CSDE is pleased to introduce three of our new UW Research Affiliates! Nicole Eisenberg, (Senior Research Scientist, Social Work) With expertise in prevention science, program evaluation, and international collaborations, her work has focused on understanding and measuring risk and protective factors and developmental outcomes in children and youth, extending the reach of preventive interventions and adapting them to new contexts, and the use of qualitative and mixed methods research. Kris (Pui Kwan) Ma (Assistant Professor, Family Medicine) studies primary care and behavioral health integration, health service disparities, dementia caregiving, Asian American mental health and cultural adaptations. The overall goal of her research is to improve equitable access and delivery of high-quality behavioral health and aging services in primary care, with an emphasis on racially and ethnically minoritized populations. Griselda Martinez’s (Postdoctoral Scholar, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences) research focuses on the etiology of substance use and internalizing mental health problems among ethnically and racially diverse populations, with an emphasis on Latinx adolescents and young adults. Learn more about each affiliate in the full story!

• Nicole Eisenberg – Nicole Eisenberg is a Senior Research Scientist at the Social Development Research Group and the Director of International Programs at The Center for Communities That Care. She has contributed to or led numerous projects aimed at promoting wellbeing and/or preventing behavioral health problems among children and youth. With expertise in prevention science, program evaluation, and international collaborations, her work has focused on understanding and measuring risk and protective factors and developmental outcomes in children and youth, extending the reach of preventive interventions and adapting them to new contexts, and the use of qualitative and mixed methods research. She has also worked collaboratively with communities to help them collect and use survey data for decision making and prevention planning.

 

• Kris Ma – Dr. Kris Ma is an assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine at University of Washington, Seattle. She studies primary care and behavioral health integration, health service disparities, dementia caregiving, Asian American mental health and cultural adaptations. The overall goal of her research is to improve equitable access and delivery of high-quality behavioral health and aging services in primary care, with an emphasis on racially and ethnically minoritized populations. As an Asian woman and immigrant, she has witnessed firsthand the harms caused by significant service gaps for marginalized individuals. Therefore, she is committed to using knowledge and science to build better systems of care that meet the needs of diverse and marginalized populations. She has two main lines of research. Her first line of research is the integration of behavioral health services in primary care, with the goal of increasing patient access to evidence-based interventions that are effective in the treatment of mental health, substance use, and medical conditions. She studies workforce, payment, and cultural barriers to integrating behavioral health in primary care. Her second line of research is health disparities in older adults of color, including multilingual Asian American immigrants. Using community engagement strategies, she examines the systemic, cultural, and linguistic barriers to care and design culturally responsive interventions to improve the management of chronic diseases, behavioral health, and dementia in Asian Americans.

 

• Griselda Martinez – Dr. Martinez’s research focuses on the etiology of substance use and internalizing mental health problems among ethnically and racially diverse populations, with an emphasis on Latinx adolescents and young adults. Her program of research also aims to understand risk and protective factors for substance use and internalizing mental health problems that may inform areas of emphasis in interventions that support the health and well-being of adolescents and young adults.

Skeptics of cash bail reforms have cited a potential risk for community violence, particularly violence against women. A new study from former CSDE Alum Taylor Riley (Carolina Population Center) and Affiliate Avanti Adhia (UW School of Nursing) examines this relationship and finds no evidence that New Jersey’s cash bail reform increased rates of fatal violence against women. Researchers analyzed data from 2015–2019, comparing New Jersey to 21 states without bail reform, and found no significant changes in intimate partner violence-related homicides, pregnancy-associated homicides, or overall homicides of adult women. The findings suggest policies reducing pretrial incarceration can address mass incarceration without exacerbating fatal intimate partner violence. Read the full study here.

The 2020 Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) protests in Seattle raised important questions about healthcare needs during and after such events. In a recent study published in Injury Prevention, CSDE Affiliate Anthony Bui and colleagues analyzed emergency department data from two major hospitals near CHAZ, identifying 48 protest-related injury visits. The majority of injuries resulted from assaults, crowd-control weapons, and ground-level falls. These findings aim to inform healthcare providers and policymakers about potential injury patterns during protests to enhance preparedness and response strategies. Read the full study here.