faculty spotlight

Youth smoking remains a significant public health problem in the U.S. and in Virginia. Hong Xue, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Health Administration and Policy, is conducting a study of youth smoking and prevention on the effects of policy and prevention strategies on the use of conventional and e-cigarettes in Virginia adolescents.

Farrokh Alemi, professor of Health Administration and Policy, is working on a new study to identify a connection between COVID-19 and suicide among essential workers. The study aims to offer evidence-based policy recommendations for improving mental health and preventing suicide in essential workers.

In a recent study, George Mason University Associate Professor Hong Xue, PhD and colleagues evaluated the impact of ending market exclusivity for brand-name statin drugs. The first study to comprehensively assess the economic impact of generic competition for statins found that ending market exclusivity for statins saves U.S. $12 billion and individuals nearly $1,000 annually.

Web site developed based on the study can help alleviate depression symptoms more effectively.

In a first-of-its-kind study, Associate Professor Hong Xue and Professors Alison Cuellar and Lawrence Cheskin and colleagues at George Mason University's College of Health and Human Services examined associations between the amount of time spent on specific social media sites and the use of both e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes.  

While most of the social media platforms reviewed in the study showed no significant association with vaping, Xue and his colleagues did find that college-age e-cigarette users who spent more time on Snapchat did have a higher prevalence of lifetime e-cigarette use as well as an increased frequency of e-cigarette use in the past 30 days.

College-age e-cigarette users who are occasional or regular vapers spend an average of just over two hours a day on Snapchat, according to the study. Non-users, on the other hand, spend less than an hour each day on the app. The study also found that each extra hour on Snapchat was associated with a 4.61 percent increase in likelihood of lifetime e-cigarette use

Learn more about the rapidly growing field of health administration from George Mason Department of Health Administration and Policy faculty and recent graduates.

When it comes sharing recipes on social media, what users post, and what they cook may be two different things according to a recent study led by Hong Xue, PhD at George Mason University. The study, published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR), analyzed hundreds of recipes and found users liked and pinned posts that were healthy, but more heavily engaged off-line with recipes that were high in fat, sugar, and total calories.

Telehealth as a channel for delivering care has boomed in the past few years in response to the growing need for more flexible opioid treatment options and limitations to in-person care during the COVID-19 pandemic. But for states, payers, and providers to deliver on the long-term promise of telehealth, areas such as funding, infrastructure, policy, access points, and coverage must also evolve.

Congratulations to the 2021 College of Health and Human Services Faculty and Staff award winners.

Virginia Cronin, Adjunct Faculty member for the School of Nursing and instructor in the CHHS Simulation Center, received the "Teacher of Distinction" commendation from the Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning.