College of Public Health Presenters at APHA 2025 Annual Meeting and Expo
Many faculty, staff, and students from the college, in addition to many of our alumni, attended the recent American Public Health Association (APHA) meeting in Washington DC at the beginning of November. You can see a schedule of all the presentations at APHA given by current faculty, staff, students and by our alumni. We participated in so many aspects of the conference, thanks to everyone who went to represent the college!
Zuckerman College of Public Health Presenters at APHA 2025
Sunday, November 2, 2025
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Kathryn Ortiz Y Pino MPH ’18
MEZCOPH Staff and Alumna
Amplifying Community Voices: listening sessions identify opportunities and challenges for environmental justice organizations - Board 4
Session: Poster Session 6: Environmental Justice and Health Equity
Program: Environment
4:45 PM - 4:50 PM
Brenda Sanchez MPH ’24, BS ’18
MEZCOPH Alumna
Building Bridges in Nogales, Arizona: Cross-Sector Collaboration to Address Social Isolation and Health Among Older Adults - 2139.0
Session: Strategies to Improve Social Isolation and Loneliness Among Older Adults
Program: Aging & Public Health
5:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Zoe Baccam MSW, MPH ’22, BS ’20
MEZCOPH Alumna
Barriers to care for chronic disease management during COVID-19: A cross-sectional survey of providers and patients in Arizona - Board 10
Session: PHEHP Student Awards Poster
Program: Public Health Education and Health Promotion
Monday, November 3, 2025
10:30 AM – 11:30 AM
Hiyun Lee
Current BS Student
From Trust to Commitment: Assessing Collaborative Capacity for Falls Prevention Using the Collaborative Governance Regime Framework in Arizona - Board 2
Session: Injury Control and Emergency Health Services Late Breaker Posters II
Program: Injury Control and Emergency Health Services
10:30 AM – 12:00 PM
Kacey Ernst PhD
MEZCOPH Faculty
AI safety in public health: scaling human expertise through tailored public communication to improve engagement - Table 2
Session: Public Trust, Health Informatics Competencies, Precision Prevention and more using Artificial Intelligence (Roundtable)
Program: Health Informatics Information Technology
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Mona Arora PhD, MSPH
MEZCOPH Faculty
Climate and Health Action for Physical and Mental Wellbeing in Rural Populations - Table 8
Session: Climate and Health Action for Physical and Mental Wellbeing (Climate Change and Health Topical Group Scientific Session)
Program: APHA Intersectional Council
12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
Caitlin Meyer MPH ’19
MEZCOPH Alumna
Examining the relationship between experience and competency scores among non-manager and manager public health professionals - Board 5
Session: Academic-Practice Linkages in Public Health Caucus Poster Session 2
Program: Academic and Practice Linkages in Public Health Caucus
2:30 PM - 3:30 PM
Omozusi Guobadia MPH ’24
MEZCOPH Alumnus
Misinformation and Public Health: A Framework to Address Issues and Challenges - Board 3
Session: Broadly researched programs by ECPS at their worksite
Program: Early-Career Professional
3:15 PM - 3:30 PM
Kathryn Ortiz Y Pino MPH ’18
MEZCOPH Staff and Alumna
Shared Insights, Stronger Outcomes: Participatory Evaluation in Action - 3288.0
Session: Building Together: Community Partnerships Advancing Public Health Equity and Innovation
Program: Public Health Education and Health Promotion
3:30 PM - 3:45 PM
Ariel Shirley MPH, BS ’20
MEZCOPH Alumna
Empowering Indigenous students: Development and evaluation of an Indigenous peer support program and its role in mental health and belonging - 3236.0
Session: Resilience and Resistance: Overcoming Health Disparities in Indigenous Communities
Program: American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Caucus
Tuesday, November 4, 2025
12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
James Cunningham PhD
MEZCOPH Joint Faculty
Reexamining whether alcohol use increased during the COVID-19 pandemic - Board 3
Session: General topics in applied public health statistics (posters)
Program: Applied Public Health Statistics
12:30PM – 1:30 PM
Zhao Chen PhD, MPH
MEZCOPH Staff and Faculty
Between the Scales and the Scars: The Interpersonal Burden of Body Weight on Children’s Mental Health: Evidence from the 2021-22 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) - Board 8
Session: Poster Special Topics
Program: Community Health Planning and Policy Development
12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
Sheila Soto DrPH '23, MPH '17
MEZCOPH Staff and Alumna
Women's Health in Low-Resource Settings: Insights from Community Listening Sessions Across Arizona - Board 9
