Project Status:

Dr. Khanna's Research Project ended during CADRE Phase I.  Dr. Khanna is currently an Associate Professor at the School of Public Health.

Description:

Tobacco smoking and alcohol use contribute to a synergy of epidemics (“syndemic”) that disproportionately affects persons involved with the criminal legal system (PCLS) and their social networks. An improved understanding of the complex interrelationships among the factors of the incarceration-tobacco-alcohol syndemic is essential to develop effective reform policies and interventions. However, collecting empirical data on these interrelationships is often hampered due to logistical and ethical challenges. Dr. Khanna’s project developed an agent-based network model (ABNM) to simulate the effects of the incarceration-tobacco-alcohol syndemic in the state of Rhode Island, USA. The modeling study demonstrated the magnitude of smoking and heavy alcohol use in the adult social networks of persons involved with the criminal legal system (PCLS). Ongoing extensions of this work are investigating the links between incarceration, cardiovascular disease and cancer in the social networks of PCLS. The model developed here is being extended to incorporate the impact of vaccine hesitancy and health care access among PCLS and their communities through an R21 award from the NIMHD (R21 MD 019388). Other submitted grants from this model include applying network and agent modeling to investigate the impact of criminal legal involvement on children’s substance use (with CADRE PL Micalizzi), and integrating ambulatory assessment data to prioritize health-centered responses over law enforcement oriented approaches (with CADRE PLs Sokolovsky and Janssen).  

Mentors:

Chris Kahler, Ph.D., Brown University 
Rosemarie Martin, Ph.D., Brown University
Patricia Cioe, Ph.D., Brown University

Collaborators & Consultants:

Nick Collier, Ph.D., Argonne National Laboratory
Daniel Sheeler, M.S., Chicago Center for HIV Elimination

Research Team:

Tori Davis, MPH, Data Specialist
Yurui Zhang, M.S., Research Assistant
Noah Rousell, Research Assistant