Faculty

Background and Expertise:

Aimee Afable-Munsuz, PhD, MPH is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences. She received her B.A. in International Relations from Brown University (1995). She received her M.P.H. and Ph.D. in public health from Tulane University (2003).  Following her doctoral studies, Dr. Afable-Munsuz held appointments as a Post-Doctoral Scholar at the Institute for Health Policy Studies (2005-2007), National Cancer Institute Diversity Fellow (2007-2009) and National Institute on Aging Fellow at the Center for Aging in Diverse Communities (2009-2011) all at the University of California, San Francisco.

Research Interests:

Dr. Afable-Munsuz is a population health researcher who applies social theory and epidemiological methods to the study of health behaviors and chronic disease risk with a particular focus on immigrant populations to the US.  Her current research follows two directions.  First, building on the unique and dynamic aspects of immigrant populations in the US, her research focuses on understanding and documenting how migration and chronic exposure to US environment influences the development of obesity and diabetes in US immigrants.  It relies on two primary methods to study this question: 1) secondary analyses of existing cohort and cross-sectional studies, using immigrant generation, age at migration and years in the US as primary explanatory variables; and 2) a proposed bi-national prospective cohort study of new Filipino immigrants to the US and their siblings back home, followed at regular intervals, allowing the study of adaptation to US society over time.  Second, she aspires to building an evidence base that can inform the translation of obesity and diabetes prevention programs, previously demonstrated to be efficacious in clinical trials, to high-risk, under-served and/or working class populations.  Dr. Afable-Munsuz has a rich experience partnering with the community on health promotion, working primarily with agencies serving low-income immigrant populations.

Courses Taught:

CHSC 5202: Issues in the Health of Immigrant Populations

CHSC 5206: Program Planning and Evaluation

Selected Peer Review Publications:

• Afable-Munsuz A, Speizer I, Magnus J & Kendall, C.  A positive orientation toward early motherhood is associated with unintended pregnancy among New Orleans youth. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 2005, Dec. 28; 1-12

• Kendall C., Afable-Munsuz A., Speizer I., Avery A., Schmidt N & Santelli J.  Understanding pregnancy in a population of inner-city women in New Orleans: Results of qualitative research, Social Science & Medicine, 2005, 60(2):297-311.

• Ponce NA, Afable-Munsuz A & Nordyke R.  Conceptualising the impact of genetic testing on cancer disparities in the USA.  International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management, 2007, 8(5):536-548.

• Afable-Munsuz A. & Brindis C. Acculturation and the sexual and reproductive health of Latino youth in the U.S.: A literature review. Perspectives in Sexual and Reproductive Health, 2008, 38(4): 208-219.

• Afable-Munsuz A. & Braveman P.  Pregnancy intention and preterm birth: Differential associations among a diverse population of women. Perspectives in Sexual and Reproductive Health, 2008, 40(2):66–73.

• Afable-Munsuz A, Liang SY, Ponce NP and Walsh J.  Acculturation and Colorectal Cancer Screening among Older Latino Adults: Differential Associations by National Origin.  Journal of General Internal Medicine, 2009, 24(8):963-70.

• Afable-Munsuz A, Ponce N, Perez-Stable E, Rodriguez M. Immigrant generation and physical activity among Mexican, Chinese and Filipino adults in the U.S. Social Science & Medicine, 2010, June, 70 (12): 1997-2005.

• Afable-Munsuz A, Pasick R, Nguyen K, Perez-Stable E.  Understanding Filipina women’s health orientation and the implications for colorectal cancer screening. Diversity in Health and Care, 2011, 8 (3).

• Ponce NA, Tsui J, Knight SJ, Afable-Munsuz A, Ladabaum U, Hiatt RA, Haas JS. Disparities in cancer screening in individuals with family history of breast or colorectal cancers.  Cancer, 2011, Aug 25. doi: 10.1002/cncr.26480. [Epub ahead of print]

• Odierna DH, Afable-Munsuz A, Ikediobi O, Beattie M, Knight S, Ko M, Wilson A and Ponce NA.  Early developments in gene expression profiling of breast tumors: Potential for increasing black-white disparities in breast cancer outcomes?  Personalized Medicine. 2011, 8 (6).

Please click here for abstracts and complete list of NCBI publications