CSBS Small Grant Success Story: Karen Tabb Dina & Tuyet Mai Hoang

(Left to Right) Professors Karen Tabb, Andi Lee, Tuyet-Mai “Mai” Ha Hoang and Kaylee Lukacena Buzzetta — Professors Karen Tabb, Andi Lee, Tuyet-Mai “Mai” Ha Hoang and Kaylee Lukacena Buzzetta have published a paper on the experiences of pregnant women of color and how they navigated the health care system during the pandemic.

In this interview, Professors Tabb Dina and Hoang share their experience as CSBS Small Grant recipients for their research project, The Impact of Racial Bias and Discrimination on Racial-ethnic Minority Women’s Experiences and Healthcare Interactions during Perinatal Period.

Karen Tabb Dina, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor at the School of Social Work. Professor Tabb Dina’s research focuses on women’s health and mental health, with a particular focus on health disparities.

Tuyet Mai Hoang, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor at the School of Social Work. Professor Hoang is interested in a community-engaged approach to research on racial justice and disparities in health outcomes.

Tell us Briefly about your research project.

Maternal health in the U.S. is in crisis. Racial discrimination in healthcare is one of the root causes contributing to racial disparities in pregnancy and birth outcomes. Our project focused on describing the clinical experiences of perinatal (pregnant or postpartum) Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) in seeking healthcare services. We focused on investigating racial discrimination in healthcare interactions and we aimed to create tangible recommendations from stakeholders for healthcare providers and healthcare leaders to reduce health disparities and to appropriately serve BIPOC women.

In what ways did the CSBS Small Grant Program help you to connect with interdisciplinary collaborators at Illinois?

CSBS Small Grant allowed us to bridge our expertise such that Dr. Hoang’s area of research in racial bias and discrimination can be used to examine maternal healthcare interactions through Dr. Tabb Dina’s perinatal mental health work. It also allowed us to work with local community partners to disseminate and interpret the findings.

How did the initial CSBS Small Grant funding aid in your external funding efforts?

Based up on the activities in our CSBS small grant we launched similar project proposals and submitted those ideas to federal sponsors. These proposals are still under review.

What advice do you have for Illinois faculty and staff who may be interested in applying for a CSBS Small Grant?

We suggest all faculty that are doing or considering social-behavioral science to apply and connect with the resources at CSBS. We have learned from and connected with folks through CSBS events and panels. We also want to extend our thanks to the CSBS team for continuing to support grantees.