GREMAP attended the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) 2023 Conference in Milwaukee, WI in full force this past May. Hosted by the Centers for Disease Control and the American Public Health Association, this conference aimed to bring together various NVDRS stakeholders to discuss findings from NVDRS and their implications for how NVDRS data can develop, expand, monitor, and sustain violence prevention programs, policies, and practices. Our presentations included:

• “Understanding the Utility and Limitations of the Narrative Texts in the National Violent Death Reporting System: Review and Recommendations”, co-presented by Linh Dang and Eskira Kahsay
• “Retirement-Related Suicide during the Great Recession: Perspectives from the National Violent Death Reporting System”, presented by Aparna Ananthasubramaniam
• “Area-level Income Polarization and Suicide and Deaths from Undertermined Intent”, presented by Viktoryia Kalesnikava
• “Leveraging machine-learning tools to explore salient themes related to suicide across the life course”, presented by Dr. Mezuk

Overall, the NVDRS Conference was a great opportunity to meet and interact with the other NVDRS stakeholders and are hopeful for collaborations in the future!

Above: The team arriving in Milwaukee via the Lake Express ferry!; Bottom left: Dinner with stakeholders from the Puerto Rico Violent Death Reporting System (PR-VDRS); Bottom Right: the GREMAP team during NVDRS conference activities (left to right: Alejandro Rodriguez-Putnam, Lily Johns, Dr. Mezuk, Aparna Ananthasubramaniam, Viktoryia Kalesnikava, Eskira Kahsay, and Linh Dang)

As a part of the Diabetes and Mental Health (DMH) Initiative, Dr. Mezuk and Caitlan DeVries co-authored a piece on the health and mental health implications of high insulin costs in Dr. Mezuk’s Psychology Today Blog “Ask an Epidemiologist”. The blog discusses a history of insulin, current challenges related to cost and accessibility, and affects on health outcomes and disparities. You can read the full piece here.

This past week we were excited to welcome Dr. Norman Sartorius to CSEPH and to the University of Michigan! Dr. Sartorius is currently the President of the International Association for the Improvement of Mental Health Programs, and is the former director of the Division of Mental Health at the World Health Organization. He is also a mentor for our MIWI program, or the Michigan Integrative Well-being and Inequality Training Program, which took place earlier this week.

During his visit, Dr. Sartorius gave a lecture to CSEPH titled “On the Future of Medicine and Psychiatry” that took a deep dive into major social and economic trends affecting the practice of medicine and psychiatry now and in the future. Throughout this presentation, he highlighted the importance of strengthening and supporting community health and caregiving.

Overall, Dr. Sartorius teaches and reminds us of the importance of empathy and humanism in the practice of medicine, psychiatry, and public health. He especially emphasizes the role of teaching and mentorship in both research and clinical education settings as a way to center empathy and respect for the person or patient. It was a pleasure to meet and discuss with Dr. Sartorius and we were happy to welcome him to the University of Michigan!

Dr. Norman Sartorius (center) pictured with folks from GREMAP

It was a busy month of April for GREMAP! Here are some recent updates on achievements of our staff and students:

Dr. Weidi Qin visited Ann Arbor to attend her graduation ceremony to celebrate her work and achievements at the university. This fall, Weidi will be transitioning from her role as a postdoc working with us and the folks at the Institute for Social Research to a faculty position at University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Social Work. Congratulations Weidi!

Also, GREMAP Students Bella Flores and Pragya Choudhary presented their work at the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) Symposium this April. Bella and Pragya have been a part of the Diabetes and Mental Health Initiative (DMH) team this year and presented their UROP posters on their work on the 3-D Study of Self-Management and Mental Health: Diabetes, Distress, and Disparities. Congratulations to Bella and Pragya for this achievement!

Pragya (left) and Bella (center) pictured with their UROP posters and with Dr. Meuzk (right).

We are excited to announce that GREMAP student Bella Flores is the recipient of this year’s Department of Chemistry Alumni 1st Year Achievement Award! The award is presented to undergraduate students who demonstrate exemplary performance in their chemistry laboratory and lecture work. Congratulations Bella!

We are excited to share GREMAP student Emma Spring’s recent article in in-Training, a collaborative, peer-reviewed publication for medical students. The article, Sensing The Emergency Department, is a reflective and heartfelt piece about Emma’s experience working in an emergency department. You can read the full article here.

We are excited to announce that Eskira Kahsay’s article “The Association Between John Henryism and Depression and Suicidal Ideation Among African-American and Caribbean Black Adolescents in the United States” has been chosen as one of the “Distinguished Dozen: 2022 Journal of Adolescent Health Articles Making Distinguished Contributions to Adolescent and Young Adult Health”. This award is designed to amplify important contributions to the field of adolescent health published in the Journal of Adolescent Health. Congratulations Eskira!

You can read more about Eskira’s article and the other articles selected here.

We’re happy to share that Alejandro Rodríguez-Putnam, a member of our staff, recently participated in the V International Conference for World Balance, in Havana, Cuba this January. Alejandro presented research co-authored by him, titled “Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Community Health Centers in Puerto Rico During 2020”. 

With 82 countries in attendance, the conference was a significant gathering of international experts, sponsored by organizations such as UNESCO, the José Martí World Solidarity Project, the International Council for Philosophy and Human Sciences, and many others. If you’d like to learn more about his experience or the conference itself, reach out to Alejandro at arputnam@umich.edu!