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Clarence Spigner
Professor
Adjunct Professor, American Ethnic Studies
Adjunct Professor, Global Health

Clarence Spigner is the acting coordinator of the MIRT program and the faculty director of the Global Partnerships Travel Grant. Spigner's teaching and research interests are in the health of disadvantage populations, race & ethnic relations, and the intersections of popular culture's influence. His primary and critical focus is in community based research and the inherent contradictions of race, gender, and structural inequalities within institutions of health and medicine. His research/publications include, but are not limited to; tobacco-related behavior, organ donation & transplantation, stress and coping strategies, and intra-ethnic tensions. He and wife Jennifer, daughter Surita, and son Ravi live in Seattle.

Research Interests:
Tobacco-related behavior; racism as a stressor; social construction of 'race' vis-a-vis biological reductionism in health research and behavior; knowledge and opinions about organ donation among ethnic groups; program evaluation; popular culture

Contact Information

email:   cspigner@u.washington.edu

office:   H-692, Health Sciences Building

address:
University of Washington
1959 NE Pacific Street
Seattle, WA 98195-7660

campus box:   357660
voice:   206-616-2948
fax:   206-543-3964

Education

DrPH   University of California (Berkeley), 1987   (Behavioral Science)
MPH   University of California (Berkeley), 1982   (Behavioral Science)
AB   University of California (Berkeley), 1979   (Sociology)

Teaching   (Department of Health Services Courses)

  • HSERV 490
    Qualitative Research Methods: An Introduction
  • HSERV 520   (Extended MPH Program)
    Methods in Applied Community Research
  • HSERV 522   (Extended MPH Program)
    Health Program Evaluation
  • HSERV 590   (Extended MPH Program)
    Qualitative Methods
  • HSERV 590
    Qualitative Research Methods: An Introduction
  • HSERV 592
    Health Services Department Seminar
  • HSERV 592
    MPH Program Seminar
  • HSERV 600   (Extended MPH Program)
    Introduction to Health Promotion Planning and Evaluation

Recent Publications



Lyles CR, Karter AJ, Young BA, Spigner C, Grembowski D, Schillinger D, Adler N. Provider factors and patient-reported healthcare discrimination in the Diabetes Study of California (DISTANCE). Patient Educ Couns. 2011 Dec;85(3):e216-24. Epub 2011 May 24.  PMID: 21605956    PMCID: PMC3178668
PubMed
PubMed Central
DOI


Lyles CR, Karter AJ, Young BA, Spigner C, Grembowski D, Schillinger D, Adler N. Patient-reported racial/ethnic healthcare provider discrimination and medication intensification in the Diabetes Study of Northern California (DISTANCE). J Gen Intern Med. 2011 Oct;26(10):1138-44. Epub 2011 May 6.  PMID: 21547610    PMCID: PMC3181298
PubMed
PubMed Central
DOI


Brazg T, Bekemeier B, Spigner C, Huebner CE. Our community in focus: the use of photovoice for youth-driven substance abuse assessment and health promotion. Health Promot Pract. 2011 Jul;12(4):502-11. Epub 2010 Nov 4.  PMID: 21051323
PubMed
DOI


Lyles CR, Karter AJ, Young BA, Spigner C, Grembowski D, Schillinger D, Adler NE. Correlates of Patient-Reported Racial/Ethnic Health Care Discrimination in the Diabetes Study of Northern California (DISTANCE). J Health Care Poor Underserved. 2011;22(1):211-25.  PMID: 21317516    PMCID: PMC3075840
PubMed
PubMed Central
DOI


Cárdenas V, Thornton JD, Wong KA, Spigner C, Allen MD. Effects of classroom education on knowledge and attitudes regarding organ donation in ethnically diverse urban high schools. Clin Transplant. 2010 Nov;24(6):784-93. doi: 10.1111/j.1399-0012.2009.01200.x.  PMID: 20088915    PMCID: PMC2953604
PubMed
PubMed Central
DOI


Dissertation, Thesis & Capstone Committees (recent HSERV graduates)

2011
Chair, thesis committee for Celeste Chung
Qualitative program evaluation of Seattle Children's Patient Navigator Program

2011
Member, thesis committee for Evan Sturtevant
Changes in productivity and coverage for outreach workers in Lesotho

2010
Member, dissertation committee for Tracy Hilliard
Understanding socioeconomic, sociocultural, and environmental determinants of obesity among African Americans

2010
Chair, dissertation committee for Courtney Lyles
Patient and Provider Factors, Patient-Reported Racial/Ethnic Discrimination in the Healthcare Setting, and Quality of Care in the Diabetes Study of Northern California (DISTANCE)

2010
Chair, thesis committee for Susan Richardson
Effectiveness of the Teens Against Tobacco Use (TATU) program in reducing susceptibility to smoking initiation among teen participants

2010
Member, dissertation committee for Sarah Veele-Brice
Intentional Injury in the Workplace: Identification and Prevention of Physical and Non-Physical Workplace Violence

2009
Member, thesis committee for Chami Arachchi
Stigma and discrimination experienced by women who are infected and affected by HIV/AIDS in West Bengal, India

2009
Member, dissertation committee for Maile Taualii
Assessing the relationship between race, reported health, and access to health services

2009
Member, thesis committee for Emily Yette
Increased risk of substance use, abuse, and need for treatment among lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults in Washington State

2008
Member, thesis committee for Tracy Brazg
Our Community in Focus: The use of photovoice for youth-driven substance abuse assessment and health promotion

2008
Chair, thesis committee for Bonnie Burlingham
Women living in a Harm Reduction Housing Project: Who are they and why do they stay or leave housing?

External Funding (sampling of recent awards from UW SAGE data)

Increasing Kidney Disease Awareness Network (IKAN)
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
PI:   Mielcarek           Dates:    9/1/2011 - 8/31/2012

The Increasing Kidney Disease Awareness Network (IKAN) Transplant Project
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
PI:   Mielcarek           Dates:    9/1/2010 - 8/31/2011

Evaluation Consultation for Priority Communities
Washington State Department of Health
PI:   Spigner           Dates:    7/1/2010 - 6/30/2011

The Increasing Kidney Disease Awareness Network (IKAN) Transplant Project
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
PI:   Mielcarek           Dates:    9/1/2009 - 8/31/2010

Evaluation Consultation for Priority Communities
Washington State Department of Health
PI:   Spigner           Dates:    7/1/2009 - 6/30/2010

The Increasing Kidney Disease Awareness Network (IKAN) Transplant Project
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
PI:   Mielcarek           Dates:    9/1/2008 - 8/31/2009

Evaluation Consultation for Priority Communities
Washington State Department of Health
PI:   Spigner           Dates:    7/1/2008 - 6/30/2009

Global Health Fellows Program
Public Health Institute (PHI)
PI:   Katz           Dates:    7/1/2006 - 6/30/2011

University of Washington MHIRT Training Program Grant
National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)
PI:   Williams           Dates:    7/1/2005 - 6/30/2009

Projects

Impact of race-related Stress and Coping Patterns on Heart Disease
This project employs basically qualitative approaches to assess how African Americans who are already diagnosed with hypertension cope with the disease. In part, a bibliographic analysis of hypertension studies is underway under the informal hypothesis that how health providers/research view hypertension or high blood pressure can reflect how people with the disease are treated.
Process Evaluation of Community-based Approaches to Washington's Statewide Tobacco Prevention and Control Program
This comprehensive research and service program employs a community-based participatory approach in developing tobacco-related control and prevention strategies statewide. Priority groups, or communities, such as African Americans, Asian American, Pacific Islanders, Latino/Hispanic, Native Americans, LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered), and low income whites. These groups operate in collaborative partnership with the State Department of Health and the Cross Cultural Health Care Program in formulating capacity building programs with built-in evaluative components to prevent and control tobacco-related behaviors.
Perceptions and Knowledge about Organ Donation Among African Americans and Asian Americans in Seattle, Washington
This community based research project is in collaboration with the Hope Heart Institute and employs qualitative and quantitative approaches to discerning opinions about the organ donation and tissue transplantation process among racial minority groups in Seattle.
Tobacco Cessation Among Asian American Men
In partnership with the International Community Health Services Clinic, this community-based research and evaluation project is designed to measure the efficacy of a clinic-based and culturally-specific tobacco cessation program that employs the Stages of Change Model (the Transtheoretical Model) of behavioral readiness.
Course Development: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgendered Issues in Public Health
In collaboration with selected students and faculty within and external to the School of Public Health, developing a comprehensive course (or courses) that will address the historical, social, political, and epidemiological dimensions of LGBT issues in health.
Course Development: Race, Popular Film Imagery, and the Public's Health
In the process of developing freshman seminar courses which use images from popular film to help explain constructs and concepts of socio-political behavior and the relationship to public expectations health behavior.

Links

Multidisciplinary International Research Training
  • Director of the national program designed to encourage students to pursue careers in biomedical and behavioral research. The program provides support for undergraduates, graduates, and faculty to do health-related population-based research and training in developing countries
    http://depts.washington.edu/mirt/

The Global Partnerships Travel Grant
  • This grant funds 3-5 students per year to work for up to three months overseas under the supervision of UW faculty and faculty and staff of linked institutions in the host countries

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