FIU-RCMI Prior Research

Co-Prinicipal Investigators: Elisa Trucco, PhD and Matthew Sutherland, PhD
Florida International University

The Antecedents and Consequences of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems Project (ACE Project)

Dr. Elisa Trucco, FIU-RCMI ACE Project Co-PI and Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, and Dr. Matthew Sutherland, FIU-RCMI ACE Project Co-PI and Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, led the  5-year project through Florida’s first Health Disparities Research Center at a Minority Institution (RCMI) funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD/NIH). The ACE Project examined risk and protective factors that lead to electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) usage (e.g. e-cigarettes, vaping, etc.) among teenagers and the impact of ENDS usage on the developing brain. For more information about the study, please click here.

Co-Investigator: Elena Cyrus, PhD
University of Central Florida

Examining the impact of macro and ecological disparities on COVID-19 health related outcomes in the United States

Dr. Elena Cyrus, Assistant Professor, College of Medicine, University of Central Florida, Dr. Eric Wagner, FIU-RCMI Principal Investigator and Professor, School of Social Work, Dr. Michelle Hospital, FIU-RCMI Administrative Co-Core Leader and Research Associate Professor, Department of Biostatistics, and Dr. Zoran Bursac, FIU-RCMI Research Infrastructure Core Leader and Professor and Chair, Department of Biostatistics have been awarded a $195,567 grant from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) as a research supplement to the FIU-RCMI. The project evaluates the impact of macro and ecological policies by using state and county level data to report on COVID-19 health outcomes experienced by communities of color. The project will also be conducting in-depth interviews among community members and providers to understand their perceptions about accessing and providing healthcare services.

Co-Investigators: Elisa Trucco, PhD and Matthew Sutherland, PhD
Florida International University

Impact of COVID-19-related experiences on mental health, substance use, and the brain among underrepresented youth: Leveraging the ACE Project

Dr. Elisa Trucco, FIU-RCMI ACE Project Co-PI and Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, and Dr. Matthew Sutherland, FIU-RCMI ACE Project Co-PI and Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, have been awarded a $184,189 grant from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities as an urgent competitive revision application in response to NIMHD’s COVID-19-related NOSI (NOT-MD-20-019). The project will delineate risk and protective factors linked with ENDS use initiation, escalation, and the potential shift to other drugs (e.g., cannabis) in the context of the developing brain with a focus on Hispanic youth. The overall objective of the proposed work is to leverage the ACE project’s research infrastructure to identify COVID-19 experiences that influence individual, social, and neurobiological risk/protective factors for substance use (SU), mental health (MH), and neurobiological outcomes among participants from a NIH-designated health disparity population.

Co-Investigator: Jason W. Mitchell, PhD, MPH

Bridging mhealth interventions with community-level services for couples-based HIV/STI prevention

Dr. Jason Mitchell, Associate Professor, Department of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social work, has been awarded a $656,827 grant from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) as a research supplement to the FIU-RCMI. The project aims to  implement a couples-based app intervention for tailored HIV prevention. This mHealth, couples-based HIV/STI prevention intervention project will use a Type 1 Hybrid Design Trial to determine efficacy to reduce HIV risk via uptake of evidence-based strategies and a tailored prevention plan among male couples who are in a new relationship (defined as 1 year or less). In addition, the project will be one of the first studies to investigate how intervention usage is associated with the outcomes over time, as well as explore best practices for future implementation and dissemination of such interventions by considering a variety of potential contexts.

Co-Investigator: Jessy Dévieux, PhD

Addressing health disparities in engagement, retention, and utilization of PrEP among women of color (WOC) in South Florida

Dr. Jessy Dévieux, Professor, Department of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social work, has been awarded a $698,846 grant from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) as a research supplement to the FIU-RCMI. The project aims to address health disparities in engagement, retention, and utilization of PrEP among women of color in South Florida. The purpose of this study is to use a Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) approach to finalize, and pilot-test a multi-component evidence-based intervention to reduce health disparities in engagement, utilization, and retention in PrEP care, with the goal of improving HIV prevention outcomes for the target population of WOC in South Florida, primarily African American, Latina, and Haitian women in three designated Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) counties: Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties.

Co-Investigator: Michelle Hospital, PhD
Florida International University

Enhancing COVID-19 vaccine health literacy among underrepresented minority communities

Dr. Michelle Hospital, FIU-RCMI Community Engagement Core Leader and Research Associate Professor, Department of Biostatistics, has been awarded a $199,998 grant from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) as a research supplement to the FIU-RCMI. This project focuses on the developing, designing, and mounting of community-partnered efforts (i.e., Town Hall Meetings) to promote COVID-19 vaccine literacy among Under Represented Minority (URM) groups, with direct attention to readiness for participation in candidate vaccine trials and approved vaccine rapid deployment. The aims of this supplement are to inform and educate Miami-Dade URM communities through Town Halls facilitated by community organizations that serve these hard-to reach communities.

Co-Investigator: Shanna Burke, PhD, MSW, MPH
Florida International University

Sleep and cognition among Latinx midlife adults at-risk for Alzheimer’s Disease

Dr. Shanna Burke, FIU-RCMI Pilot Grant Awardee and Assistant Professor, School of Social Work, and Dr. Eric Wagner, FIU-RCMI Principal Investigator and Professor, School of Social Work, have been awarded a $400,000 grant from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), as a research supplement to the FIU-RCMI. This study focuses on the relationship between sleep literacy, sleep, and cognition, in a community-based sample of Latinx first degree relatives of adults diagnosed with AD. Despite the fact that low sleep literacy may lead to sleep deficits (i.e., longer sleep latency, shorter sleep duration, insufficient sleep efficiency, and increased sleep fragmentation), this area is unexplored, particularly among Latinx adults, a population at elevated risk of experiencing low levels of sleep literacy and its adverse consequences. Latinx sleep disparities are attributed to a variety of potentially interacting factors including stress from discrimination, acculturation, immigration policies and experiences, and neighborhood safety concerns.