Health And Society Research Group

The Health and Society Research Group (HSRG) was created in the Spring of 2007 in light of growing research in health and society at The Graduate Center. The original Co-Directors of this research group were Professor Tracey Revenson, whose research has focused on such topics as adaptation to chronic illness and the effects of racism on health, and Professor Mary Clare Lennon, a noted sociologist of gender and health, who joined the Graduate Center faculty in 2007 following more than a decade at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. Their HSRG projects have included:

• Home Moves in the Early Years (Project Director: Mary Clare Lennon). This two-year project (2013-2015) was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council of the UK, through a parent grant made to London University. The project used existing US and UK databases to examine the impact of residential mobility on the well-being of young children, particularly in poor families.
• Intervention to Control Vasomotor Symptoms in Prostate Cancer Patients on Hormone Therapy - Department of Defense - subcontract with Mt Sinai Medical Ctr (Co-Principal Investigator: Tracey Revenson). Investigates a technology-based method to manage hot flashes in male prostate cancer patients undergoing hormone therapy. A two-year project (2011-2013).
• Brief Intervention to Improve Quality of Life and Couple Functioning after Prostate Surgery - NIH/National Cancer Institute - subcontract with Mt Sinai Medical Ctr (Co-Principal Investigator: Tracey Revenson). A two-year project (2011-2013).
• In Spring 2011, the Campaign for a Healthy CUNY, a university-wide initiative to improve the well-being of the university community, released three policy briefs describing the results of a survey of CUNY undergraduate students conducted in Fall 2010 to determine the prevalence of food insecurity, housing instability and psychological well-being among CUNY students:
  • Healthy CUNY News Release - April 26, 2011
  • Food Insecurity at CUNY: Results from a Survey of CUNY Undergraduate Students
  • Housing Instability at CUNY: Results from a Survey of CUNY Undergraduate Students
  • The Psychological Well-Being of CUNY Students: Results from a Survey of CUNY Undergraduate Students

Other health-related research projects at CHE have included:

• Residential Mobility and Young Children - NIH/NICHD (Project Director: Mary Clare Lennon). This three-year project (2010-2013), with funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, investigated the consequences of residential instability for the well-being of very young children. It was designated as an NIH AREA award, intended to enhance the Graduate Center's portfolio of NIH awards and expose GC doctoral students to advanced statistical methods.
• Expressive Writing and Adjustment to Colorectal Cancer - NIH/National Cancer Institute (Co-Principal Investigator: Tracey Revenson)
• Systematic Review: Measures of Sexual Quality of Life for Female Cancer Survivors - NIH/National Cancer Institute (Principal Investigator: Tracey Revenson)
• Services Research Innovation for Homeless Mentally Ill - NIH/National Institute of Mental Health (Project Director: Mary Clare Lennon)
• Racism, Coping, and Ambulatory Blood Pressure/Minority Supplement - NIH/National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (Principal Investigator: William Cross; Co-Project Director: Danielle Beatty)
• Children's Social Reasoning About Exclusion and Rights - NIH/National Institute of Child Health and Development (Principal Investigator: Martin Ruck)
• In the period 2006-2010 CHE was home to the CUNY Campaign Against Diabetes, a cross-campus public health campaign led by Prof. Nick Freudenberg and funded by the New York State Health Foundation and grants from the CUNY Chancellor's Office. Some of the reports emerging from CUNY CAD are now archived on this site.

Colloquium Series

In Spring 2012, HSRG Co-Director Tracey Revenson launched a colloquium series, "Psychosocial Determinants of Health Disparities." The series included guest speakers from St. John's University, Harvard Medical School, and the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University.