October 11, 2022
COVID-19 pandemic hurt academic experience for African international students
Findings can help universities direct more tailored support to vulnerable populations during times of crisis.
September 23, 2022
Longhorned tick discovered in northern Missouri for first time, MU researchers find
Discovery indicates looming problem for cattle health in the Midwest.
September 19, 2022
Researcher finds electronic health records may be key to improving patient care
Kate Trout studies benefits, challenges of using electronic health records in health care.
September 13, 2022
CDC awards $1.6 million grant to study firearm violence exposure among young adults experiencing homelessness
Grant will be used to study firearm violence exposure among young adults experiencing homelessness.
September 8, 2022
Brad Ferguson team designs app to assess ASD social interaction
Dr. Ferguson and his team received a $100,000 grant from the Coulter Biomedical Accelerator program.
September 1, 2022
Taking down stigma, one step at a time
MU researcher decreases stigma among probation and parole officers through short online trainings.
August 25, 2022
Emphasizing empathy: strengthening the bond between incarcerated mothers and their children
Ashley Givens first got into social work because she wanted to help underserved youth. During her years of study and research, her focus turned to working with mental health and the adult criminal legal system. Now an assistant professor of social work at Mizzou, Givens’ interests have come full circle: She recently received a Richard Wallace Faculty Incentive Grant to study using structured journaling to strengthen the bond between incarcerated mothers and their children. “It’s a way for these women to reconnect with their kids and maintain the mother-child bond in a directed, meaningful way,”…
August 25, 2022
Surprising snapshot of trafficking survivors
Contrary to common belief, the portrait of a human-trafficking survivor in Missouri is not that of a young, white teenager who is abducted and forced into the sex trade. Instead, Kathleen Preble’s survey of the state’s social service providers found that survivors usually are Black or brown (46%) and Asian (10%). The assistant professor of social work also found that 18- to 35-year-olds make up the bulk of the survivors (56%). The vast majority were not immigrants but rather poor or working-class U.S. citizens trafficked for sex (83%), labor (5%) or both (13%). In considering…
August 25, 2022
Health care for newcomers
Gashaye Tefera knows firsthand how difficult it is for international students to deal with unfamiliar health care systems. In 2018, he was a fellow at the world’s largest nonprofit, United Way Worldwide, in Alexandria, Virginia, when he started having gastrointestinal issues. But he struggled to understand the care and the cost of coverage, so he delayed seeking treatment. “I’m used to health services that are more universal,” says Tefera, who grew up in Ethiopia and studied in five European countries through the prestigious Erasmus Mundus scholarship. Despite his education and experience, he says, “I still didn’t know…
August 25, 2022
Location matters: Neighborhood shapes youth exposure to firearm violence and substance use
A youngster’s neighborhood often shapes their exposure to firearm violence or substance use — situations that raise their risk of becoming homeless, says Hsun-Ta Hsu, associate professor of social work. For earlier studies on suicide and HIV prevention among people experiencing homelessness, Hsu walked block by block identifying signs of blight — broken windows, sidewalks in disrepair, piles of garbage — because neighborhood-level data are difficult to find. The scarcity of information prevented him from conducting research on a larger scale. To help remedy the problem, Hsu and Jianlin Cheng of the College of Engineering developed a program…