Session: Advancing women’s health: Addressing maternal disparities, gendered health risks, and violence prevention
Program: Women's Caucus
2:45 PM - 3:00 PM
Imran Hossain Mithu MPH
Current PhD Student
Assessing heat action planning in Arizona through hierarchy of controls and socio-ecological model lens - 4250.0
Session: Environmental Health Policy and Practice
Program: Environment
3:30 PM - 3:45 PM
Omar Escontrías DrPH ’19, MPH ’09
MEZCOPH Alumnus
Advancing Chronic Disease Prevention and Management: A Grassroots Trusted Messenger Campaign - 4277.0
Session: Culturally Tailored Health Communication Strategies and Trusted Messengers to Advance Health Equity (organized by HCWG)
Program: Public Health Education and Health Promotion
4:30 PM - 4:45 PM
Halimatou Alaofè PhD, MSc
MEZCOPH Faculty
The process of culturally adapting the Medical Nutrition Therapy program for African adults with type 2 diabetes in Benin, Africa - 4315.0
Session: Communication and Media for Food and Nutrition Research and Practice
Program: Food and Nutrition
4:30 PM - 4:45 PM
Martha Moore Monroy, EdD
MEZCOPH Faculty
Community campus partnership employing arts based methods to identify the social determinants of health impacting maternal and child health in rural and underserved communities in Arizona - 4300.0
Session: Community-engaged work for birth equity
Program: Community Based Public Health Caucus
4:30 PM - 4:45 PM
Sheila Soto DrPH ’23, MPH ’17
MEZCOPH Staff and Alumna
PUENTES: Bridging Mental Health Gaps for Latino Seniors in Low-Resource Settings in Arizona - 4326.0
Session: Health Disparities and Latino Health
Program: Latino Caucus
4:32 PM - 4:37 PM
Royani Saha
Current PhD Student
Adapting to Extreme Heat: A Structured Toolkit for Establishing Safe and Effective Cooling Centers - 4307.0
Session: Addressing Climate Risk
Program: Environment
4:35 PM - 4:40 PM
Yevheniia Varyvodam, PhD
MEZCOPH Staff
Building Evidence for the Implementation and Evaluation of Newly Established Trauma Recovery Centers: A Case Study from Arizona - 4318.0
Session: Lightning Talks: Other Special Topics in Health Administration
Program: Health Administration
4:45 PM - 5:00 PM
Autumn Lester
Current MPH Student
Global Approaches to Indigenous Wellness: Factors of Wellness, Specific Populations and Health Conditions - 4323.0
Session: Research, Practice, and Policy in Indigenous Communities
Program: Integrative, Complementary and Traditional Health Practices
Wednesday, November 5, 2025
8:30 AM - 8:45 AM
William Carson PhD ’25, MPH
MEZCOPH Alumnus
Understanding the Relationship Between Native American Identity and Healthcare Utilization for Native American College Students at The University of Arizona: A Qualitative Study - 5005.0
Session: Our People, Our Stories: Public Health in Action
Program: American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Caucus
9:15 AM - 9:30 AM
Davida Adofoli MD, MPH ’25, A-IPC
MEZCOPH Alumna
Compliance with central line and urinary catheter bundles: Insights from a multi-unit hospital study - 5041.0
Session: Quality Improvement Initiatives to Address Patient Outcomes in Hospitals and/or Primary Care
Program: Medical Care Section
9:30 AM - 9:45 AM
Brenda Sanchez MPH ’24, BS ’18
MEZCOPH Alumna
Tania Felix, MD
MEZCOPH Staff
Puentes Mentales: Addressing Mental Health Gaps for Migrant Communities through Collaboration, Telepsychiatry and Student Engagement - 5042.0
Session: Youth, Migration, and Maternal Mental Health: Global Perspectives on Psychosocial Determinants and Community-Based Approaches
Program: Mental Health
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Rodrigo Valenzuela Cordova MPH ’21, BS ’18
MEZCOPH Staff and Alumnus
From Screening to Self-Management: CHWs as Key Players in Chronic Disease Prevention - Table 3
Session: Community Health Workers in Public Health Education and Health Promotion (organized jointly with the Community Health Worker section)
Program: Public Health Education and Health Promotion
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Georgia Weiss-Elliott MA
MEZCOPH Staff
CONECTATE: Community health workers improving community resilience by addressing chronic disease and social connectedness in the wake of COVID-19 - Table 10
Session: Community Health Workers in Public Health Education and Health Promotion (organized jointly with the Community Health Worker section)
Program: Public Health Education and Health Promotion
11:15 AM - 11:30 AM
Andrea Contreras CHW
MEZCOPH Staff
From Service to Research: The role of Mobile Health Unit CHWs in the ADHS Qualitative Health Needs Assessment - 5076.0
Session: Advancing CHW Integration and Leadership in Clinical and Public Health Systems
Program: Community Health Workers