Projects
Current/Ongoing Projects
| Name | Mentor | Project Title (Linked if available) | Year | Description | Type/Field |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rajat Ramesh & Tanay Poddar | Kent Bream and Ricardo Sojuel |
Challenges and Opportunities in the Implementation of Electronic Health Record Systems in Guatemala |
2024 | Rajat and Tanay's work uses open-ended qualitative interviewing to assess staff knowledge/attitudes/beliefs about the use of electronic health records | Operations and Systems Management Evaluation |
|
Saad Siddiqui & Maia McAllister |
Manuel Gonzalez and Kent Bream | Community antimicrobial resistance data and developing a digital antibiogram | 2024 |
Saad and Maia's work involves collating and creating a mechanism for an electronic antibiogram using culture data at Hospitalito Atitlan |
Quality Improvement |
| Maia McAllister & Saad Siddiqui | Kent Bream and Dorian Ramirez | Epidemiology of Traumatic Injuries Presenting to a Rural Hospital in Guatemala: A Retrospective Chart Review | 2024 | Maia's work looks to describe the nature of traumatic injuries presenting to the ER of Hospitalito Atitlan. | Independent Quality Improvement Project |
| Dana Karson | Kent Bream | Community perspectives of developmental disorders including Autism Spectrum Disorders and their management | 2025 | ASD and developmental disorders are often not diagnosed in Guatemala especially after the age of 5. This study works to understand cultural perspectives on developmental disorders and how they are managed. | Independent community health research project |
Past Projects
| Name | Project Title (Linked if Available) | Year | Description | Type/Field |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amelia Breyre and Kristian Garcia | Diabetes Mellitus and Prediabetes Prevalence in Rural Guatemala | 2015 | Amelia Breyre's scholarly pursuit worked to determine the prevalence of diabetes in Sololá using a spatial randomized sampling method, and understand the relationship between diabetes or prediabetes prevalence and age, gender, and BMI. Kristian Garcia participated on the research team as an undergraduate summer field school. Amelia and Kristian's findings showed the overall prevalence of T2DM using HbA1c was 13·81% in Atitlán, representing a tripling in diabetes from historic estimates. The probability of diabetes increased dramatically with increasing age, however no significant overall relationship existed with gender or BMI. | Scholarly Pursuit leading to peer reviewed PLOS One publication |
| Kristian Garcia |
The prevalence and emic understanding of diabetes mellitus in rural Guatemala |
2015 |
Kristian worked to enhance our understanding of how the indigenous Tz’utujil and Kaqchikel people of Sololá, Guatemala make sense of diabetes mellitus etiology, symptoms and resources. This study helped inform Hospitalito Atitlan’s diabetes prevention program of the prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) in its target communities and identify any sub-groups within these communities that are particularly susceptible to DM. In addition, the qualitative results of this study provided information for the development of culturally appropriate DM education modules and foletos. |
Community Health research and quality improvement with Poster Presentation |
| Melissa Gradilla | 2011 | Melissa's thesis deals with the intersection and separation of the spheres of traditional birth attendants (comadronas) and physicans who practice biomedicine. In particular, she addresses the disagreements that arise between the two groups of caregivers and delineates their specific practices. | Senior Thesis (Health & Societies) | |
| Jason M. Nagata | Coca-Colonization and Hybridization of Diets among the Tz’utujil Maya | 2011 |
By specifically examining biomedical perspectives, cycles of conquest, the political economy, religion, celebrations, and the physical envi- ronment through the lens of soft drinks, this study finds that Coca-Colonization and cultural hybridization are complementary rather than mutually exclusive processes that contribute to dietary transitions, economic development, and differential health beliefs related to soft drink consumption. |
Original Research leading to peer reviewed Ecology of Food and Nutrition publication |
| Jason M. Nagata | Criticisms of chlorination: social determinants of drinking water beliefs and practices among the Tz’utujil Maya | 2011 |
To explore social determinants of drinking water beliefs and practices among the Tz’utujil Maya of Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala, through analysis of demographics, socio- economic status, memory of historical events, sensory experience, and water attitudes. |
Original Research |
| David Springs | 2010 | David conducted structured interviews with residents of Santiago Atitlan on the subject of decision making vis a vis stove type, specifically wood-burning stoves: the traditional open fire (comal), and an improved stove with a chimney (plancha). David and his colleagues also investigated the perception of gas stoves and loans. Their studies were conducted to gain insight into health impact of exposure to smoke from the combustion of biomass fuels (firewood, crop products, dung, etc.) | Senior Thesis | |
|
Anna Aagenes |
Maya Women and Domestic Violence in Guatemala: Searching for Support |
2010 | Anna studied domestic violence experienced by Mayan women and the support systems that were in place to aid them with issues of violence in their homes. After conducting interviews with various health professionals regarding their experiences with victims of domestic violence, she discovered that there are various structural barriers to making change, such as institutionalized sexism and linguistic and ethnic divide, to name a few. | Senior Thesis (Gender, Society and Culture) |
| Serena Stein | Health at the Margins: Distress and Illness after the 2005 Mudslide in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala | Serena explored the responses to Hurricane Stan in the Tz'utujil Maya community of Santiago Atitlán. | Senior Thesis (Anthropology) and Society of Medical Anthropology National Presentation | |
| Cara McGuinness | 'Bridges‘: Improving Birth Outcomes and Uniting traditional and biomedical approaches to health in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala | 2009 |
Cara's work centered on the role of the traditional birth attendant or comadrona in the birthing practices of the Tz'utujil Maya. |
Anthropology |
| Jason M. Nagata |
Body mass index, socio-economic status and socio-behavioral practices among Tz’utujil Maya women |
2009 |
This study investigates the associations between body mass index (BMI), socio-economic status (SES) and related socio-behavioral practices including marriage and market visits in a population of adult Tz’utujil Maya women in Santiago Atitla ́n, Guatemala |
Original Research |
| Monica Denise Burnett | Patient and providers’ beliefs and perceptions of healthcare access in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala | 2008 | The thesis examines patient and providers’ beliefs and perceptions of healthcare access in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala. Drawing from ethnographic field research, this thesis explores the links among local contextual factors of Santiago Atitlan, including the configuration of social and economic class, gender and ethnic relationships, the availability of resources and technology, and historical and cultural patterns and the short- and long-term effects of capitalist penetration of health care. | Senior Thesis |
| Justin Schram | Participatory-action research for the reduction of indoor air pollution: Foundations for an improved cookstove project in Guatemala |
2008 | Justin's research worked to understand the impact of indoor biomass combustion and its relationship with asthma and COPD. This work led to the founding of an NGO to help introduce improved cooked stoves into at risk homes. | Scholarly Pursuit, Perelman School of Medicine |
| Nancy Etzel and Justin Schram | Microfinancing the reduction of indoor air pollution: an access initiative for improved cookstoves in Guatemala | 2007 |
A preventive health intervention to help break the cycle of poverty, illness, and environmental degradation. |
Poster Presentation |