Patchareeya (Patty) Kwan

Biography

Dr. Patchareeya (Patty) Kwan is Professor in the Department of Health Sciences at CSUN. As a population scientist, she studies health disparities and health equity, particularly the factors that facilitate and hinder good health outcomes among diverse populations. Currently, Dr. Kwan is the lead Principal Investigator of a community-engaged research project funded by the National Institutes on Minority Health and Health Disparities ($1.04M) titled “SEA US, HEAR US” which aims to understand and address multi-level social, ethical, and behavioral implications of COVID-19 testing, vaccination, and its sequelae among Southeast Asian Americans. She is also 1 of 4 Principal Investigators of the BUILD PODER Center funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences ($19M) to engage, support, and retain CSUN undergraduate students from diverse backgrounds in biomedical research and STEM fields through direct student support, faculty mentor training and research support, and institutional level support. Dr. Kwan also serves as co-Director of BUILD PODER’s Research Enrichment Core and Evaluation Lead where she oversees the evaluation efforts of the Center, working with UCLA’s Coordination and Evaluation Center and a team of evaluators from the University of Mississippi’s Center for Research Evaluation.

Publication

• Kwan, P., Esmundo, S., Rivas, E., Co, D., and Sabado-Liwag., M. (2022). "Experiences and Impacts of COVID-19 among Pacific Islanders in Los Angeles County". Therapeutic Advances in Infectious Disease.
• Kwan, P., Sharp, S., Mason, S. and Saetermoe, C. (2021). “Faculty Writing Groups: The Impact of Protected Writing Time and Group Support”. International Journal of Educational Research Open. 2–2 (2021) 100100
• Blackman, K., Smiley, S., Valentine, W., Chaudhari, L., Kwan, P., Cotton-Curtis, W., Saetermoe, S., Chan, T. (2021) “The Earliest Food Deserts: Availability of Infant and Follow-on Formula, and Lactation Support Products among Stores in Black and Non-Hispanic White Zip Codes in Los Angeles County”. Maternal and Child Health Journal. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-021-03196-2
• Kwan, P., Soniega-Sherwood, J., Esmundo, S., Pike, J., Sabado-Liwag, M., Watts, J., Palmer, P. (2019). “Access and Utilization of Mental Health Services among Pacific Islanders”. Asian American Journal of Psychology.
• Kwan, P., Sabado-Liwag, M., Tan N., Pike J., Custodio H., LaBreche, A., Fex, C., Tui’one May, V., Pang, J., Pang, V., Sablan-Santos, L., Toilolo, T., Tulua A., Schmidt-Vaivao, D., Xie, B., Tanjasiri, S., Palmer, P. (2018) “A Community-Based Approach to Biospecimen Collection Among Pacific Islanders”. Health Promotion Practice. 1524839918786222.

Research Projects

• SEA US, HERE US Study (2022-2023): A mixed methods study consisting of longitudinal surveys (n=1000) and 1:1 interviews (n=60) designed to better understand COVID-19 testing, vaccination, and its sequelae among Southeast Asian Americans in the Greater Los Angeles area. 
• SEA Health Study (2021-2022): A needs assessment survey designed to explore and assess health and mental health related factors among Southeast Asian young adults (ages 18-35 years) living in Southern California. Information of interests include health and mental health status, health care access, general substance use, physical activity and diet, acculturation, sleep, health literacy, and experiences with microaggression.
• Pacific Islanders & COVID-19 Study (2020-2021): A qualitative study to document COVID-19 related experiences among Pacific Islander adults living in Los Angeles County.
• Asian Americans & Diabetes (2016-2018): Secondary data analysis of diabetes-related data from the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS). The purpose of the study was to look at diabetes prevalence, trends, and risk factors among disaggregated Asian American sub-ethnic groups.
• Pacific Islander Mental Health (2017-2018): A qualitative study to understand access and utilization of mental health services among Pacific Islander adults in Southern California.
• PIBEC (2014-2015): The Pacific Islander Biospecimen Education and Collection (PIBEC) Project was a community-based project aimed to educate the PI community about the importance of biospecimen research and test the feasibility of collecting saliva samples from the community.
• WINCART/MPACT (2005-2015): Funded by the National Cancer Institute, WINCART’s mission was to promote healthy Pacific Islander communities and address cancer health disparities among Southern California’s Pacific Islander populations through increasing cancer awareness, collaborative research programs, and providing valuable leadership and training opportunities. MPACT or Motivating Pasifikas Against Cigarettes and Tobacco is a randomized controlled trial that tested the effectiveness of a culturally tailored smoking cessation intervention between 2013-2015.