Migration and Reproductive Health Risks among Latino Youth

简介（由申请人提供）：Alexandra Minnis是加州大学旧金山分校（UCSF）妇产科和生殖科学系的全职助理兼职教授。她在加州大学伯克利分校获得流行病学博士学位和流行病学与生物统计学硕士学位。这项为期五年的“指导研究科学家发展奖”申请包括人口学和定性研究方法方面的培训和指导，目的是将这些多学科方法与流行病学相结合，在旧金山湾区拉丁裔移民青年中开展移民和生殖健康研究。Minnis博士在加州大学旧金山分校、加州大学伯克利分校和墨西哥国家公共卫生研究所组建了一个由全国知名科学家组成的团队，他们对她的培训和研究计划充满热情，并致力于成功完成这项申请。Minnis博士打算通过民族志访谈和从旧金山教会区招募的15-24岁青年的前瞻性队列研究，1)确定与高风险生殖健康行为和结果（包括性传播感染和怀孕）相关的个人和人口层面的迁移特征和模式；2)评估迁移模式和性行为、生育偏好和生殖健康结果变化的性别差异；3)评估移民社会背景的哪些方面（例如，社会网络的规模，朋友的年龄和种族多样性）和/或社会联系的强度改变了移民特征和模式与生殖健康风险之间的关系。此外，Minnis博士将研究移民青年纵向随访的可行性，并确定居住在旧金山湾区的墨西哥和中美洲青年的主要发送社区。因此，她将准备开展建立在这里提出的工作基础上的双边研究。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Alexandra Minnis is a full-time Assistant Adjunct Professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). She received a Ph.D. in epidemiology and an M.P.H. in epidemiology and biostatistics at UC Berkeley. This application for a five year Mentored Research Scientist Development Award includes training and mentoring in demography and in qualitative research methods with the objective of integrating these multidisciplinary approaches with epidemiology to conduct research on migration and reproductive health among Latino immigrant youth in the San Francisco Bay Area. Dr. Minnis has assembled a team of nationally known scientists at UCSF, the University of California, Berkeley, and the Mexican National Public Health Institute, who are enthusiastic about her training and research plan and are committed to the successful completion of this application. Through ethnographic interviews and a prospective cohort study with youth aged 15-24, recruited from San Francisco's Mission District, Dr. Minnis intends to 1) identify individual- and population-level characteristics and patterns of migration that are associated with high-risk reproductive health behaviors and outcomes, including sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy; 2) evaluate gender differences in migration patterns and changes in sexual behaviors, fertility preferences, and reproductive health outcomes; and 3) assess what aspects of the social context of immigration (e.g., size of social network, and age and ethnic diversity of friends) and/or the strength of social ties modify the relationships between characteristics and patterns of migration and reproductive health risks. In addition, Dr. Minnis will examine the feasibility of longitudinal follow-up of immigrant youth and identify the primary sending communities in Mexico and Central America for youth who reside in the San Francisco Bay Area. Thus, she will be prepared to develop bi-national research that builds on the work proposed here. Dr. Minnis is strongly committed to an academic career. She plans to conduct research on the structural and behavioral determinants of adverse reproductive health outcomes among immigrant Latino youth, with the objective of identifying effective strategies for public health intervention.