Research

Recent Lerner Center Faculty Publications

Jiménez Muñoz, P., Peña, M., Villatoro, A.P., Tang, T., DuPont-Reyes, M.J. (2025) Alcohol advertising across Spanish and English television and radio networks in New York City. Journal of Urban Health. (online ahead of print ).

DuPont-Reyes, M.J., Zou, W., Li, J., Villatoro, A.P., Tang, L. (2025) A machine learning languagemodel approach to evaluating mental health awareness content across Spanish- and English-language social media posts on Twitter. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology (online ahead of print)

DuPont-Reyes, M.J., Villatoro, A.P., Tang, L. (2025) Health information scanning and seeking in diverse language, cultural and technological media among Latinx adolescents: cross-sectional study. Journal of Medical Internet Research. 27:e64672.

Kephart LL, Rees VW, Giovenco DP, Subramanian SV. The unequal geography of recreational cannabis retailers in the U.S.
Am J Prev Med. 2025 Aug;69(2):107643. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2025.107643.

Wackowski OA, Mercincavage M, Díaz D, Delnevo CD,
Giovenco DP. Self-reported exposure and reactions to cigarette corrective statements at the point-of-sale among US adults who smoke and youth. Tob Control. 2025. doi: 10.1136/tc-2025-059755

Delnevo CD, Giovenco DP, Villanti AC. Trends in menthol and nonmenthol cigarette consumption in the US: 2009–2024. Tob Control. 2025. doi: 10.1136/tc-2025-059408 

Gatanaga OS, Kwak D, Lim S, Gloria CT.The relationship between intersectional discrimination and mental health outcomes among LGBTQ+ Asians in New York City: an exploratory, mixed-methods study. Psychology & Sexuality. 2024. 1–15.
 
Kish-Doto J, Gloria CT. Change is in the air: considerations for how we communicate about climatechange and health. J Commun Healthc. 2024 Jul;17(2):191-193.
 
Little V, Gatanaga OS, Hutchins S, Gloria CT. Prevalence of suicide risk among a national sample of individuals referred from a primary care subpopulation, 2017-2020. Health Aff Sch. 2023.

Martin, M., Moser, M., Bunger, A., Caron, E.B., Lachman, J. M., Nicholson, J., Raleva, M., Shelton, RC, Shenderovich, Y., Sprange, K., Toomey, E., & Breitenstein, S. The fidelity of implementation in psychosocial and behavioural programs reporting guideline: A Delphi study. In Press, Journal of Clinical and Translational Sciences. 

Lui M, Argov E, Kehm R, Karr A, Moise N, Shelton RC, Tehranifar P. Social Drivers of Guideline- Discordant Breast Cancer Screening by Age and Mortality Risk. In Press, Cancer Epi Biomarkers

Sivesh Kamarajah; Anita Eseenam Agbeko; Dhruv Ghosh; Lisa R Hirschorn; Ismail Lawani; Rachel Shelton; Aneel Bhangu; (2025). Operationalising and measuring equity in implementation sciencefor global health; Sivesh Kamarajah; The Lancet Global Health, letter.

Lee M, Alexander SP, Shelton E, Tharp G, Li WaiKwan, Bernitz M, McNeil M, Metsch LR, Shelton RC*. (2025) Using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research to Understand Student Perceptions of the Reach, Relevance, and Fit of an Opioid Education and Naloxone Training Program on a University Campus in New York City. Translational Behavioral Medicine.

Friedman MR, Wingood G, Krause KD, Krier S, D'souza G, Kempf MC, Mimiaga MJ, Kwait J, Jones D, Martinson J, Marques ET, Tien P, Anastos K, Ramirez C, Cohen M, Camacho-Rivera M, Goparaju L, Rinaldo CR. Medical mistrust and vaccine-hesitant attitudes explain SARS-CoV-2 vaccination disparities in a mixed-serostatus cohort. AIDS. 2024 Nov 5.

