Accolades
September 15, 2021
Dr. Caroline Boxmeyer, associate dean for academic affairs and professor of psychiatry and behavioral medicine for The University of Alabama College of Community Health Sciences, co-authored “Mindful Coping Power: Comparative Effects on Children’s Reactive Aggression and Self-Regulation,” published in the journal Brain Sciences.
Dr. Martha Crowther, associate dean for research and health policy for The University of Alabama College of Community Health Sciences, was a guest speaker at the 13th Annual Women’s Health Conference August 6. The conference, “Women’s Health Focus During the Pandemic: A Focus on Resilience,” was hosted by the Alabama Department of Public Health’s Office of Women’s Health. Crowther is also a professor in the College’s departments of Community Medicine and Population Health, and Family, Internal, and Rural Medicine. In addition, she is an investigator with the UA Institute for Rural Health Research and a scientist with the UAB Integrative Center for Aging and Research. Crowther is trained as a clinical psychologist who focuses on chronic disease epidemiology. She has extensive clinical and research experience in interdisciplinary health care, health disparities, caregiving and mental health and aging. She also provides behavioral health care in primary care and psychiatric settings.
Dr. Mercedes M. Morales-Alemán, assistant professor of community medicine and population health for The University of Alabama College of Community Health Sciences, was awarded a $430,947 National Institutes of Health grant to develop a sexual health education and intervention program for Young Latina Women (YLW) in Alabama. YLW are disproportionately affected by sexual health disparities, and they are less likely than their non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic White counterparts to have a usual place for preventive health care. The study by Morales-Alemán, “The Virtual Promotoras Program: Development and Feasibility of an mHealth Intervention to Promote Sexual Health and Healthcare Access Among Young Latina Women in the U.S. South,” seeks to create a virtual “safe space” for YLW that empowers them to learn about sexual health as well as ways to access the healthcare system. This, in turn, can contribute to improved health outcomes, such as lower unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection rates, Morales-Alemán said. The virtual safe space will consist of a mobile-enabled website that will be look and feel like a mobile application but can be accessed from other devices, and it will allow YLW to learn as well as connect with “virtual promotoras” (trained peer advocates and navigators) who can provide culturally tailored advice and guidance.
Dr. Pamela Payne-Foster, professor of community medicine and population health for The University of Alabama College of Community Health Sciences, co-authored: “African American Clergy Recommendations to Enhance the Federal Plan to End the HIV Epidemic: A Qualitative Study,” published in the journal AIDS and Behavior.
