HERE Center

Patchareeya (Patty) Kwan

 Leadership

Patchareeya (Patty) Kwan
 
 

Associate Professor, 
Principal Investigator of NIH/NIGMS BUILD PODER Program, 
Principal Investigator of NIH/NIMHD SEA US, HEAR US Study,
Co-Director of the HERE Center

Telephone: 818-677-6992

Email: patty.kwan@csun.edu

Website: www.csun/seaushearus

 

Biography

Dr. Patchareeya (Patty) Kwan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Sciences and one of the multiple Principal Investigators of the BUILD PODER Center funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences to engage, support, and retain undergraduate students from diverse backgrounds in biomedical research and other STEM-related fields. In her role as a multiple Principal Investigator of BUILD PODER, Dr. Kwan also serves as a co-Program Director of the Research Enrichment Core and the Center’s Evaluation Lead where she is responsible for enhancing faculty research productivity via initiatives such as Pilot Projects and faculty writing groups. As the Evaluation Lead, she oversees the evaluation efforts of BUILD PODER, working with UCLA’s Coordination and Evaluation Center, the evaluation center for all NIH-funded BUILD sites, and a team of evaluators from the University of Mississippi’s Center for Research Evaluation (CERE) and CSUN’s Center for Assessment, Research, and Evaluation (CARE).


Dr. Kwan is also the lead Principal Investigator of a community-engaged research project funded by the National Institutes on Minority Health and Health Disparities titled “SEA US, HEAR US” or “Southeast Asians in the U.S.: Health Equity And Research to Understand COVID-19 Stories”. SEA US, HEAR US is part of NIH's Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx®) initiative designed to speed innovation in the development, commercialization, and implementation of technologies for COVID-19 testing. It is one of 120+ testing and research project teams working across the country, in academic institutions, medical schools and facilities, clinical settings, and community-based organizations, to address COVID-19 testing and vaccination disparities.

 

Publication

    • Kwan, P., Esmundo, S., Rivas, E., Co, D., and Sabado-Liwag., M. (2022). "Experiences and Impacts of COVID-19 among Pacific Islanders in Los Angeles County". Therapeutic Advances in Infectious Disease.
    • Kwan, P., Sharp, S., Mason, S. and Saetermoe, C. (2021). “Faculty Writing Groups: The Impact of Protected Writing Time and Group Support”. International Journal of Educational Research Open. 2–2 (2021) 100100
    • Blackman, K., Smiley, S., Valentine, W., Chaudhari, L., Kwan, P., Cotton-Curtis, W., Saetermoe, S., Chan, T. (2021) “The Earliest Food Deserts: Availability of Infant and Follow-on Formula, and Lactation Support Products among Stores in Black and Non-Hispanic White Zip Codes in Los Angeles County”. Maternal and Child Health Journal. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-021-03196-2
    • Kwan, P., Soniega-Sherwood, J., Esmundo, S., Pike, J., Sabado-Liwag, M., Watts, J., Palmer, P. (2019). “Access and Utilization of Mental Health Services among Pacific Islanders”. Asian American Journal of Psychology.
    • Kwan, P., Sabado-Liwag, M., Tan N., Pike J., Custodio H., LaBreche, A., Fex, C., Tui’one May, V., Pang, J., Pang, V., Sablan-Santos, L., Toilolo, T., Tulua A., Schmidt-Vaivao, D., Xie, B., Tanjasiri, S., Palmer, P. (2018) “A Community-Based Approach to Biospecimen Collection Among Pacific Islanders”. Health Promotion Practice. 1524839918786222.
 

Research Projects

  • SEA US, HERE US Study (2022-2023): A mixed methods study consisting of longitudinal surveys (n=1000) and 1:1 interviews (n=60) designed to better understand COVID-19 testing, vaccination, and its sequelae among Southeast Asian Americans in the Greater Los Angeles area. 
  • SEA Health Study (2021-2022): A needs assessment survey designed to explore and assess health and mental health related factors among Southeast Asian young adults (ages 18-35 years) living in Southern California. Information of interests include health and mental health status, health care access, general substance use, physical activity and diet, acculturation, sleep, health literacy, and experiences with microaggression.
  • Pacific Islanders & COVID-19 Study (2020-2021): A qualitative study to document COVID-19 related experiences among Pacific Islander adults living in Los Angeles County.
  • Asian Americans & Diabetes (2016-2018): Secondary data analysis of diabetes-related data from the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS). The purpose of the study was to look at diabetes prevalence, trends, and risk factors among disaggregated Asian American sub-ethnic groups.
  • Pacific Islander Mental Health (2017-2018): A qualitative study to understand access and utilization of mental health services among Pacific Islander adults in Southern California.
  • PIBEC (2014-2015): The Pacific Islander Biospecimen Education and Collection (PIBEC) Project was a community-based project aimed to educate the PI community about the importance of biospecimen research and test the feasibility of collecting saliva samples from the community.
  • WINCART/MPACT (2005-2015): Funded by the National Cancer Institute, WINCART’s mission was to promote healthy Pacific Islander communities and address cancer health disparities among Southern California’s Pacific Islander populations through increasing cancer awareness, collaborative research programs, and providing valuable leadership and training opportunities. MPACT or Motivating Pasifikas Against Cigarettes and Tobacco is a randomized controlled trial that tested the effectiveness of a culturally tailored smoking cessation intervention between 2013-2015.