Wise JM, Konkle-Parker D, Raper JL, Heaton K, Vance DE, Azuero A, Wingood G, Adimora AA, Topper EF, Kempf MC. Understanding the psychosocial context of employment and occupational productivity among women living with HIV: A mixed-methods study. Work. 2024 Sep 2.

 
Rice WS, Ellison CK, Bruno B, Hussen SA, Chavez M, Nápoles TM, Walcott M, Batchelder AW, Turan B, Kempf MC, Wingood GM, Konkle-Parker DJ, Wilson TE, Johnson MO, Weiser SD, Logie CH, Turan JM, Piper K. Exploring the role of motherhood in healthcare engagement for women living with HIV in the USA. Cult Health Sex. 2024 Jul 23:1-15.

Haley DF, Bullington BW, Tien P, Knittel AK, Bobitt J, Kempf MC, Philbin M, Hanna DB, Lindsey S, Kassaye S, DeHovitz J, Cohen M, Wingood G, Jones DL, Williams MP, Wang RJ, Edmonds A. (2025).Patterns of Cannabis Use among Women With HIV in the United States. AIDS and Behavior.

Yigit I, Wilson TE, Taylor TN, Kassaye SG, Weiser SD, Cohen MH, Gange S, Pence BW, Ofotokun I, Wingood GM, Metsch LR, Brown-Friday J, Floris-Moore M, Kempf MC, Turan JM, Turan B. (2025). Association of experienced stigma in healthcare settings with health outcomes among Black women living with HIV: Mediating roles of internalized stigma, anticipated stigma, and trust in HIV care. Soc Sci Med, 366:117699.

Bergen S, Maughan ED, Johnson KE, Cogan R, Secor M, Sommer M. The History of US Menstrual Health, School Nurses, and the Future of Menstrual Health Equity. Am J Public Health. 2024 Sep;114(9):903-908.

Caruso, B. A., Zulaika, G., Hennegan, J., Ibitoye, M., Blake, S. C., Torondel, B., & Sommer, M. (2025). Attention to menarche, puberty education, and menstrual health monitoring areessential. The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, 9(12), e25-e26.

Bergen, S., Maughan, E. D., Secor, M., Johnson, K. E., Cogan, R., & Sommer, M. (2025). School nurses: An upstream investment for achieving menstrual equity. American Journal of Public Health, 115(9), 1364–1367.

Morrill, A., Balmuth, E. A., Diarra, A., Nguyen, A.-M., Wyss, N., & Sommer, M. (2025). Young men’s perspectives on menstruation in New York City: A qualitative assessment. Sex Roles, 91:47.

Areas of Focus

Health promotion refers to educational, political, regulatory, and organizational support for behavior and environmental changes that are conducive to health (Bartholomew et al., 2011). It moves beyond a focus on individual behavior, toward a wide range of social and structural interventions. Health promotion initiatives are directed at changing social, political, environmental, and economic conditions to support individual and population health (WHO, 1986). 

Health communication provides guidance on how to inform and influence individual, community and institutional decisions that affect health (US HHS, 2014).  As a subfield of health promotion, health communication works to influence policy, regulation, practices, and programs that support desired behavior changes (Schiavo, 2013). Health communication can take the form of discrete health messages, or be incorporated into existing communication media such as news media, advertising sponsorships, and popular entertainment. As such, health communication includes the use of modern multimedia communications, or traditional forms like storytelling, puppet shows, and songs to influence behavior change (Nutbeam, 1998).

References

• Bartholomew, L. K., Parcel, G. S., Kok, G., Gottlieb, N. H. & Fernandez, M. E. (2011). Planning Health Promotion Programs: An Intervention Mapping Approach. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons.

• Nutbeam, D. (1998). Health Promotion Glossary. Health Promotion International. Oxford University Press, 13(4): 349-364.

• Schiavo, R. (2013). Health Communication: From Theory to Practice. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

• United States Department of Health and Human Services. (2014). Health Communication.

• World Health Organization. (1986). The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion.