Pilot 1
DeMarc Hickson, PhD
Jackson Heart Study
Jackson State University
Email: demarc.a.hickson@jsums.edu
Dr. DeMarc A. Hickson is currently employed as an Assistant Professor at the University of Mississippi Medical Center School of Medicine and a Biostatistician with the Jackson Heart Study, Jackson State University (JSU). He obtained his BS degree in Applied Mathematics from Norfolk State University and received a MS and PhD in Biostatistics from Emory University. His dissertation focused on the statistical methodology of several model comparison criteria in the context of multilevel, or hierarchical linear, models and methodological issues arising from two HIV/AIDS studies. Dr. Hickson is currently completing his Master of Public Health in Health Education/Health Behavior, with a concentration in Environmental Health, from JSU.
Dr. Hickson’s experience and interest includes cardiovascular disease, HIV/AIDS, environmental epidemiology, “socio-cultural-contextual,” health behavior/promotion, and environmental justice research. He also holds research interests in spatial statistics, Bayesian methods, international health, and health disparity issues. Recently, Dr. Hickson travelled to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania where he conducted a two-week short course in Biostatistics and Epidemiology and assisted in the development of a number of infectious disease projects, including the modeling of malaria infection in several regions of Tanzania.
ABSTRACT
Measuring characteristics of the neighborhood context in the Jackson MSA
(D. Hickson PI (JSU)
(2-year pilot)
The etiology of disease specific to African Americans involves a complex interaction of factors producing detrimental health outcomes. There is growing evidence that the neighborhood contexts in which African Americans live are very different from whites, with adverse effects on health. Research into the contextual environments in which African Americans live is poorly understood and important questions regarding the influence of these contexts on the development and worsening of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in African Americans remain. African Americans are usually concentrated in disempowered, often "urban" areas, with poor living conditions, increased levels of environmental pollutants, and high rates of illiteracy, unemployment, and violent crime. Complete information concerning the neighborhoods in which African Americans reside could help to better understand why this population experiences a disproportionate risk for CVD than whites. The proposed study measures characteristics of the neighborhood context and explores the relationships with demogrpahic information in the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). We will link this neighborhood information to the baseline and second examination data of the Jackson Heart Study (JHS), a single-site prospective population-based study of CVD in African Americans and examine the effects of neighborhood context on the changes of risk factors and the incidence of disease outcomes over time.
Specific Aims:
Aim 1. To develop measures of specific neighborhood contextual characteristics and the built environment in the Jackson MSA and examine the extent to which these characteristics are associated with neighborhood demographic measures. Examples include neighborhood racial/ethnic population distribution and demographic measures of disadvantage and stress, availability of "fast food" restaurants, availability and relative cost of "health" versus "non-health" foods, and availability of parks and recreational facilities.
Hypothesis 1. Disadvantanged/stressed neighborhoods and neighborhoods with a high proportion of African Americans will be positively associated with more health damaging outlets and have a less "healthy" environment.