FOCUS
Given that Erika understands the importance of serving socially-marginalized communities, she is compelled to utilize research as a vehicle to implement public health solutions. Thus, Erika’s research interests include exploring chronic disease-related relationships between various mental and physical health conditions within the Asian American community and among the Khmer population. She will examine health inequities among disenfranchised communities of color, and address health disparities among underserved populations. Moreover, through a mixed methods and community-based research approach, Erika aspires to design, implement, and improve health programs and policies that leverage the abilities of health research, education, and service to improve the quality of health of marginalized communities.
MORE ABOUT ERIKA
As a child of Khmer refugees, Erika’s lived experiences, familial upbringing, academic and cross-cultural involvements in research, volunteering abroad, and interning at the federal level fostered her commitment to improving health outcomes of underserved communities. Erika values utilizing research as a tool to create actionable solutions.
DISSERTATION GRANT AWARDEE — WINTER 2024
Examining Health Impacts of the Cambodian Genocide and Generational Trauma on Cambodian Nationals, Cambodian American Immigrant Mothers, U.S.-born Cambodian Mothers and Infants
The dissertation’s goal is for the findings to inform policy, programs, or services for Khmer communities by better understanding the contribution of genocide exposure to health. The first study examines demographic impacts of the genocide on survivors and individuals born shortly after the genocide. The second study analyzes risk factors associated with low birth weight among infants born to Cambodian mothers in Cambodia by maternal age groups. The last study utilizes California birth record data to explore risk factors linked to small-for-gestational age and low birth weight among infants particularly born to Cambodian women by nativity status.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE HPRS DISSERTATION AWARDS, CLICK HERE.
