Congratulations to PhD in Geography and Urban Regional Analysis students Claire Schuch and Brisa Urquieta-Hernandez

Congratulations to PhD in Geography and Urban Regional Analysis students Claire Schuch and Brisa Urquieta-Hernandez lead authors on a research paper selected by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJ) as one of the four “most influential“ articles in 2014 in the area of identification and elimination of disparities in health care.

The paper, Por Nuestros Ojos: Understanding Social Determinants of Health through the Eyes of Youth, co-authored by UNC Charlotte Geography faculty Heather Smith, Janni Sorensen and Owen Furuseth and community partners from Carolinas HealthCare System (Michael Dulin) and the Latin American Coalition (Lacey Williams), details the innovative work of the Mecklenburg Area Partnership for Primary Care Research (MAPPR) as they brought together UNC Charlotte and local Latino high school students to use Photovoice to research the social and spatial determinants of healthy/unhealthy neighborhoods in East and South Charlotte.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJ) is the largest and most influential health policy/research organization in the US (http://www.rwjf.org/en/about-rwjf.html)

The Mecklenburg Area Partnership for Primary Care Research (MAPPR) is a trans-disciplinary practice based research network designed to study barriers to healthcare access for the underserved and vulnerable populations in Charlotte (http://www.mapprnc.org). Geographers at UNC Charlotte are co-founders and leading members of the MAPPR team.

To learn more about the poll and to vote for Por Nuestros Ojos: Understanding Social Determinants of Health through the Eyes of Youth see – http://www.rwjf.org/en/research-publications/research-features/culture-of-health-reader-poll.html . Voting will continue until Nov. 24, with winner announced in early December.