Research

Marisol Castillo-Castrejon, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pathology at the University of Oklahoma Health Campus, is PI of the CIRCLE Pilot Project, “Social Determinants of Health on Placental Function.” This project aims to: 1) Describe the association between placental function and social determinants of health; and 2) Collect placental tissue from complicated and uncomplicated pregnancies, especially from understudied, underrepresented, and underreported women.

Jennifer L. Heck, PhD, RNC-NIC, CNE, PMH-C, Associate Professor of Nursing at the University of Oklahoma Health Campus, is PI of the CIRCLE Pilot Project, “The psychometric properties of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) in the Chickasaw Nation. The goal of this study is to assess 1) internal consistency; and 2) sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS; Cox et al., 1987) in a sample of records of Indigenous women receiving services through the Chickasaw Nation.

Cassandra D. Querdibitty, PhD, MPH, MCHES, CPH, Assistant Professor of Public Health at the University of Oklahoma, is PI of the CIRCLE Pilot Project, “Enhancing Indigenous Maternal Health Resilience: A Community-Based Mixed Methods Approach for an Environmental Toxicant Exposure Risk Assessment.” The goals of this pilot study are to co-develop and test a community-based risk assessment framework for environmental toxicant exposure risk among Indigenous pregnant women in the southern plains and evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the innovative exposure data collection techniques used to monitor environmental toxicant exposures.

Micah Hartwell, PhD, Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Director of the Office of Medical Student Research at the Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences at Cherokee Nation, is PI of the CIRCLE Pilot Project, “Disaggregating Indigenous ethnoracial data within PRAMS: assessment of comorbidities, prenatal care and childbirth outcomes, and intimate partner violence.” The primary aim of this project is to report the disaggregated prevalence and disparities in maternal health factors and birth outcomes among Indigenous individuals using data from PRAMS.