14 Briggsies present at the 7th Annual MSU Diversity Research Showcase
January 16, 2024
The 7th Annual MSU Diversity Research Showcase takes place on Friday, January 19, 2024 from 1:30-4:30 p.m. both online and in person. The event is part of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Celebration week each year.
The showcase features MSU undergraduate student work on issues of diversity and inclusion. The showcase includes poster presentations, networking, oral presentations, a reception, awards and remarks from the dean of the Honors College.
14 Briggsies will be among the presenters this year. Their presentations include:
Female-male differences in alcohol dependence levels of newly incident drinkers
Alexandra Beck (LBC Biochemistry and Neuroscience, first-year student)
Modality: Poster; access online via Symposium; Research Mentor: Dr. James Anthony
Description: I am using NSDUH data sets from 2014-2019 which provide raw statistics on the alcohol dependence levels of newly incident drinkers. I am also processing that data by the use of Rscript in order to provide meta-analysis and Bayesian posterior estimates. This is a work in progress as I will incorporate age into this project moving forward.
Diverse narratives of blackness in healthcare: Understanding disparities in preventive screenings
Kailyn Butler (LBC Neuroscience and Human Biology, third-year student Aya Abu-Zama (LBC Human Biology, Honors College, third-year student), and Neal Sanghvi (LBC Human Biology, Honors College, second-year student)
Modality: Oral; Lake Ontario, Block A
Description: Following the enactment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010, the U.S. healthcare landscape experienced substantial transformations. The ACA aimed to broaden access to affordable healthcare, with a particular emphasis on preventive services to enhance overall public health and alleviate the burden of chronic diseases. However, as explored in the existing literature on health disparities, the implementation of federal laws does not automatically guarantee equitable access to or distribution of preventative care services.This research project seeks to scrutinize the distribution disparities of preventive screenings in Lansing. The focus is on how Black individuals experience three essential components of preventative care: (1) access to healthcare services; (2) health education; (3) interaction with physicians. This qualitative study involves in-depth interviews with U.S.-born African Americans and immigrants from Haiti, Congo, and Somalia residing in Lansing, Michigan, spanning over two years.
Parenting style and child BMI in low income families
Allison Doneth (Neuroscience and LBC History, Philosophy, and Sociology of Science, Honors College, second-year student)
Modality: Poster; access online via Symposium; Research Mentor: Dr. Jiying Ling
Description: Intervention in Head-Start programs examining the relationship between the three styles of parenting and the effects on both child and parent BMI. The three types of parenting style examined were authoritarian, authoritative, and passive. It was observed that parent BMI decreased in parents with passive parenting while BMI increased in their children; the opposite was true with authoritative parenting. This was an interventionist study, meaning that Head Start students along with their parents were given nutrition and exercise education (although this was not directly examined in my presentation).
The intersection of race and disability in educational accommodations
Eryn Greuel (LBC Zoology, Honors College, fourth-year student)
Modality: Oral; Lake Huron, Block A; Research Mentor: Dr. Nilüfer Akalin
Description:
My project explores whether the intersectionality of race and disability results in fewer benefits from disability diagnoses and accommodations for minority students as compared to white students. Data was collected through a literature review of research on race and disability intersectionality in educational settings. The diagnosis and accommodations a student receives is not unbiased by race, and can shape their academic outcomes before and after higher education. Therefore the intersection of race and disability should be considered in policies to assist students.
Factors impacting perceptions and stigma surrounding menstruation: Michigan State University perspective
Nupur Huria (LBC Human Biology and Psychology, Honors College, third-year student) and Harsna Chahal (LBC alum, now a graduate student)
Modality: Poster; access online via Symposium; Research Mentor: Dr. Danielle Gartner
Description:
Period poverty is an important, yet often ignored, public health issue that pushes low-income menstruators to adopt unhygienic practices, negatively impacting their health, education, and dignity. Menstrual stigma, combined with period poverty, can also affect psychological health. This project analyzed the significance of physical, demographic, and accessibility factors on perceptions and stigma surrounding menstruation at our university. We hope to encourage universities to improve accessibility to free menstrual products on their campuses to reduce menstrual shame and create a more equitable environment where students feel supported and empowered about their bodies.
Undergraduate students' understanding of equity in residential colleges
Anum Latif (LBC Neuroscience, Honors College, second-year student), Christeen Mangalathet (LBC Human Biology, Honors College, second-year student), Abhinav Anand (LBC Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, second-year student), and Amaya Aten (Comparative Cultures & Politics and Arts & Humanities, third-year student in James Madison College and the Residential College in the Arts & Humanities)
Modality: Poster; access online via Symposium; Research Mentor: Dr. Shahnaz Masani
Description:
The aim of this project is to understand how undergraduate students in the three residential colleges at Michigan State University understand equity while living and learning within their colleges. Through surveys and interviews, we look to study the students' understanding of this concept as well as whether and how they experience and practice equity in their everyday classrooms and living spaces. The data is to be collected over the course of one year (Fall 2023-Fall 2024).
Does heroin addiction vary by gender/class?
Nolan Roberts (LBC Actuarial Science, Honors College, first-year student)
Modality: Poster; access online via Symposium; Research Mentor: Dr. James Anthony
Description: My main aim is to study how often people use heroin multiple times after using once, with regards to gender and income. My materials and methods are from the United States National Surveys on Drug Use and Health, completed annually with new probability samples of non-institutionalized civilian US residents each year from 2002 until the recent years. Pre-pandemic (through 2019), the assessments were in-person, computer assisted self-interviews, with standardized multi-item modules on the constructs under study. In my Health Diversity Fair report, I will provide initial estimate on the raw percentage of people who use multiple times (# used multiple times/total # users) and then use Bayesian analysis in order to come up with a confidence interval for each gender and income class.
Broadening knowledge of historical health inequities through art in hospital settings
Quynh Tong (LBC Biochemistry, and History, Philosophy, & Sociology of Science, third-year student)
Modality: Oral; Lake Ontario, Block A; Research Mentor: Dr. Natalie Philips
Description: This project came out of our Mellon-founded project, Creativity in the Time of COVID-19: Art as a Tool for Combating Inequity and Injustice, which explores how populations are using creative outlets to foster healing and begin to push back against the systemic inequities exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Our project, currently in progress, entails a series of traveling exhibitions in different hospitals that will display artworks and narratives by artists from communities that are historically marginalized by the healthcare system. Moreover, these exhibitions will connect these contemporary artworks to historical and educational insights into the relationship between these communities (queer community, BIPOC community, the disabled community, and more) and various healthcare institutions, especially in the context of other health crises such as the Spanish Flu, the Bubonic Plague, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. a path towards envisioning a more just future. Through these exhibitions, we look to highlight the unique burdens that were placed on these minority groups, how they have coped with this stress, and how the healthcare field can address their needs.
Young people living with HIV/AIDS: An epidemiological perspective
Sophia Zuber (LBC Human Biology, Honors College, first-year student)
Modality: Poster; access online via Symposium; Research Mentor: Dr. James Anthony
Description: Through this project, I am learning epidemiological analyses that can help us to better understand the experiences of young people infected with HIV and who might be suffering from AIDS, based on national probability sample surveys conducted in the United States in recent years. A novel feature of my work involves a comparison of Bayesian 95% credibility intervals with Fisherian 95% confidence intervals. The Fisherian or frequentist approach is the approach most often seen in the epidemiological literature, whereas the Bayesian approach, which is considered an alternative, has become more prominent due to advancements made in computational science and its applications. My report will compare and contrast the intervals from Bayesian and frequentist approaches in the hopes of a new perspective about young people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States coming to light.