Contact: Sasha Steinberg

STARKVILLE, Miss.—In observance of National Public Health Week, Mississippi State’s Department of Food Science, Nutrition and Health Promotion is sponsoring four brief talks on research and outreach efforts in the rural South Wednesday [April 3] at Nusz Hall.

Free to all, “Candid Discussions of Health Equity in Mississippi” is a noon-1 p.m. event that will provide students, faculty, staff and community members with information about the latest issues impacting rural health outcomes. Light refreshments will be served.

Each presenter will be allotted 10 minutes to discuss a topic of expertise, and a question-and-answer session will follow each presentation.

Speakers include:

—Carolyn Adams-Price, MSU associate professor of psychology and chair of the university’s Gerontology Program. She received her doctorate in life-span developmental psychology from West Virginia University in 1989, and was a postdoctoral fellow in gerontology at the University of Michigan. A published author, she has research interests in the psychological benefits of participation in creative hobbies and the well-being of older rural African-Americans with particular emphasis on these individuals’ attachment to place.

—Shandrea Stallworth, an MSU doctoral student studying weed science with a focus on genetics. In 2018, she received a $20,000 NASA/Mississippi Space Grant Consortium Graduate Research Fellowship that helps with her research and academics, as well as a K-12 outreach program she has designed. A strong advocate for increasing diversity in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, she earned her bachelor’s degree in plant science and biotechnology at Fort Valley State University and her master’s degree in plant breeding and genetics at Auburn University.

—Lea G. Yerby, associate professor and vice chair of community medicine and population health in the University of Alabama’s College of Community Health Sciences. She earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Belmont University, a master’s degree in human environmental sciences from the University of Alabama, and a doctorate in education and health promotion from a joint program of the University of Alabama and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She also completed a health policy fellowship in the U.S. Senate. Her current work includes studies on access to Autism Spectrum Disorder screening and early intervention for rural children in early childhood, and evaluation of health outcomes with innovative Medicaid delivery approaches.

—Kenya M. Cistrunk, an MSU assistant professor of social work also serving as co-director and co-principal investigator for the Mississippi Food Insecurity Project. For 15 years, she served a number of clients in the juvenile justice system, child protection services, and student services within university life. Cistrunk earned a doctorate in adult education from the University of Georgia in 2013. Her research focuses on service provisions for marginalized and/or oppressed populations, and she is especially committed to helping mobilize communities and at-risk populations for change. She is a licensed master’s-level social worker.

For more event information, contact Brittney Oliver, assistant professor, at 662-325-0401 or boliver@fsnhp.msstate.edu.

Learn more about MSU’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and its Department of Food Science, Nutrition and Health Promotion at www.cals.msstate.edu and www.fsnhp.msstate.edu.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.