The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research (CHPR) and MolinaCares today named the 10 finalists in the inaugural Health Equity Challenge, a competition that provides UCLA graduate students the opportunity to respond to a health equity issue in California. The 10 finalists will turn their ideas into full proposals that a community-based organization can implement, and two community organizations will be awarded up to $50,000 each in funding to implement the project.
Selected projects include direct interventions and program development and range from an app on gender-affirming treatment for transgender and gender diverse youth, to a de-escalation toolkit for medical providers working with patients who are experiencing a mental health crisis, to an intervention aimed at improving the quality of maternal care for immigrant women.
“We asked UCLA graduate students for ideas to improve health equity in California and they really delivered,” said Kathryn Kietzman, PhD, project lead and director of the UCLA CHPR Health Equity Program. “There were so many impressive submissions showing true innovation, passion, and leadership. These proposals all have the potential to have a tangible impact on communities who face significant inequities: LGBTQ+ people, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, immigrants, older adults, Black girls, and many more.”
“As an aspiring OBGYN, I am interested in addressing disparities in maternal morbidity and mortality, including maternal mental health conditions which disproportionately affect systemically marginalized groups,” said Alma Lopez, a Health Equity Challenge finalist and MD and Master of Public Policy dual degree student at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. “I hope that through the Health Equity Challenge, we can help address maternal mental health inequities among Los Angeles communities of color and low socioeconomic status, and bridge access gaps to compassionate quality care.”
Each student finalist will be awarded $2,500 and paired with a mentor to develop a full project proposal over the next 10 weeks and identify a community partner to partner with. At the end of the project, an independent review committee will review the final proposals: two winners will be announced, and their selected community organizations will receive up to $50,000 each to implement the proposal. The two winning students will receive an additional $2,500 and to continue to document the impact of the project’s implementation.
The 10 finalists are:
Sonya Brooks
PhD in Urban Schooling, UCLA Graduate School of Education
Project: Create convivial spaces for Black girls and their mothers/caregivers to cook and share intergenerational narratives, navigating through spaces of healing, health, and advocating for their unmet needs.
Mentor: Dr. Keith C. Norris, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Lei Chen
PhD in Social Welfare, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs
Project: Develop a “Research-Practice Consensus” program to connect researchers and community organizations working with older immigrant adults to bridge the gap in health care and social services and build trust and solidarity with each other.
Mentor: Dr. Keith C. Norris, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Annalea Forrest
Master of Social Welfare and Master of Public Health, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs and UCLA Fielding School of Public Health
Project: Develop an integrative health platform to increase the accessibility, availability, and affordability of psychotherapeutic services, trauma informed exercise, and nutritional counseling for BIPOC and low-income communities in Los Angeles.
Mentor: Dr. Rashmi Mullur, MD, Endocrinologist, UCLA Health
James Huỳnh
PhD in Community Health Sciences, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health
Project: Develop an Intergenerational LGBTQ+ Community Space to bridge the social gap between different generations of Vietnamese, Latinx, and Black immigrants, refugees, and their children.
Mentor: Ilan H. Meyer, PhD, Distinguished Senior Scholar for Public Policy, Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law
Angelica Johnsen
Doctor of Medicine, Charles R. Drew/UCLA Medical Education Program
Project: Develop a de-escalation toolkit for medical providers working with patients who are experiencing a mental health crisis, providing guidance on de-escalating high-acuity mental health crises and stabilizing patients who are in distress, without correctional measures, such as incarceration, chemical, or physical restraints.
Mentor: Dr. O. Kenrik Duru, MD, Professor of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Gwendolyn Lee
Doctor of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Project: Create an obesity and weight management program for adults who obtain health care at Los Angeles County safety net hospitals.
Mentor: Dr. Michael Garcia, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Alma Lopez
MD and Master of Public Policy dual degree, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs
Project: Work with community clinics to address gaps and disparities in maternal mental health, including developing a series of workshops for pregnant and recently pregnant women for education on peripartum mental health and recognition of symptoms.
Mentor: Dr. Michael Ong, MD PhD, Professor in Residence of Medicine and Health Policy and Management, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and UCLA Fielding School of Public Health
Michelle Kao Nakphong
PhD in Community Health Sciences, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health
Project: Develop a community-level patient education approach to educate immigrant women about their rights to high-quality care and empower them in their own care, and a health care systems audit and feedback approach aimed at designing a quality improvement program within the health care system.
Mentor: Dr. Candace Gragnani, MD, Associate Physician Diplomate, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Bianca Salvetti
Doctor of Nursing Practice student, UCLA School of Nursing
Project: Implement an educational app with information on gender-affirming treatment — benefits, risks, resources, and potential long-term effects — to improve knowledge and decisional conflict amongst transgender and gender diverse youth and their caregivers.
Mentor: Dr. Erin Baroni, MD, Clinical Instructor of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Skye Shodahl
PhD in Community Health Sciences, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health
Project: Advance breast/chestfeeding equity in Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) pregnant and lactating parents, through the development of a culturally tailored and linguistically relevant breast/chestfeeding toolkit for providers to share with share with this overlooked and understudied population.
Mentor: May Wang, DrPh, Professor, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health
“Assuring equitable care for diverse populations is a challenge for us all nationally, but even more so in California,” said Carolyn Ingram, executive director of The Molina Healthcare Charitable Foundation. “That’s why I am so thrilled that MolinaCares has been able to partner with UCLA in selecting this set of future health care leaders as they design innovations to reduce disparities in communities across the Los Angeles area.”
Read more about the finalists on the Health Equity Challenge website.
The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research (CHPR) is one of the nation’s leading health policy research centers and the premier source of health policy information for California. UCLA CHPR improves the public’s health through high quality, objective, and evidence-based research and data that informs effective policymaking. UCLA CHPR is the home of the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) and is part of the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and affiliated with the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.
Established by Molina Healthcare, Inc., The MolinaCares Accord oversees a community investment platform created to improve the health and well-being of disadvantaged populations by funding meaningful, measurable, and innovative programs and solutions that improve health, life, and living in local communities.
Molina Healthcare of California has been providing government-funded care for over 40 years. The Company serves members through Medi-Cal, Medicare, Medicare-Medicaid (Duals) and Covered California (Marketplace). Molina’s service areas include Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, San Diego, Orange County, and Imperial counties. Through its locally operated health plans, Molina Healthcare, Inc., a FORTUNE 500 company, served approximately 4.8 million members as of September 30, 2021. For more information about Molina Healthcare of California, visit MolinaHealthcare.com.