Impact

Learning Laboratory for Community Health prepares graduate students to solve real-world public health challenges

Taylor Thomas — Wed, 05 Jun 2024 15:55:33 +0000

Learning Laboratory for Community Health prepares graduate students to solve real-world public health challenges Taylor Thomas Wed, 06/05/2024 - 11:55

The Learning Laboratory for Community Health at ��ӽ紫ý held the first in-person Learning Lab Challenge at the Inaugural Empowered Communities Conference. For the challenge, graduate research assistants (GRAs) were tasked with developing an intervention that addressed the very real public health issue of opioid use disorder among adolescents and young adults.

Over the semester, GRAs worked in interdisciplinary teams, with community stakeholders providing insights into their research process and conducting interviews with affected youth and families to determine how to best meet the community's health needs.

Ashley Wiest

“We were excited to showcase student milestones achieved, challenges overcome, and collective triumphs that define our community journey toward a healthier, more equitable future,” said Ashley Wiest, a research faculty member in the College of Public Health and the Learning Lab project coordinator.

The challenge concluded with GRAs presenting their interventions to a panel of experts, who evaluated and selected the intervention that will be implemented at the Mason and Partners (MAP) clinics. The experts included

Kadhambari Sridhar, Community Preparedness Coordinator at the Fairfax County Health Department;
Jennifer Felts, Population Health Epidemiologist specializing in substance use and mental health; and
Shannyn Snyder, an adjunct faculty in the Department of Global and Community renowned for her expertise in socioeconomic disparities and social justice issues.

Under the guidance of Lisa Gring-Pemble, an associate professor in the Costello College of Business, the winning intervention, titled "Club Culmore: A Place-Based Wellness Model for Adolescents and Young Adults," was designed by three GRAs:

Shams Hadi Al Jassar, biology major and pre-medical student
Olivia Hutton, Master of Health Administration student
Eyesha Shaikh, Master of Social Work student

Shams Hadi Al Jassar

Olivia Hutton

Eyesha Shaikh

Club Culmore presents a comprehensive seven-step approach to wellness. From mental health services to tailored social media campaigns, workforce skill development, and a dedicated medication-assisted treatment (MAT) clinic, this innovative proposal promises to address the opioid epidemic through community collaboration and tailored services for at-risk youth.

“It was rewarding to celebrate the transformative impact our Mason students have had on the landscape of community health. Their dedication, resilience, and unwavering commitment to excellence have enhanced their individual growth and enriched our community,” said Wiest.

The Learning Lab was created with support from a $1 million Health Services Research grant, made possible by Congressman Gerry Connolly of Virginia's 11th District, who shepherded the proposal through Congress. Rebecca Sutter serves as the grant's project director and principle investigator. The mission of the Learning Laboratory is to support multidisciplinary training for public health students and professionals, with special attention to marginalized communities within Northern Virginia.

The Learning Lab’s impact on students and the community

Since its inception, the Learning Laboratory has been highly successful. In the second year of the lab, students reported the lab

increased their knowledge of community stakeholders,
increased confidence in discussing core public health topics, and
significantly improved their critical thinking skills related to community health, networking and research, problem-solving, and professional development.

“The Learning Lab is dedicated to equipping students with the multifaceted skills essential for success in the workforce after graduation. Our teaching models foster proficiency in research, interviewing, data collection, administrative tasks, and community resource utilization alongside technological competencies, thus nurturing a generation of adept community health professionals,” said Wiest.

Read the Lab’s 2023-24 Impact Report.

In This Story

Shannyn Snyder, MAIS

Ashley Wiest, DNP, FNP-BC

Rebecca Sutter, DNP, APRN, BC-FNP

Lisa M. Gring-Pemble

Topics

experiential learning

Impact

Community Health

Mason and Partners Clinic

Public Health Students

Mason’s Impact Fellows Program allows students to combine business and sustainability interests

Colleen Rich — Wed, 15 Jun 2022 17:08:23 +0000

Mason’s Impact Fellows Program allows students to combine business and sustainability interests Colleen Rich Wed, 06/15/2022 - 13:08

Mason Impact Fellows work at the Mountain Area Nutritional Needs Alliance (MANNA) Foodbank in Asheville, N.C., where the group processed and packed 840 pounds of black beans. Photo by Karen King/School of Business

��ӽ紫ý rising junior Ashanti Martin, 20, is passionate about sustainability and, specifically, addressing food insecurity.

Martin recently finished a two-year stint in the Impact Fellows Program, which focuses on helping students learn about how to help businesses achieve sustainable goals. The program is run through the School of Business’s Business for a Better World Center.

