North America

Globe showing North America.

Closer to home, GHI researchers are studying the health effects herbicides such as Agent Orange have had on Vietnam veterans, and are studying breast cancer rates in Puerto Rico.

Assessing cultural competency among outpatient clinic personnel serving refugee populations in Buffalo, New York

Kristina Young, MS

Location: Buffalo, NY
Department: Office of Global Health Initiatives fieldwork in partnership with the Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health

Buffalo, NY is one of the top resettlement sites for refugees resettling in the United States. This project surveyed out-patient clinics in Buffalo to assess the knowledge, skills and attitudes of outpatient clinic staff. The project is a part of a 3-part initiative funded by the Office of Global Health Initiatives to measure cultural competency of health care for refugees in Buffalo from outpatient provider, inpatient provider, and refugee patient perspectives.

Creating tailored messages for future BOCA patients in the Dominican Republic

Elizabeth Gage Bouchard, PhD

Location: Dominican Republic
Department: Office of Global Health Initiatives fieldwork award project

This project is the result of a fieldwork award received by an MPH student in the Department of Community Health and Health Behavior. The student partnered with the University at Buffalo’s School of Dental Medicine’s Buffalo Outreach and Community Assistance (BOCA) program to analyze preventive dental care activities of patients who attended a UB sponsored dental clinic in the Dominican Republic.

Jo L. Freudenheim, PhD, in Puerto Rico.

Photo provided by Jo L. Freudenheim

Breast Cancer in Puerto Rico

Jo L. Freudenheim, PhD

Location: Puerto Rico
Department: Epidemiology and Environmental Health

In conjunction with researchers at the University of Puerto Rico, Freudenheim is conducting a case control study of breast cancer in Puerto Rico. The team is examining factors that can explain the increase in breast cancer incidence. In particular, they are studying diet, diet in adolescence, physical activity, sun exposure and other early life exposures.

Worker spraying pesticides.

Photo by James Olson

Advising on Health Effects of Agent Orange

James Olson, PhD

Location: United States (Vietnam Veterans)
Department: Pharmacology and Toxicology/Epidemiology and Environmental Health

A UB expert on dioxin toxicology has just completed his service on the National Academies Institute of Medicine panel on Veterans and Agent Orange. The panel—the Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides—released a report detailing its findings..

These reports, issued biennially to the Department of Veterans Affairs, help advise officials on policy decisions regarding compensation to veterans for service-related illnesses.