The Academic Minute for 2021.10.18-2021.10.22

The Academic Minute from 10.18 – 10.22

Monday, October 18th
Shane Coffield – University of California, Irvine
Climate Change Impacts on California’s Ecosystems
Shane Coffield is a PhD Candidate in Earth System Science at UC Irvine, studying climate change impacts on ecosystems in the Western US.

Tuesday, October 19th
Amal Alachkar- University of California, Irvine
Trauma-Induced Depression
When the peaceful uprising began in Syria during the Arab Spring, Dr. Amal Alachkar was among the academics who supported the student movement demanding dignity, freedom of speech, and justice for all Syrians. But speaking out put her research and her life in danger. Support from the international rescue agencies enabled Dr. Alachkar to join UC Irvine as a professor and after her fellowship ended, she was able to secure a full-time academic position at UC Irvine, where she has already helped to establish UC Irvine’s first online master’s program in Pharmacology.

Wednesday, October 20th
Brittany Morey – University of California, Irvine
The Central Role of Social Support in the Health of Chinese and Korean American Immigrants
Brittany N. Morey, PhD, MPH, is an Assistant Professor of Public Health at University of California, Irvine. Dr. Morey’s research focuses on how structural inequity shapes racial and ethnic health inequities. Much of this work focuses on how neighborhood social and physical environments contribute to health disparities, especially for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Her work also studies how U.S. immigration policies and anti-immigrant sentiments contribute to health disparities among broad populations of color. Overall, the goal of her research is to understand how society creates health inequities along the lines of race, ethnicity, nativity, and immigration status. With this understanding, we can create better policies and programs to address and undo the patterns of poor health we see today. Currently, Dr. Morey is a co-investigator on several grants funded by the National Institutes of Health. Together with collaborator and principal investigator Dr. Sunmin Lee, Dr. Morey is working on research to examine the social determinants of disparities in cancer, sleep, and overall health among Asian Americans. This work is funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.

Thursday, October 21st
Joel Milam – University of California, Irvine
Follow-Up Care for Young Adult Cancer Survivors
Joel Milam, PhD, is a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California, Irvine’s Program in Public Health. He also has an adjunct appointment at the UCI School of Medicine’s Department of Hematology/Oncology.

Dr. Milam’s research focuses on young adult cancer survivorship, positive psychology, and HIV prevention/control. Dr. Milam’s interest in cancer research led him to become the Co-Leader of the Cancer Control Program at the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, where he facilitates research to identify and reduce cancer risk, and improve quality of life throughout the cancer care trajectory. Aside from teaching at UCI, Dr. Milam is a Co-Founder & Co-Director of the Center for Young Adult Cancer Survivorship Research. The Center is an interdisciplinary collaborative, including affiliate faculty, trainees, and patient advocates at UCI and USC. The research focuses on population health, health services and systems, wellbeing, quality of life, and medical outcomes among younger cancer survivors under the age of 50.

Friday, October 22nd
Jean Ho – University of California, Irvine
Hypertension Medications Which Help Ward Off Memory Loss
Jean K. Ho, Ph.D. is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Irvine. Dr. Ho’s research interests include: vascular contributions to Alzheimer’s disease and dementia; antihypertensive medications and associations with cognition in older adults; the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) and angiotensin receptor signaling pathways; improving detection of preclinical cognitive decline through neuropsychological assessment; and accounting for practice effects in neuropsychological assessment.