The journal Frontiers in Public Health recently published a special edition eBook that brings together research articles focused on the delivery of health services to underserved communities along the U.S./Mexico border during the COVID pandemic. Many of our faculty, staff, and students from the Zuckerman College of Public Health contributed!

Story by Samantha Minichetti

The professional journal Frontiers in Public Health published a research topic eBook titled Promoting Health Equity During a Pandemic: Approaches to Address Vaccination Burden and Health Inequities Amongst Under-Served Populations in U.S. and Mexico in July 2023. The publication compiles 19 articles previously published under the Research Topic of the same name by the journal.

This Research Topic highlights effective health interventions used to reach underserved US/Mexico border communities. The COVID-19 pandemic challenged existing health inequities and led to new health challenges in many border and underserved communities. The articles included in the special issue eBook present models of community engagement that successfully delivered health knowledge, services, and support to many populations. The editors and authors present these articles in the hope that the lessons learned, approaches tested, and models presented in this special issue will serve to build a more inclusive public health infrastructure so we can successfully address endemic health inequities, even as we better prepare for the next pandemic.

The 19 articles published in the eBook, co-authored by 108 researchers and practitioners, were drawn from the professional journals Frontiers in Public Health and Frontiers in Psychology. Many of the authors are connected with the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, including students, staff, and faculty.

The Topic Editors welcomed articles encompassing not just COVID-19 vaccinations but all COVID-19 response activities geared towards addressing border-health disparities across US-Mexico communities with the aim of facilitating collaboration and accelerating efforts on a measurable scale.

Cecilia Rosales, MD, MS, associate dean and professor at the Zuckerman College of Public Health, served as one of the lead editors for the Research Topic alongside Maria Gudelia Rangel Gomez, PhD, a researcher with El Colegio de la Frontera Norte in Tijuana, Mexico and Michael Flynn, MSA, from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) where he coordinates the Occupational Health Equity Program.  

In addition to Dr. Rosales, faculty authors from the college include Leila Barraza, JD, MPH; Paloma Beamer, PhD; Dean Billheimer, PhD; Felina Cordova-Marks DrPH, MPH, MSc; Scott Carvajal PhD; Jill Guernsey de Zapien; Maia Ingram, MPH; Velia Leybas Nuño, PhD, MSW; Tomas Nuño, PhD; Kristen Pogreba-Brown PhD, MPH; Refugio Sepulveda, DrPH; and Sheila Soto, DrPH, MPH.

Staff, current students, and recent graduates from the college who contributed include doctoral student Dametreea Carr, MPH; Marvin Chaires, MPH; Kiera Coulter, PhD, MPH, MS; Carlos Figueroa; doctoral student Tina Fingesi, MS; Jenna Honan, MS; doctoral student Namoonga Mantina, MSPH, MBA; doctoral student Kimberly Peace-Tuskey, MSW; Carolina Quijada; postdoc Denise Moreno Ramirez, PhD, MS; Ramses Sepulveda; and Sam Sneed, MPH.

Congratulations to all our faculty, staff, and students whose work is featured in this special issue research topic!

Read the journal articles from the eBook > Download the complete eBook >