{"id":263002,"date":"2017-08-15T15:54:47","date_gmt":"2017-08-15T19:54:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=263002"},"modified":"2024-10-29T14:22:45","modified_gmt":"2024-10-29T18:22:45","slug":"mcnair-scholar-gains-first-hand-insights-public-health-disparities-263002","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/mcnair-scholar-gains-first-hand-insights-public-health-disparities-263002\/","title":{"rendered":"McNair Scholar gains first-hand insights on public health disparities"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"retro<\/a>
Summer of Research:<\/a><\/strong> Our latest Newscenter series showcases a cross-section of summer research conducted by undergraduates at Rochester and beyond.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Joy Nicholas \u201919 got her first look at the research process this summer\u2014and likes what she saw.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like the opportunity that research presents to bring awareness to an issue that a lot of people don\u2019t know about,\u201d says the rising junior in public health. \u201cYou can use the research to help advocate for people and to make a change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nicholas, a McNair scholar<\/a>,<\/strong> studied whether race and ethnicity is associated with suboptimal infant feeding practices. For example, are low-income, minority women more likely to disregard recommendations that they exclusively breastfeed their infants for the first six months, and instead start introducing solid foods or other liquids such as water or juices?<\/p>\n

Thanks to her mentors\u2014Ann Dozier, a professor and chair of public health sciences at the Medical Center, and Holly Widanka, a senior health project coordinator in the department\u2014Nicholas got a comprehensive, nuts-and-bolts look at what the research endeavor involves.<\/p>\n

She stuffed envelopes with the surveys that Dozier\u2019s lab sends out four months postpartum to all mothers who give birth in Monroe County. When the surveys came back, she coded them and performed data input and analysis. Nicholas attended meetings with the team as well as with low-income mothers and fathers for further feedback on survey results. She then transcribed the meeting discussions and coded the comments relevant not only to breastfeeding and complementary feeding, but safe sleeping and passive smoking.<\/p>\n

She even practiced giving a poster presentation of research findings.<\/p>\n

\u201cOftentimes McNair scholars are really putting their toe in the water,\u201d says Dozier. \u201cOur intention is to give them an immersion during their eight weeks with us, so they fully experience what research looks like, including the grunt work that you have to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, some students learn first-hand that research is not<\/em> necessarily something they want to pursue in the future, notes Dozier. \u201cBut it helps them hone more clearly what kind of career they want to have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nicholas says her experience this summer has given her new insights into a complex public health issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of mothers listen to family members or peer advice about how to feed their infants, even more than they listen to their doctors, and start introducing cereal or porridge in their infants diets [before the six months expires],\u201d she says. \u201cSo it\u2019s a challenge getting consistent messaging out about the recommendations.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s grateful for the rigorous introduction Dozier and Widanka devised for her\u2014grunt work and all.<\/p>\n

\u201cHearing about research and actually doing it is completely different. You learn so much by being involved in different aspects of it,\u201d Nicholas says. \u201cI really liked it. I can see myself doing this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nicholas grew up dreaming of one day joining Doctors without Borders. Now she\u2019s found her niche in public health, and is aiming to earn a master\u2019s degree, perhaps after a stint working abroad with the Peace Corps.<\/p>\n

\u201cOptimal breast feeding is a especially important in developing countries,\u201d Nicholas says, \u201cbecause sometimes the water is not safe, and formula dilution carries a high risk of threatening the baby\u2019s health.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Joy Nicholas \u201919 got her first look at the research process this summer\u2014and likes what she saw., participating in all aspects of a Medical Center study on how race and ethnicity impact infant feeding practices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":286,"featured_media":263272,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[26692,26232,41362,20932],"class_list":["post-263002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-community","tag-class-of-2019","tag-ronald-e-mcnair-post-baccalaureate-achievement-program","tag-summer-of-research-2017","tag-undergraduate-research"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMcNair Scholar gains first-hand insights on public health disparities<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Joy Nicholas \u201919 got her first look at the research process this summer\u2014and likes what she saw.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/mcnair-scholar-gains-first-hand-insights-public-health-disparities-263002\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"McNair Scholar gains first-hand insights on public health disparities\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Joy Nicholas \u201919 got her first look at the research process this summer\u2014and likes what she saw.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/mcnair-scholar-gains-first-hand-insights-public-health-disparities-263002\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News Center\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-08-15T19:54:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-10-29T18:22:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/fea-joy-nicholas.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Bob Marcotte\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Bob Marcotte\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/mcnair-scholar-gains-first-hand-insights-public-health-disparities-263002\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/mcnair-scholar-gains-first-hand-insights-public-health-disparities-263002\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Bob Marcotte\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e0d8d271cd290d592461fa9cefca013b\"},\"headline\":\"McNair Scholar gains first-hand insights on public health disparities\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-08-15T19:54:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-10-29T18:22:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/mcnair-scholar-gains-first-hand-insights-public-health-disparities-263002\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":555,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/mcnair-scholar-gains-first-hand-insights-public-health-disparities-263002\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/fea-joy-nicholas.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Class of 2019\",\"Ronald E. 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