Pilot Projects

Pilot Projects are funded through CSAAH to support research on cardiovascular disease, tumoregenesis, mental health, and other social and cultural determinants of health.

CURRENT PILOT PROJECTS

Mental Health Problems in Asian American Children
Emerging Asian and Pacific Islander Immigrant Populations in SmallerCitites
The Relationship between Helicobacter pylori and Other Viral and Chronic Diseases

Mental Health Problems in Asian American Children

PI: Keng-Yen Huang, PhD (2007-2009)

This study aims to investigate mental health problems in preschool-age Asian American children as a first step toward the provision of culturally-informed prevention programs intended to reduce health disparities for Asian American families. This study investigates risk and protective factors and the symptom presentation in two important subgroups of Asian Americans—South Asian Americans (e.g., Indian, Pakistani) and East Asian American (e.g., Chinese, Japanese, Korean). There is a dearth of literature on mental health problems in young Asian American children, and virtually no studies focusing on South-Asian Americans, even though this is an increasingly large subpopulation in the U.S.

The specific aims of this study are:

To evaluate the psychometric properties of measures of child mental health problems and potential risk and protective factors (e.g., parenting practices, cultural adaptation, parental depression) in South Asian (SA) and East Asian (EA) subpopulations. Psychometric properties of measures in Asian American children and families will be considered in their own right and also relative to other ethnic minority populations (e.g., Black American and Latino American).
To provide descriptive information on child mental health problems and potential risk and protective factors in SA and EA families relative to other pan-ethnic groups (i.e., Black American, Latino American).
To examine pathways for childhood mental health problems in young SA and EA children, including exploring the role of parental culture adaptation, parenting practices, parental psychological functioning, and socio-demographic factors.
To compare psychopathology models for Asian Americans with models for other ethnic minority groups.

Emerging Asian & Pacific Islander Immigrant Populations in Smaller Cities

PI: John Chin, PhD (2007-2009)

The specific aims of the study are to:

To identify the smaller cities that have experienced rapid growth of API immigrants in the last 10 years using census and other publicly available data.
Using publicly available data, to describe the key patterns of health needs, health access, and health disparities among API immigrants in smaller cities and the sociodemographic and locational characteristics of the cities that are associated with these patterns. Sociodemographic and locational characteristics include population demographics, size, density, and growth; city location, housing availability, and major industries.

The Relationship between Helicobacter pylori and Other Viral and Chronic Diseases

PI: Guillermo Perez-Perez, ScD (2008-2010)