Last fall, several research papers and posters were presented by MAC faculty, staff and postdoctoral fellows at national public health conferences.

In September, MAC research analyst Lauren Dyer and postdoctoral fellows Dr. Melissa Goldin Evans and Dr. Dovile Vilda presented research findings from several MAC projects at the 2019 CityMatCH Maternal and Child Health Leadership Conference in Providence, RI. Here, Melissa Goldin Evans presented her research findings on contraceptive care provision and uptake in two poster presentations with poster “Assessing Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptive Uptake By Women At Risk Of Unintended Pregnancy Using the Contraceptive Care Provision Measures” receiving CityMatch Poster Award nomination. Lauren Dyer presented a poster on translating a social determinants approach to MCH equity promotion using the case of adverse birth outcomes, and Dovile Vilda discussed research findings on income inequality and pregnancy-related mortality during her oral presentation at the session entitled “Examining the Ripple Effect of Social Determinants of Health.”

In October, a team of MAC staff and faculty attended the Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science (IAPHS) annual meeting in Seattle, WA. Along with Charles Branas from Columbia University, Dr. Kathrine Theall co-chaired the panel entitled “Place-Based Approaches to Violence Prevention” and shared insights from ongoing work examining the effects of neighborhood blight on family violence.  At the session “Features of Children's Social Ecologies that Bear Upon Health and Development”, MAC program manager Stephanie Tokarz presented findings from the study examining the impact of neighborhood safety on social emotional development among children in Educare New Orleans school.

Several poster presentations were presented at the IAPHS by the MAC team, including two “Best Poster” award winning presentations of Dr. Melissa Godin Evans’ study on long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARC) uptake by patient and provider in urban/rural locations and Dr. Dovile Vilda and colleagues’ study on structural racism and racial disparities in infant mortality across urban and rural counties. In addition, Lauren Dyer presented her recent findings from the study on mass black jail incarceration and adverse birth outcomes among black women in Louisiana; and Stephanie Tokarz presented preliminary findings from the Healthy Beginnings program that emphasized the role of Health Navigation services for improving access to healthcare and social services among low-income children and their families. Dr. Goldin Evans also presented a second poster in which she discussed findings from the study on the SMS-based health intervention for low-income families in an early childhood school.