The program began in 2020, with Martin’s cohort of 15 students. It provides incoming freshmen an opportunity to join up with like-minded students interested in social and environmental issues.

“Being part of the Impact Fellows Program broke me out of my shell,” said Martin, who is studying management information systems. “It was such a comfortable environment where we were encouraged to be ourselves. Through the program, I got more confidence.”

Mason student Hagan Van Deest helps package black beans at North Carolina foodbank. Photo by Karen King/School of Business

The next cohort will start in the fall. Participation in the program is funded by the School of Business and generous donor support, said Leila G. Austin, assistant professor of business foundations and Impact Fellows co-faculty director

“One of the goals of the program is to attract students from less represented groups, so that it is an inclusive cohort,” Austin said.

Fellows are provided with opportunities through research, internships and collaborations to work with local businesses on tackling global issues, such as sustainability. Faculty and business professionals mentor the students throughout the two years, said Shora Moteabbed, an assistant professor in the Business School and Impact Fellows co-faculty director.

“The entire journey as an Impact Fellow has been very rewarding,” said Naila Ahsan, a rising junior studying management. “I got the most supportive teachers and mentors through the program, who constantly encouraged me to be a better version of myself.”

Asli Baskaya, a rising junior studying marketing, said the program introduced her to people in the business world she might not otherwise have met. Having them not only mentor her but befriend her was a bonus, she added.

Mason students Faith Kim, Ashanti Martin, Selassie Fugar, Oishee Mukhopadhyaya, Riley Benecke and Leila Austin help out at the North Carolina Foodbank. Photo by Karen King/School of Business

The program culminated in a trip to North Carolina, during which the students did volunteer work and met with area nonprofits.

Karen King, assistant professor of business, said that the program is part of a global movement to mold a business curriculum that “creates purposeful young people ready to step into their career.”

“I have always had the goal to become an entrepreneur,” said Kevin Jiang, a rising junior studying business analytics. “Being in the program gave me ideas of how I can do good things in the world while running a business.”

Martin said that through the program she grew more interested in helping in the goal of zero hunger, collaborating with the Patriot Pantry and working with the newly formed Be the Change student organization, which is focused on gender equality and upcycling clothing.

Faith Kim, Ashanti Martin, Selassie Fugar, Oishee Mukhopadhyaya, Riley Benecke, Leila Austin“Being an Impact Fellow has made me realize how much I can do in the community to help,” Martin said.

Topics

Students

Costello College of Business

Costello College of Business News

Impact

Business for a Better World Center News

From Jerusalem to DC, Mason alumna dedicates her life to solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Mariam Aburdeineh — Wed, 23 Sep 2020 05:00:00 +0000

From Jerusalem to DC, Mason alumna dedicates her life to solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict Mariam Aburdeineh Wed, 09/23/2020 - 01:00

After graduating from Mason, Fakhira Halloun returned to Jerusalem, where she works as a civil society and peacebuilding consultant at the Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process. Photo provided.

Fakhira Halloun holds two contradictory identities: She is Palestinian and an Israeli citizen.

It wasn’t until she began facilitating peace dialogues between Israelis and Palestinians in Jerusalem in 2000, that she realized Palestinian citizens of Israel could be the missing link in bridging ties between the two groups.

“Palestinian citizens of Israel have an important role to play in solving the conflict,” said Halloun, a 2019 PhD graduate of ��ӽ紫ý’s Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution. “We know the mindset of the Palestinians in the West Bank and share the same national identity and culture; at the same time, we know the Jews in Israel because we live with them and a lot of relationships are built there.”

That realization inspired her studies at Mason and life goal of bringing about peace, she said.

After graduating from Mason, Halloun returned to Jerusalem, where she works as a civil society and peacebuilding consultant at the Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process.

“This was my dream work,” Halloun said. “I’m helping civil society organizations engaged in peacebuilding work on both sides to reexamine and redefine their work in order to make a difference.”

Though she is overseas, Halloun’s impact in the Washington, D.C., area remains.

Halloun was part of a team that established the D.C.-based Museum of the Palestinian People, which highlights the history, identity, culture and achievements of Palestinians.

Fakhira Halloun (left) shows a guest around the Museum of the Palestinian People, which she helped establish. Photo provided.

“Usually the story about the Palestinian people is very narrow, and it’s linked with the conflict,” Halloun said. “We wanted to expand their narrative and bring out the complexity of it so that Americans and others can see themselves through the stories of the Palestinian people.”

Halloun has also stayed connected to Mason.

Since 2019, she has been co-teaching a study-abroad course with professor Marc Gopin that takes students to Israel and Palestinian territories to understand the conflict from both sides.

It’s an enlightening course, Halloun said, and one she also took as a student.

“Fakhira is an extraordinary peacemaker who understands intellectually and personally the power of compassion and the heart to heal wounds of war and conflict,” Gopin said. “She combines that with reasoning and strategy to build bridges across lines of adversaries.”

“I brought my passion, commitment and persistence to impact my reality, but professors like Dr. [Kevin] Avruch and Dr. Gopin equipped me with a deep lens in conflict resolution through their knowledge, analysis and approaches to understand,” Halloun said. “I couldn’t be successful now where I work in the UN without their contribution to who I am.”

Creating a better future is Halloun’s top goal, she said. According to her professors, she has what it takes.

“If peace with justice is ever to have a chance, it will be people like Fakhira—on all sides—who will commit to seeing it through, and bring it about,” Avruch said.

Fakhira Halloun (far right) with her students in Jerusalem. Photo provided.

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution

Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution

Carter School Affiliate Faculty

peacemaking

peacebuilding and analysis

Could avoiding rush hour traffic be healthier? Mason research drives new insight.

Mariam Aburdeineh — Mon, 01 Jun 2020 02:52:05 +0000

Could avoiding rush hour traffic be healthier? Mason research drives new insight. Mariam Aburdeineh Sun, 05/31/2020 - 22:52

The COVID-19 pandemic shifted thousands of jobs online, allowing employees to telework and avoid congested roadways. That’s good for slowing the spread of the virus, but new research from ��ӽ紫ý also shows such habits could limit people’s exposure to harmful traffic pollution.

“This is one of the first studies to use vehicle monitors paired with air pollution monitors to assess trip exposures,” said Jenna Krall, assistant professor of global and community health. “We found there was higher pollution exposure during rush hour compared to nontrip exposures.”

The study led by Krall that included collaborators from the College of Health and Human Services, the Volgenau School of Engineering, and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences specifically measured women’s exposure to traffic pollution during commutes. Krall said she was inspired to conduct the study by recent research that showed pollution exposure during pregnancy may lead to adverse health outcomes.

Alumni Nada Adibah and Gabriella Cuevas, seen here in a photo from 2019, demonstrate the installation of air pollution monitors in a vehicle. As students, they worked with Dr. Jenna Krall, assistant professor of global and community health, on a multidisciplinary study looking at the effect of traffic pollution exposure for women. Photo by Lathan Goumas/Strategic Communications

When study participants were in the car, their exposure to fine particulate matter (air pollutants that can become a health concern when they enter the body) was higher than when they weren’t driving. The exposure to the pollutants increased even more when they drove during rush hour.

“It is really awesome to be part of one of the first studies that [examined] traffic pollution exposure [for women] during real-world commutes,” said Nada Adibah, a 2019 master of public health graduate who is one of the paper’s authors.

“The findings were interesting and very insightful,” Adibah said, adding that she was surprised to find no differences in pollution concentrations for varying commute lengths.

From left to right: Nada Adibah, Jenna Krall, Gabriella Cuevas. Photo by Lathan Goumas/Strategic Communications

The data could be used to help inform policy decisions, Krall said, such as implementing telework as a potential solution for women with health risks.

“We need to develop policies that protect public health, this may mean that it is necessary to reduce exposure to traffic-related pollution,” Krall said.

Funded by a Provost’s Multidisciplinary Research Award and a Jeffress Memorial Trust grant, the project provided opportunities for Mason undergraduate and graduate students to be involved in research with real-world impact.

“I am so grateful for this opportunity to work with Dr. Krall and Dr. [Anna] Pollack,” said Karlin Moore, a May 2020 chemistry graduate from the Honors College.

Moore said she helped analyze data from the air pollution monitors, determining ratios and concentrations of individual pollutants.

“It was interesting seeing a different area of STEM,” Moore said. “Getting exposure and experience to biostatistics and epidemiology opened my eyes to a whole plethora of different fields and careers that help public health.”

Moving forward, Krall said Mason researchers will take a deeper dive into the collected data and conduct further analysis.

“One goal is to develop new statistical approaches for estimating how we’re exposed to traffic pollution,” Krall said. “Hopefully this presents a new way for us to move forward with collecting better information to understand pollution exposure during commutes.”

Alumna Nada Abidah, seen here in a photo from 2019, downloads data from an air pollution monitor with Dr. Jenna Krall. Photo by Lathan Goumas/Strategic Communications