2021

UCLA awarded grant from Office of Minority Health to continue groundbreaking work through Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Data Policy Lab


The UCLA Fielding School of Public Health’s UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, led by Dr. Ninez Ponce has been awarded a $250,000 grant.

native hAWAIIAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER (nhpi) DATA POLICY LAB

Dr. Ninez Ponce, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health professor of health policy and management, received a one-year $250,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Minority Health to serve as a data intermediary, helping to bridge the gap between community-based organizations and data on social determinants of health. Ponce serves as director of the Fielding School's UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and principal investigator of the center’s California Health Interview Survey,

Under the grant, a team at the center’s Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) Data Policy Lab will create a tool to break down the community’s barriers to accessing and utilizing disaggregated data, or data which are broken down by racial and ethnic subgroups, to inform advocacy efforts and programs. Historically, data on the NHPI community are “hidden” because it is absorbed into other racial groups when data are reported. The lab was launched in August 2020 and aimed to address striking gaps within COVID-19 data and research for NHPIs, including adding more states to report disaggregated cases. Since its founding, the lab team has expanded its project reach to beyond the pandemic. The new project will help identify and parse disaggregated data specific to the community and provide community-based organizations serving the NHPI community with a user-friendly health data access tool featuring social determinants of health data.

“The grant will enable the NHPI Data Policy Lab team to bring much-needed data to organizations who are providing a breadth of on-the-ground resources and aid — in places where they live, work, go to school, and socialize — to this historically underserved community,” Ponce said.

During the grant period, the lab will survey these community-based organizations across California about their data use and needs, then construct a user-friendly data platform that brings together key data sources on social determinants of health. The project will further create trainings on data access and analysis to ensure the community gains access that was previously reserved for communities that have not faced the past data barriers.

“As a Sāmoan woman in public health, one of the most rewarding aspects of the lab has been working with community organizations, and this grant will help us continue our dedicated efforts to healing the community not only from the pandemic, but other long-standing health issues,” said Karla Thomas, policy director and co-founder of the NHPI Data Policy Lab and UCLA alumna.

by Elaiza Torralba


The UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, founded in 1961, is dedicated to enhancing the public's health by conducting innovative research, training future leaders and health professionals from diverse backgrounds, translating research into policy and practice, and serving our local communities and the communities of the nation and the world. The school has 761 students from 26 nations engaged in carrying out the vision of building healthy futures in greater Los Angeles, California, the nation and the world.

Faculty Referenced by this Article

Dr. Ninez Ponce
Ninez Ponce
Health Policy and Management
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Dr. Lillian Gelberg
Lillian Gelberg
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Dr. Thomas Rice
Thomas Rice
Health Policy and Management
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Laura Erskine
Laura Erskine
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Dr. Aria Fallah
Aria Fallah
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Roshan Bastani
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Dr. William McCarthy
William J. McCarthy
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Dr. Dylan Roby
Dylan Roby
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Dr. Kenneth Wells
Kenneth Wells
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Olivia Jung
Olivia Jung
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Dr. Stephanie Taylor
Stephanie L. Taylor

Nationally recognized health services researcher and sociomedical scientist with 25+ years' experience in effectiveness and implementation research.

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Ron D. Hays
Ron D. Hays

@UCLA since 1997

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Ty Robbins
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Aronberg, Sandra
Sandra Aronberg
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David Hayes-Bautista
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Moira Inkelas
Moira Inkelas
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Dr. Jonathan Fielding
Jonathan Fielding
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Dr. Samuel Sessions
Samuel Sessions
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Annette Maxwell
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Warren Scott Comulada
Warren Scott Comulada
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Dr. Daniel Eisenberg
Daniel Eisenberg
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Patricia Ganz
Patricia Ganz
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Yusuke Tsugawa
Yusuke Tsugawa
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Dr. Paul Fu, Jr.
Paul Fu, Jr.
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Mangione, C
Carol Mangione
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Leah Vriesman
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Arlene Fink
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Diana Hilberman
Diana Hilberman
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James Macinko
James Macinko

Professor of Community Health Sciences & Health Policy and Management, and Associate Dean for Research

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Thomas Priselac
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Julie A. Elginer

EMPH Academic Program Director with expertise in healthcare marketing, finance, and reproductive health policy, teaching in the EMPH, MPH, MHA program

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Comanor, Bill
William Comanor
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Dr. Beth Glenn
Beth Glenn
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Dr. Risha Gidwani
Risha Gidwani
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Jack Needleman
Jack Needleman
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Barbara Berman
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Gerald Kominski
Gerald Kominski
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Freund, Deborah
Deborah Anne Freund
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Jeanne Miranda
Jeanne Miranda
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Avram Kaplan
Avram Kaplan
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Dr. Arturo Vargas Bustamante
Arturo Vargas Bustamante
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Emmeline Chuang
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Emily Abel
Emily Abel
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Linda Rosenstock
Environmental Health Sciences Health Policy and Management
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Michael Ong
Michael Ong
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Brennan Spiegel
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Jean Balgrosky
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Dr. Alice Kuo
Alice Kuo
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Dr. Elizabeth (Becky) Yano
Elizabeth (Becky) Yano
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Thomas D. Gordon
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Nadereh Pourat
Nadereh Pourat
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Dr. Anthony Schiff
Anthony Hunter Schiff
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Dr. Joann Elmore
Joann G. Elmore
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Pamela Davidson
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Mark Litwin
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Burt Cowgill
Burt Cowgill
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Dr. Frederick Zimmerman
Frederick Zimmerman
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Corrina Moucheraud
Corrina Moucheraud
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Dr. John Lu
Z. John Lu
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Vickie Mays
Vickie Mays
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Paul Chung
Paul Chung
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Dr. Naomi Zewde
Naomi Zewde
Health Policy and Management
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Susan Ettner
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Robert Kaplan
Robert Kaplan
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Galper, Michael
Michael Galper
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Clifford Ko
Clifford Ko
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Lori Pelliccioni
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Dr. Xi Zhu
Xi Zhu
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Alan Tomines
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Dr. Kristen Choi
Kristen Choi
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Isomi Miake-Lye
Isomi Miake-Lye
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Neal Halfon
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Steven Teutsch
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Sangeeta Ahluwalia
Sangeeta Ahluwalia
Health Policy and Management
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Ron Andersen

Dr. Ron Andersen is the Wasserman Professor Emeritus in the UCLA Departments of Health Policy and Management.

Health Policy and Management
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Robert Brook
Health Policy and Management
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Kadiyala, Srikanth
Srikanth Kadiyala
Health Policy and Management
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Jody Heymann
Jody Heymann
Epidemiology Health Policy and Management
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Dr. Felicia Hodge
Felicia Hodge
Health Policy and Management
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Dr. Yvonne Flores
Yvonne Flores
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Michelle Keller
Michelle S. Keller

Dr. Michelle S. Keller is a health services researcher whose research focuses on the use and prescribing of high-risk medications.

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Dr. Jennifer Wortham
Jennifer Wortham
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Jose J. Escarce
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