Health equity & justice reform grants

July 16, 2024

Irises spring to life this summer near McGaugh Hall. (Photo: Steve Zylius/UC Irvine)

UC IRVINE NEWS

Grant will fund health equity and vaccine confidence survey

Suellen Hopfer, an associate professor of health, society and behavior (inset)

Merck has awarded Suellen Hopfer, an associate professor of health, society and behavior, $156,000 to study health equity and vaccine confidence through a series of questionnaires and surveys to community members and healthcare providers. Hopfer and team will engage with residents of South-Central Los Angeles, and racially diverse healthcare provider students enrolled at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, a minority-serving institution, to understand their attitude towards vaccines. “We hope to gain valuable insights into the multifaceted factors that shape vaccine confidence,” said Hopfer, “as well as strategies for preparing future healthcare providers to promote vaccine confidence and uptake.

New Langson IMCA exhibit captures the joys of summer

“Picturing Summer,” a new exhibition at the Jack and Shanaz Langson Institute and Museum of California Art, presents 31 paintings from the late-19th to mid-20th century drawn from the museum’s collection and five other works on loan from private collections. The landscapes feature verdant meadows in the state’s northern regions, shorelines and the mountains of the Pacific Coast and Sierra Nevada ranges. The exhibition will be on view from July 20 through Sept. 20 at Langson IMCA’s interim site on the main level of the Airport Tower building at 18881 Von Karman Ave., in Irvine.

Language barriers in criminal justice subject of new grant

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has awarded $450,000 to Nancy Rodríguez, a professor of criminology, law and society, to fund her effort to assess the challenges posed by language barriers within the American justice system. The Rodríguez team recently produced a policy brief as a result of a previous MacArthur grant that examined how many Latinos are arrested, detained and sentenced in courts in select U.S. cities. They found that while organizations and agencies within local criminal justice systems often receive federal funding and are mandated to provide language services, specific practices and the extent to which services are made available in those systems remain relatively unknown. Her next report will focus on promising practices associated with language access services and a framework for language access delivery.

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Nursing professor inducted into Sigma Theta Tau international hall of fame

Jung-Ah Lee, a professor and associate dean in the Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing, has been inducted into the International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame by the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing. “Receiving this award is a tremendous honor,” Lee said. “Dementia significantly impacts caregivers, causing stress and isolation, particularly in underserved communities where individuals care for elderly family members. These caregivers often hesitate to seek help and are unaware of the resources available or how to access them. This recognition will help raise awareness about the need to develop solutions that address the real-world challenges faced by our most vulnerable populations.”

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