Public Health Research

Another area of interest in the Samuel Research Team is public health. We have two ongoing projects in this area: Longitudinal Surveillance of the Health and Wellbeing of Emerging Adult Populations and Modulators of COVID-19 Transmission Dynamics in Local, National and Global Populations.

Longitudinal Surveillance of Health and Wellbeing of Emerging Adults Populations 

We use primary data of NC A&T students collected via the National College Health Assessment (NCHA) to examine a wide range of topics concerning the health and wellbeing of emerging adult (18 - 25-year-old) populations. We are collaborating with the Student Health Center (Dr. Yolanda Nicholson) and the Office of Intercultural Engagement (Mr. Gerald Spates) on these projects. We collected NC A&T data in the Fall 2019 (1579 participants) and Spring 2022 (1723 participants).

Prevalence and Correlates of Food Insecurity among HBCU Emerging Adult Populations:

Emerging adulthood is a critical stage in the life course, during which individuals form behavioral patterns and relationships that shape their wellbeing in adulthood (Wood 2018).  ​Food insecurity is related to several health behaviors, college success, and long-term health outcomes of college-based emerging adult populations (DeBate et al., 2021; Gundersen & Ziliak, 2015; Hagedorn et al. 2021; Hagedorn-Hatfield 2022).  ​Therefore, addressing food insecurity during emerging adulthood has strong potential to change the developmental pathways of chronic diseases in later life.​ We will explore the potential benefits of extending meal plan access to upperclassmen / off-campus students through the Swipe Out Hunger program​ and Meal plan subsidies​

Modulators of COVID-19 transmission dynamics in local, national and global populations 

We use publicly available COVID-19 data to examine the effect of social determinants and public policy interventions on the kinetics of infection, death, and vaccination across different regional, national, and global populations.