June 27, 2024

Patrick Smith, BSN RN, a fourth-year PhD candidate in the department of Community Health and Prevention at the Drexel Dornsife School of Public Health, was awarded a National Institutes of Health Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) fellowship from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. 

This fellowship will enable Smith to further study how individual-level eviction experiences and neighborhood eviction rates influence cardiovascular health, while supporting Smith’s ongoing training and mentorship through his dissertation research.

According to recent data, approximately 7.6 million Americans face the threat of an eviction filing each year, with rates being highest among Black renters, female renters, and households with children. Prior research, synthesized in a 2024 scoping review led by Smith, has shown that evictions can negatively impact health, disrupt healthcare access, and impede the formation of protective social structures within communities. Yet few studies have examined how eviction influences the management of chronic conditions, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes, that are highly prevalent, costly, and exacerbated by stress. Smith’s dissertation research aims to help address this gap.

Using a mixed-methods approach, Smith will use local and national data to explore how eviction influences cardiovascular health outcomes. First, linking data across multiple sources, he will examine how neighborhood eviction rates influence the likelihood of cardiovascular-disease related hospitalization among a nationwide sample of adults. Secondly, he will use existing quantitative data and newly-collected qualitative data to explore how individual eviction experiences and neighborhood eviction rates influence factors related to cardiovascular disease among a sample of low-income adults in New Haven, Connecticut.

During the course of the fellowship, Smith will receive additional training and mentorship from the following Dornsife faculty: Ali K Groves, PhD, associate professor of community health and prevention; Irene Headen, PhD, assistant professor of community health and prevention; Brent Langellier, PhD, associate professor of health management and policy, Gina Lovasi, PhD, Dana and David Dornsife dean and professor of epidemiology; Reneé Moore, PhD, research professor of epidemiology and biostatistics; and Dan Vader, PhD, statistician at the Biostatistics Scientific Collaboration Center. In addition, Smith will receive mentorship from Danya Keene, PhD, associate professor of social and behavioral sciences at Yale School of Public Health. Funding also covers Smith’s tuition, stipend, and other educational expenses during the fellowship period.

Smith aims to leverage this research and mentorship to advance the development and implementation of evidence-informed social policies that promote housing stability, improve population health, and advance health equity.

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