Faculty and Student Awards 2025-2026

Project New Village (PNV) is a grassroots nonprofit centered on increasing food access and community empowerment in Southeastern San Diego. PNV started the People’s Produce Mobile Farmer’s Market (PPMFM) in 2022, to make fresh produce easier to access. The PPMFM serves Southeastern San Diego communities to increase food sovereignty. SNAP benefits are monetary stipends provided to eligible households <130% poverty line and can be used to purchase food in SNAP-authorized stores. About 5 million California households receive SNAP benefits to improve their food security. To expand accessibility, the PPMFM accepts SNAP. Voluntary English and Spanish surveys were collected at PPMFM locations from August 2024 to October 2025; participants received a $10 token incentive. The analytic sample only included SNAP participants (N=1,763). Survey items covered demographics, awareness that SNAP is accepted at PPMFM, and typical SNAP shopping locations. Analyses included descriptive statistics, Chi-squared tests,and binary logistic regression models in SPSS v31. Overall, 75.7% were aware that SNAP benefits were accepted at PPMFM. The sample was 71.2% female, 46.4% were over age 50, 30.5% were Hispanic/Latino, and 11.8% had less than High School education. SNAP was used at most often at grocery stores (49.1%) and supermarkets/superstores (40.5%), with a few using it at farmers’ markets (4.8%), convenience stores (3%), corner stores (1.7%), and specialty stores (0.9%). Chi-square tests showed sex was significantly associated with SNAP awareness: 81.1% of men and 73.4% of women were aware (p<0.001). Ethnicity was not significantly associated with awareness. Logistic regression indicated participants ages 34–41 were 45% (95% CI: 0.27-0.75,p=0.002) less likely to be aware, compared to those ages 18–25. Higher educational attainment was positively associated with awareness. Most were aware PPMFM accepts SNAP benefits. Most participants used SNAP at supermarkets and grocery stores, while only 4.8 percent used benefits at farmers’ markets.

Purpose: Oral hygiene behaviors established during young adulthood are critical for preventing dental disease. Yet, limited research has examined adherence to American Dental Association (ADA) brushing guidelines among Mexican American young adults, a population experiencing oral health disparities. This study examined adherence to ADA brushing guidelines and factors influencing oral hygiene behaviors in this population. Methods: Cross-sectional survey data were collected between May-December 2025 using Qualtrics. Eligible participants were current San Diego State University (SDSU) students aged 18–30 who self-identified as Mexican American, had a valid SDSU email address, and could read, write, and speak English. Participants were recruited through flyers and in-person outreach and received a gift card upon survey completion. Survey measures included brushing and flossing frequency, oral health knowledge and attitudes, Health Belief Model constructs, the Oral Health Behavior Social Support Short Form (OHBSS-SF) scales, and demographic characteristics. Descriptive, bivariate, and unadjusted logistic regression analyses were conducted in SPSS version 31 (N = 187) to examine factors associated with adherence to ADA brushing guidelines. Results: This study is a work in progress. Preliminary bivariate and unadjusted logistic regression analyses found no statistically significant associations between oral hygiene product use and meeting ADA brushing guidelines. Fluoride toothpaste use was not associated with meeting ADA brushing guidelines (OR = 0.79, p = 0.64), and toothbrush type was also not significantly associated with adherence; however, adults using electric toothbrushes had slightly higher odds of meeting ADA brushing guidelines compared to manual toothbrush users (OR = 1.24, p = 0.57). Conclusion: Preliminary findings suggest that oral hygiene product use alone does not explain adherence to ADA brushing guidelines among Mexican American young adults, and analyses are ongoing to examine behavioral and psychosocial influences.

Introduction: The overdose epidemic and toxic illicit drug supply expose people who use drugs (PWUD) to external factors that may erode perceived control over their lives. “Fatalism” (the philosophy that all events are predetermined and unchangeable) has been identified as a determinant of low healthcare engagement. We posit that fatalism can also be leveraged to understand why PWUD may not engage with harm reduction services. Exposure to overdose mortality among peers causes changes in both attitudes toward death and use of harm reduction among PWUD in qualitative studies. Methods: The study used baseline survey data from the MI-CHANCE trial, which is testing an intervention promoting safer drug use behaviors among PWUD using opioids and/or methamphetamine in San Diego (n=448). Outcomes included binary self-reported adoption of specific harm reduction practices (such as naloxone carrying and supervised consumption) in the last six months. Fatalism toward overdose was measured with a six item Likert scale adapted from a validated instrument developed by Straughan and Seow. Our exposure of interest was lifetime fatal overdoses in one’s personal network. We measured associations between the exposure of interest, fatalism, and adoption of harm reduction behaviors using logistic regression. Our mediation analysis used linear and logistic regression to understand fatalism's role as a mediator between the exposure of interest and engagement in harm reduction among PWUD. Results: Exposure to in-network overdoses was not associated with use of harm reduction practices or fatalism. Increased fatalism predicted reduced self-reported injection drug use (IDU) (aOR:1.27, 95% CI: 1.14-1.40) and increased use of any harm reduction practices (aOR: 1.26, 95% CI: 1.04-1.53). Fatalism did not mediate the relationship between the exposure of interest and harm reduction engagement. Conclusions: This is the first study to quantify fatalism among PWUD and related increases in harm reduction use. Fatalism among PWUD may lead to awareness of overdose risk (to be explored in future work).

Domestic violence (DV) is a major global public health issue, affecting an estimated one in four women worldwide. Although Armenia has expanded NGO-operated DV support services over the past decade, there is currently no data about how survivors engage with these services geographically or how lived experiences shape help-seeking. This convergent mixed methods study examines spatial patterns of DV service utilization and integrates qualitative insights to contextualize geographic disparities in access. Quantitative spatial analysis used DV intake data from four regional support centers in Armenia for 2024. DV cases among women aged 15 years and older (n = 400) were aggregated to the community (ADM2) level across 14 communities in four provinces. Service-utilization rates were calculated per 10,000 women. Population-weighted centroids were generated, and geographic accessibility was measured as Euclidean distance to the nearest DV support center. Global Moran’s I and local GetisOrd Gi* statistics assessed spatial clustering. Qualitative data included focus group discussions with 61 survivors and semistructured interviews with 10 service providers across Armenia. Data were thematically analyzed to identify barriers and facilitators to help-seeking. DV service-utilization rates varied widely across communities, ranging from 2 to 41 per 10,000 women aged 15+, with several rural communities reporting very low or zero utilization. No significant global or local spatial clustering was observed. Distance to DV support centers ranged from 2.1 km to 46.7 km. Qualitative findings highlighted barriers not captured by spatial metrics, including stigma, fear of disclosure, limited awareness of services, transportation constraints, and uneven outreach capacity. These findings indicate inequities in DV service utilization across communities in Armenia. Social, structural, and institutional factors strongly shape help-seeking. Targeted outreach, strategic referral pathways, and transportation accommodations are needed to improve access in underserved communities.