The Ozmen Institute for Global Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno in collaboration with the Office of the Provost allots specific funds to enhance and promote research and other efforts that have significant global and international dimensions.

In 2020, Eric Crosbie, PhD, MA, Assistant Professor of Health Administration and Policy and Baldo Bobadilla, BS, Public Health Diversity Advisor, Nevada Public Health Training Center were both recipients of the Global Faculty Research Grant. With this grant, Baldo Bobadilla performed a feasibility study for community gardens in two indigenous Ache communities in Paraguay. Baldo and his research team surveyed the land, determined costs, and met with local leaders to gather further information needed to move forward with building sustainable garden projects. Since the implementation of this project, partnerships have been established and there’s ongoing efforts to implement the community gardens project with support from local government agencies and other non-profits.

“To me, I am fascinated by the role of health harming industries and I am very interested in exposing their ways of marketing and lobbying for products that are harmful to health”- Eric Crosbie, PhD, MA

As a recipient of the Global Studies Faculty Research Grant, Dr. Crosbie conducted a pilot project to examine the introduction, passage, and implementation of front-of-package nutrition labeling in Mexico. Dr. Crosbie published his finding in the International Journal of Health Policy and Management with the article, “Hollow Threats: Transnational Food and Beverage Companies’ Use of International Agreements to Fight Front-of-Pack Nutrition Labeling in Mexico and Beyond”. Dr. Crosbie’s findings discuss three threats of legal challenges made by transnational food and beverage companies and how these threats should not prevent Mexico from implementing evidence based public health policies. Dr. Crosbie’s full article is available here.

 Both Baldo Bobadilla and Dr. Crosbie will be presenting on their projects at the International Health Equity Webinar hosted by the Nevada Public Health Training Center and the Ozmen Institute for Global Studies on May 27, 2021 at 1:00 pm PST. Registration is available on Making Health Happen. 

“To me, an important part of doing community-engaged research is building capacity and ensuring meaningful dissemination of final products. I’m excited to travel to Kenya this year to hold writing workshops with the study’s Research Assistants, who collected the data and are now learning to analyze it and write up their results."- Karla Wagner, PhD, MPH

For 2021, Tessa Swigart, PhD, MPH, Senior Public Health Diveristy Advisor, Nevada Public Health Training Center and Karla Wagner, PhD, MA, Associate Professor were awarded the Global Studies Faculty Research Grant. Dr. Wagner will use the funding for the project entitled, "Analysis and Dissemination of Findings from the 'Syndemics-Networks' Study in Western Kenya." The award will support Dr. Wagner's travel to Kenya in Fall 2021 (pandemic conditions permitting), where the team will hold writing workshops and community events to disseminate results from their study examining the impact of social networks and social support on health outcomes among people living with HIV. The research team includes faculty and students from the University of California, Riverside; University of California, San Francisco; Indiana University; and University of Nevada, Reno. The overall study is part of the International epidemiology Databases to Evaluate AIDS (IeDEA) East Africa consortium, funded by the National Institutes of Health (PI: Kara Wools-Kaloustian).

"This grant opportunity means a lot to me as it provides me and UNR with the opportunity to continue fostering collaborative relationships and research with the National Institute of Public Health in Mexico"- Tessa Swigart, PhD, MPH

The funding provided by the Ozmen Institute will support Dr. Tessa Swigart in her research on how the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected Latin-American and US-based Latinx populations and has resulted in a decrease in physical activity and an increase in screen time and sedentary behavior. Dr. Swigart will conduct investigations among families in both Mexico and Nevada in order to understand changes in movement behaviors among children and the effects that has had on their mental health, and how we can develop a communications strategy to mitigate adverse outcomes due to these changes.