using mobile-tracking devices to understand (1) how shared routine activity patterns and the weak social ties that result from them affect the spatial patterning of crime across cities and (2) how non-residential activity space exposures to discrimination, crime, and over-policing affect the health and well-being of youth.
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Eric McDaniel
Professor McDaniel is a Professor in Department of Government and the co-director of the Politics of Race and Ethnicity Lab. He specializes in racial and ethnic politics, religion and politics and health policy. His book, Politics in the Pews: The Political Mobilization of Black Churches, provides an explanation for why some Black churches choose to engage the political world while others do not. His work in health policy examines how citizens interpret government involvement in treating health epidemics and how political empowerment can reduce health disparities. Currently, he is working on a project examining what people believe their religion calls upon them and the political and social consequences of these beliefs. Additionally, he is working on projects related concerning religious freedom and the role of religion in shaping health behavior and health policy attitudes.
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Sydney Harris
Sydney Harris is the director of mental health care redesign for the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, assisting with the Austin State Hospital Redesign led by Dell Medical School in partnership with multiple public and private entities, including the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. She manages the strategic and operational initiatives that comprise the program design, architectural/engineering planning and coordination of the strategic convening for the continuum of care for the ASH Redesign. Harris has 13 years of experience in mental health care business operations in the private and public sector.
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Sharon Ricks
Sharon Ricks, M.A., advances policies, establishes partnerships and engages in strategic communication to promote the adoption of a health equity mindset and the activation of health equity principles at Dell Medical School. Ricks is an innovative health leader and the former regional health administrator for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS Region 4), where she had the primary responsibility for leading and coordinating internal and external strategies that promoted health equity across HHS divisions and in service to 65 million Americans throughout the eight southeastern states.
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Trisha M. Parekh
Trisha M. Parekh, D.O., M.S., is an assistant professor in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care with dual board certifications in pulmonary medicine and critical care medicine. Parekh’s experiences in community service laid the foundation for her research, which focuses on reducing health disparities for individuals with chronic lung disease. As a behavioral scientist, Parekh designs and tests patient and community-level interventions to assess and address social and environmental determinants of lung health. She is also interested in the role that chronic stress plays in one’s health outcomes, particularly in vulnerable populations. Her latest project focuses on designing a community health worker-led stress reduction intervention for vulnerable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease individuals.
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Phillip Schnarrs
Phillip W. Schnarrs, Ph.D., is an associate professor of community-based participatory research in the Department of Population Health. He is an applied health researcher and expert in LGBTQ+ populations, specializing in sexual health, mental health and substance use disorder. As an applied scientist engaged in community-based participatory research, Schnarrs engages the community as co-collaborators throughout the research process and develops meaningful programs to address the health of medically underserved populations and shift social policies. He is currently co-PI of Strengthening Colors of PRIDE San Antonio, a project funded through the Interdisciplinary Research Leaders fellowship focused on understanding the role of resilience and trauma in LGBTQ+ adult health.
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Yessenia Castro
Yessenia Castro, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Steve Hicks School of Social Work at the University of Texas at Austin, where she studies the influence of cultural adaptation variables on cancer risk behavior among Latinos. She is particularly interested in understanding how cultural variables combine with known key determinants of smoking to affect cessation outcomes. Her work also incorporates understanding determinants of multiple cancer risk behaviors among Latinos, and she collaborates on research examining social determinants of smoking cessation among individuals of low socioeconomic status and other special populations of smokers.
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Abigail Weitzman
Dr. Weitzman is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology and a research affiliate of the Population Research Center and the Long Institute for Latin American Studies at the University of Texas. Her research examines two interrelated questions linking social psychology and demography: how do expectations and desires influence the timing and nature of important events in people’s lives, cumulatively shaping demographic patterns and population health? And, reciprocally, how do shifting demographic circumstances influence desires, expectations, and behaviors in ways that determine individuals' health outcomes and trajectories?