Dr. Ijeoma Opara, PhD, LMSW, MPH, associate professor of public health (social and behavioral sciences) and director of The SASH Lab at Yale, recently traveled to Jamaica to share insights from her innovative, youth-centered substance use prevention research and to explore potential collaborations with the University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech) School of Public Health.
Dr. Opara’s visit underscored the importance of international partnerships in tackling pressing public health challenges, including substance use prevention, HIV/STI prevention, and youth empowerment.
Dr. Opara was invited to present at the Jamaica Association of Public Health Inspectors Conference on October 30, 2024. The Jamaica Association of Public Health Inspectors (JAPHI) is a professional organization that represents Public Health Inspectors and Environmental Health Officers in Jamaica. This association plays a vital role in safeguarding public health by focusing on environmental health issues, disease prevention, and health promotion across the country. Members of JAPHI work in various settings, including government health departments, local health authorities, and community health initiatives, where they are responsible for implementing regulations under the Public Health Act, conducting inspections, and ensuring public safety in areas such as food safety, sanitation, waste management, water quality, disease vector control, and port health. They also focus on the impact of research done by student interns in the BSc. in Environmental Health major at the School of Public Health and Health Technology.
The youth program was truly an all-hands-on-deck effort.
Dr. Ijeoma Opara, PhD, LMSW, MPH
Dr. Opara’s presentation at the conference focused on her recent National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)-funded youth participatory research project, which combines community-based participatory research with data science to better predict and prevent substance use disorders. The project, in its first phase, has engaged youth from urban areas in New Jersey, training them in basic data science, substance use prevention, and public health methodologies within The SASH Lab Youth Summer Research Program that was launched in July 2024.
“The youth program was truly an all-hands-on-deck effort,” Dr. Opara said. “It came together beautifully, but it took a lot of work behind the scenes to ensure teens were fully immersed and gaining the knowledge we needed them to obtain around substance use prevention, data science and public health research.”
The opportunity to work in Jamaica came about through a connection with one of Dr. Opara’s community partners, Mr. Horace Henry, MPH, director of the East Orange Department of Health & Human Services. Mr. Henry, who has roots in Jamaica and is a former Public Health Inspector there, was instrumental in organizing her conference appearance.
“When I met Dr. Opara, I immediately knew she had to come to Jamaica,” said Mr. Henry. “I wanted our people to hear what she was doing and build a true partnership. I am hopeful for collaboration.”
Mr. Henry co-presented with Dr. Opara during the conference, which took place at the Grand Bahia Principe Resort in St. Ann. He talked about his experience at a Yale Community Forum that took place in August that included over 100 students from East Orange, New Jersey, and focused on substance use statistics in the state of New Jersey, and how important it is to engage youth in community level public health research.
Dr. Opara’s work reflected the conference theme and sparked a productive exchange of ideas on how public health can be leveraged to empower young people in both Jamaica and the United States. Her approach to public health, which integrates youth voices and uses innovative data science techniques, offers a model that could be adapted for Jamaica’s specific public health landscape.
Following the conference, Dr. Opara made a trip to Kingston to meet with administrators at the UTech School of Public Health.
“I couldn’t visit Jamaica without visiting the School of Public Health,” she said. “It was a three-hour journey, but so worth it.”
At UTech, Jamaica, Dr. Opara met with the Vice Dean of the Joint Colleges of Oral Health Medicine and Veterinary Sciences, Karlene Atkinson; Public Health Program Directors of the MSc in Public Health Nursing, the Masters in Public Health, and the BSc. in Environmental Health and BSc. in Occupational Health and Environmental Health Management. She also met with Dr. Kevin Harvey, MBBS, MPH, MSc, DrPH, JP, who is the Head of the School of Public Health and serves as the Deputy Bureau Chief of the Latin America and Caribbean division of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. Dr. Harvey called the visit “enlightening.” He shared his enthusiasm for the potential of ongoing collaboration with The SASH Lab at Yale , remarking, “It was great to meet with Dr. Opara; we are hoping this will be the first of many visits.”
Mrs. Andrea Hardware, Program Director for the BSc. Environmental Health program, welcomed Dr. Opara. She expressed the shared interest in research on topics of common interest to both the Yale University School of Public Health and the University of Technology, Jamaica. “Most of the programs offered at the Joint Colleges have research components that are community action research focused. For maximum impact, this research would require funding. I welcome this collaboration as there is such a great need for The SASH Lab’s work in Jamaica.” The prospect of collaboration with UTech’s School of Public Health and Health Technology opened doors for discussions on adapting Dr. Opara’s youth empowerment initiatives and programs to address substance use and sexual health issues among Jamaican youth.
Dr. Opara’s visit to Jamaica exemplifies her commitment to building global partnerships to advance public health. Through her work, she not only empowers youth with public health knowledge and empowerment strategies but also engages them in solving the challenges they face in their local communities. Her new vision of a global public health network aligns with Yale School of Public Health’s mission to make meaningful, community-centered impacts worldwide.
Dr. Opara’s discussions with UTech, Jamaica representatives addressed substance use and sexual health issues in Jamaica that require a collaborative approach that leverages local expertise and international resources. Expanding youth empowerment and participatory research initiatives globally is vital in ensuring that public health strategies are inclusive, culturally relevant, and effective in addressing the diverse needs of young people.