Monideepa Bhattacharya Becerra

Tobacco use remains a global population health issue, including in high-income nations such as the United States (U.S.). Although the overall prevalence of tobacco use has decreased among U.S. adul...

Survivors of human trafficking often experience violence, exploitation, and coercion into criminal acts at the hands of traffickers (U.S. Department of State, 2024; Homeland Security, 2025). Global...

Non-consensual condom removal, or stealthing, is increasingly recognized as a distinct form of sexual harm with population health and legal implications. W

Competency-based education (CBE) is an outcome-oriented instructional approach that ensures students master essential skills before advancing. In public health education, CBE aligns with professional competencies set by several accrediting bodies to prepare graduates for workforce demands. This repeated measure quasi-experimental study evaluates student self-efficacy in applying professional skills within a restructured Master of Public Health program designed under a CBE framework. A 2-year pilot assessment guided the program’s redesign, focusing on competency alignment, curriculum mapping, and skill development. Initial evaluations identified gaps in applied learning, prompting course restructuring to emphasize hands-on experience and higher-order cognitive skills. The redesigned program introduced a cohort-based model, service-learning integration, and a boot camp to ensure foundational knowledge consistency. A culminating Graduate Student Symposium provided students with an opportunity to showcase their applied skills to industry professionals. By examining student self-efficacy within this framework, this study highlights the impact of CBE on professional preparedness. Findings contribute to ongoing discussions on best practices in graduate public health education and provide insights for educators and policymakers seeking to enhance training models. This study underscores the significance of CBE in fostering confidence and competence in public health professionals, ultimately strengthening workforce readiness.

Background: South Asian Americans (SAA) are one of the fastest-growing immigrant groups in the U.S. and face significant health disparities, particularly regarding chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. Dietary patterns play a crucial role in these disparities, with acculturation to Western diets linked to poorer health outcomes. Despite this, the impact of food insecurity on dietary habits among SAAs remains underexplored. This study aims to examine the availability, cost, and quality of ethnic food items and how food insecurity influences dietary practices in Southern California’s SAA population. Methods: The study was conducted in San Bernardino County, California, with field data collection focused on five South Asian ethnicity-specific grocery stores and three Western grocery stores. We assessed the availability and cost of key ingredients for commonly prepared SAA dishes. Additionally, focus group interviews were held with South Asian immigrants to understand food insecurity challenges and dietary adaptations. Results: The study found significant disparities in food availability and cost between SAA-ethnic grocery stores and Western stores. SAA stores were less accessible and more widely dispersed, with an average distance of 10 miles between them. While ingredients like ginger paste and cumin powder were available in both types of stores, items such as ghee, fenugreek seeds, and black gram were harder to find in Western stores. Focus group participants noted that ethnic foods, especially vegetarian ingredients, were more expensive than Western alternatives, leading many to substitute traditional meals with cheaper, less nutritious options. Participants also raised concerns about the poor quality of items in ethnic stores, such as expired produce, which further limited their food choices. Conclusions: Food insecurity, driven by limited availability, high cost, and poor quality of ethnic foods, poses significant challenges to the SAA community’s diet and health. Addressing these barriers could improve food security and health outcomes among SAA immigrants.

Stealthing, the nonconsensual removal of a condom during sexual intercourse, is a prevalent yet underreported form of sexual misconduct, particularly among college students. This white paper examines the legal landscape, gaps in responses, and the burden of stealthing on college students. It presents actionable strategies for college campuses to combat stealthing, including updating policies, enforcing a zero-tolerance policy, training staff, providing survivor-centered support services, integrating cultural competency, and ensuring transparent enforcement of processes. These strategies aim to empower college campuses to prevent and reduce stealthing, promote informed consent, and enhance survivor support.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted nearly all aspects of daily life, including academic experiences for college students. While studies have highlighted the various barriers to virtual learning and with many institutions adopting a mix of synchronous and asynchronous options, there is limited evidence of what is ideal for students dealing with the ongoing challenges of the pandemic. This exploratory study uses mixed methods to assess the perception of college students on the type of virtual learning, their opportunities for engagement and expectations of post pandemic education at a Hispanic Serving Institution. The findings highlight emergent themes including resources, communication, empathy, workload, and academic-life balance. Students’ voices recommend preference for hybrid as the most popular, synchronous courses over asynchronous, and suggest students’ sense of empathy for faculty, their workload substantially increased than face-to-face instruction

Asthma is one of the principal causes of absenteeism from school and the leading cause of emergency department visits for children in the United States. Some dietary habits are associated with asthma prevalence and play a role in the pathogenesis and control of symptoms. The objective of this study was to characterize dietary factors that may affect asthma outcomes among children with asthma in California. The California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) is the largest state health survey in the nation. This cross-sectional study included 7687 surveys, representing an estimated annual 710,534 children (ages 2–11) reported to have asthma between 2001 and 2015. Analysis was survey-weighted. We used multivariable regression, adjusting for covariates, to examine the association between dietary factors and asthma outcomes. Asthmatic children consuming two or more servings of sodas per day had more symptoms of asthma than those who did not consume soda daily (OR = 1.50, 95% CI: 1.04, 2.15). Moreover, those consuming two servings of fruits per day had lower odds of missing school due to asthma. Children with asthma may be affected by certain pro-inflammatory foods that are energy dense. This study provided an additional reason to discourage the consumption of sodas and sugary drinks due to the negative respiratory impact, in addition to their effect on childhood obesity, oral health problems, and future chronic diseases.

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by a highly contagious novel virus called SARS-CoV-2, has led to significant global morbidity and mortality, with disproportionate burden among frontline workers. While the current empirical body of evidence highlights reported depression, burnout, moral injury, compassion fatigue, and post-traumatic stress among healthcare workers, similar assessment among the public health workforce is limited. Given work-related pressure of rapid pandemic management strategies, risk of exposure, potential fatigue, etc., understanding the caregiver burden of the public health workforce is critical. Methods: This study used a convergent parallel mixed-methods design. Participants were recruited using a mix of both convenience and snowball sampling. All data were collected virtually and kept anonymous. All statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS version 28, and all qualitative results were thematically analyzed using the grounded theory approach. Results: Among the study participants, nearly 65% reported that their personal lives were impacted due to providing COVID-19 related services. Furthermore, a majority (88%) reported poor sleep health, including low daytime wakefulness, while 24% reported serious psychological distress. Qualitative analysis demonstrated several emergent themes, with central themes indicative of the need for paradigm shift in capacity building for public health emergency preparedness that integrates caregiver support. Conclusions: Results highlight the importance of addressing the caregiver burden experienced by public health and related workforces during public health emergencies.