Research

We work to study and promote best practices in the field of refugee health and asylum medicine.

HEAL’s Immigrant Health Justice Research Lab supports and conducts research with an aim to: 1) lead to more responsive and culturally humble approaches to medical and mental healthcare for immigrants and refugees seeking protection and care in the U.S.; 2) to better understand the political determinants of health for forced migrant populations at home and abroad; and 3) to identify patterns of human rights violations perpetrated upon specific and key populations.

Featured Research and Scholarship by HEAL Affiliates

Cuneo CN, Cazares R. (2024) Across a border, a pandemic unfolds. In: Voices From the Front Lines. Ed. KR Peeler, RM Ratzan, MR Grey. San Francisco, CA: University of California Medical Humanities Press.

Calderon Vargas P, Cuneo CN, Janeway H, Kubica M, Malina D, Rojas García X. Health Care on the Edge - Challenges of Refugee Medicine. N Engl J Med. 2023 Dec 28;389(26):e56. doi: 10.1056/NEJMp2310170. PMID: 38157498.

Kim JJ. An Immigrant and a Physician. Acad Med. 2023 Jul 1;98(7):761-762. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000005067. Epub 2022 Oct 25. PMID: 36538686.

Febles Simeon O, Cuneo CN. Remote Evaluations for Humanitarian Parole of Asylum Seekers to the United States - The Case of MA: English. Torture Journal, vol. 33, no. 1, 2023 Mar 119-22, doi:10.7146/torture.v33i1.134905.

Pancheshnikov A, Cuneo CN, Matias WR, Cázares-Adame R, Santos López AG, Paxton RM, Chen CCG. Case studies in adaptation: centring equity in global health education during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. BMJ Glob Health. 2023 Apr;8(4):e011682. doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2023-011682. PMID: 37085270; PMCID: PMC10123849.

Blum AJ. Forgotten People in Forgotten Places: The Uncounted Costs of Conflict. Am J Public Health. 2023 Feb;113(2):155-157. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2022.307179. PMID: 36652643; PMCID: PMC9850627.

Janeway H, Anaya K, Ahola J, Garg V, Kizuka K, Liu J.Y., Shidlo A, & Cuneo CN. (2022). Module 9: Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Asylum: Evaluating LGBTQIA+ Asylum Seekers. In Emery E., DeFries T. (2022). Asylum Medicine Training Initiative: Asylum Medicine Introductory Curriculum. Panopto.

Shah S, Gartland M, Giri M, Perez M, Ramaiyer M, Avants K, Hussain A, Palacardo F, & Messmer S. (2022). Module 6: Pediatrics. In Emery E., DeFries T. (2022). Asylum Medicine Training Initiative: Asylum Medicine Introductory Curriculum. Panopto.

Cuneo CN, Emery E, Hampton K, Peeler K, Snyder SA, Blum A, Anant S, Blum J, Milner G, Norton A, Ramaiyer M, Samuel C, Treinen T, DeFries T [Asylum Medicine Training Initiative Assessment Team]. In Emery E., DeFries T. AMTI Post-Course Assessment. Asylum Medicine Training Initiative: Asylum Medicine Introductory Curriculum. 2022.

Nzelibe U, Mukherjee E, Hampton K, Ardalan S, Midani L, Blum A, Anant S, & DeFries T. (2022). Module 1: The Forensic Asylum Evaluation: Historical-Legal Background & the Role of the Healthcare Professional. In Emery E., DeFries T. (2022). Asylum Medicine Training Initiative: Asylum Medicine Introductory Curriculum. Panopto.

Nguyen Y, McNabb KC, Farley JE, Warren N. Examining family planning and adverse pregnancy outcomes for women with active tuberculosis disease: a systematic review. BMJ Open. 2022 Mar 28;12(3):e054833. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-054833. PMID: 35351713; PMCID: PMC8961125.

Pancheshnikov A, Boddu R, Rubenstein LS, Cuneo CN. Unstable gynaecological patient with an ankle monitor: implications of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Alternatives to Detention programme in the healthcare setting. BMJ Case Rep. 2022 Jun 28;15(6):e246515. doi: 10.1136/bcr-2021-246515. PMID: 35764334; PMCID: PMC9240831.

Cuneo CN, Huselton KE, Praschan NC, Saadi A, Gartland MG. What Counts As 'Safe?': Exposure To Trauma And Violence Among Asylum Seekers From The Northern Triangle. Health Aff (Millwood). 2021 Jul;40(7):1135-1144. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2021.00082. PMID: 34228513.

Marea CX, Warren N, Glass N, Johnson-Agbakwu C, Perrin N. Assessing the reliability and validity of attitudes and confidence scales for the care of women and girls affected by female genital mutilation/cutting. BMC Public Health. 2021 Jul 17;21(1):1415. doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-11455-8. PMID: 34273951; PMCID: PMC8285805.

Marea CX, Warren N, Glass N, Johnson-Agbakwu C, Perrin N. Factors Associated with Health Care Provider Attitudes, and Confidence for the Care of Women and Girls Affected by Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting. Health Equity. 2021 May 19;5(1):329-337. doi: 10.1089/heq.2020.0130. PMID: 34036217; PMCID: PMC8140356.

Michlig G, Warren N, Berhe M, Johnson-Agbakwu C. Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting among Somali Women in the U.S. State of Arizona: Evidence of Treatment Access, Health Service Use and Care Experiences. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Apr 2;18(7):3733. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18073733. PMID: 33918419; PMCID: PMC8038251.

Wright KJ, Pace LE, Cuneo CN, Bartz D. Reproductive Injustice at the Southern Border and Beyond: An Analysis of Current Events and Hope for the Future. Womens Health Issues. 2021 Jul-Aug;31(4):306-309. doi: 10.1016/j.whi.2021.03.007. Epub 2021 Apr 30. PMID: 33941450.

Lasater ME, Murray SM, Keita M, Souko F, Surkan PJ, Warren NE, Winch PJ, Ba A, Doumbia S, Bass JK. Integrating Mental Health into Maternal Health Care in Rural Mali: A Qualitative Study. J Midwifery Womens Health. 2021 Mar;66(2):233-239. doi: 10.1111/jmwh.13184. Epub 2020 Dec 16. PMID: 33325644; PMCID: PMC8345229.

Cuneo CN, Janeway H. From Icebox to Tinderbox - A View from the Southern Border. N Engl J Med. 2020 Sep 24;383(13):e81. doi: 10.1056/NEJMp2009985. Epub 2020 Aug 5. PMID: 32757518.

Bazaz N. The Impact of Post-Migration Stressors on Mental Health Outcomes for Ethiopian Asylum- Seekers Obtaining Services at a U.S.-Based Center for Survivors of Torture. The George Washington University ProQuest Dissertations Publishing,  2020. 28090076.

Bernhardt LJ, Lin S, Swegman C, Sellke R, Vu A, Solomon BS, Cuneo CN. The Refugee Health Partnership: A Longitudinal Experiential Medical Student Curriculum in Refugee/Asylee Health. Acad Med. 2019 Apr;94(4):544-549. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000002566. PMID: 30570498.