The Arnhold Institute for Global Health’s New York City (NYC) Partnership is excited to announce the recipients of its 2025 Pilot Project Awards. These awards, selected through a rigorous review based on the National Institutes of Health guidelines, provide up to $25,000 in pilot funding for one year to implement projects that address community health needs in Queens. They are awarded to collaborative teams from Mount Sinai, NYC Health + Hospitals (H+H)/Elmhurst and NYC H+H/Queens for research, care improvement, and training projects.
Previous award recipients have addressed a wide range of health concerns affecting Queens community members. For example, a project funded in 2024 is examining barriers to health care for Latinx immigrant workers in Queens. A participant in this project noted, “I follow my grandmother’s remedies…to avoid going to the doctor because it’s very expensive, and if you already have your bills to pay and you add another one for going to a doctor, you won’t be able to make ends meet with what you earn.”
Led by Homero Harari, ScD, Associate Professor, and Laura Sirbu, MD, Assistant Professor, Mount Sinai’s Department of Environmental Medicine, as well as Adina Valceanu, MD, an internist at NYC H+H/Queens, the project is responding to the community’s needs by aiming to improve health care access and outcomes for these workers.
“There has been a great response from our population,” Dr. Harari says. “We hope that our project will unveil ways to further enhance the collaboration between Mount Sinai and the NYC H+H network and improve occupational health care in working New Yorkers.”
The projects selected in 2025 also aim to address community needs and improve health outcomes. The five projects are:
Dave A. Holson, MD, MPH
They Don’t Believe Us: Changing the narrative for patients with sickle cell disease with an acute painful episode presenting to the emergency department through the implementation and evaluation of a standardized pain protocol
Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a genetic blood disorder that causes severe, chronic pain due to abnormally shaped blood cells that block blood flow to organs and tissues. It affects about 8,000 people in New York City and is most common among people with African ancestry. When people with SCD can no longer control their pain at home—known as an “acute pain crisis”—they go to the emergency department (ED). These patients often experience long wait times to receive pain medications in the ED and feel their reported pain is not taken seriously. This project aims to improve the timeliness of addressing pain in patients with the disease in an acute pain crisis seeking care at the NYC H+H/Queens ED. The team will survey physicians, nurses, and staff to gauge their understanding, comfort, and approach to managing SCD pain crises in the ED. They will also show study participants a video about sickle cell disease to highlight the stigma associated with the disease and hold group discussions. The team hopes to implement, evaluate, and improve pain protocols for these patients.
Devin Madden, PhD, MPH
Hope Bodega: An Equity-Centered Resiliency Research Project and Intervention
Hope Bodega uses storytelling to combat social isolation and discuss mental health. By using community members’ stories about hope, grounded in their cherished objects, Hope Bodega offers insights into marginalized communities’ relationships to adversity, resilience, and well-being. This project will formally analyze participants’ stories and evaluate Hope Bodega’s impact on well-being in collaboration with NYC H+H/Elmhurst’s Women and Children’s Division and the Institute for Health Equity Research at Mount Sinai, along with Queens-based community advocates focused on reproductive justice, and a community-based partner, Ancient Song.
Sarah Nowlin, PhD, MSN, RN
Postpartum Transitions in Healthcare (PATH)
Hypertensive disorders in pregnancy (HDP)—like gestational hypertension—can lead to physiological changes that increase long-term risk of cardiovascular disease and may contribute to racial and ethnic disparities in health. This project will test a text message-based tool called Postpartum Transitions in Healthcare (PATH). PATH, which will be co-designed with its target community, aims to better engage postpartum people in health care. It will send automated text messages with science-based postpartum health advice to women with HDP receiving care at NYC H+H/Elmhurst. It will also reward behaviors like attending scheduled appointments, to help postpartum people stay in care and take good care of their health. If this small pilot shows that PATH works, the team will use the data to inform the design of a larger future trial.
Harnessing Optimism and Perseverance in the Face of Long COVID~Español (HOPE-LC~Español)
Eric Watson, PhD, and Amelia Hicks, PhD
Long COVID is a chronic condition that disproportionately affects the Hispanic/Latinx community due to their greater exposure to COVID-19 and barriers to health care. It can lead to difficulties with memory and attention, fatigue, depression, anxiety, social withdrawal, and stress related to the unpredictability of symptoms and their impact on work, family, and quality of life. Treatment options are needed to address the psychological impact of living with Long COVID. This project will culturally and linguistically adapt a group therapy program developed by Drs. Watson and Hicks called Harnessing Optimism and Perseverance in the Face of Long COVID (HOPE-LC) to address the emotional and behavioral challenges for those living with Long COVID.
In partnership with NYC H+H/Elmhurst and NYC H+H/Queens, the team will translate the program into Spanish to reach underserved Spanish-speaking communities in Queens. They will refine program materials, engage community advisors, and implement a telehealth-based health care strategy tailored to the needs of the under- and uninsured Spanish-speaking population. If the program works to treat the psychosocial effects of Long COVID, the team will use the data to scale up the program.
The Impact on Health Care Utilization and Care Experience Following the Medicaid Expansion Among Older Immigrant Adults in New York State
Ellerie Weber, PhD, MBA, and Mehak Paul, MBBS, MPH
In 2024, New York expanded Medicaid eligibility to include low-income, undocumented New Yorkers aged 65 and older. This project will examine the impact of Medicaid expansion on health care utilization and the care experience for these newly eligible patients at NYC H+H/Elmhurst. The study team will analyze medical record data to understand how these patients use health care. They will also interview patients, social workers, and Medicaid managed care executives to understand their perspectives and experiences during the Medicaid expansion. This project will provide insight into the patients’ experiences, measure potential impacts on their health and health outcomes, aid in advocacy for further Medicaid expansion, and improve policy implementation.
The NYC Partnership is a collaboration among the Arnhold Institute for Global Health, the Global Health Institute at NYC H+H/Elmhurst, NYC H+H/Elmhurst and NYC H+H/ Queens. The NYC Partnership looks forward to working with these teams!
Payal Ram is the Program Manager for the New York City Partnership at the Arnhold Institute for Global Health and the Department of Global Health and Health System Design at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the Global Health Institute at NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst.