There is a higher incidence of asthma, worse outcomes, and a higher burden of disease in Black Americans compared to white Americans. This thesis aims to understand asthma disparities in the Black population by analyzing a variety of social determinants of health and genetic factors that may contribute to these racial health disparities. Based on the evidence collected, a variety of interventions are discussed that explore potential solutions to address the critical issue.

Skin cancer diagnoses and deaths continue to increase every year. With basal cell carcinoma (BCC) being the most common type of skin cancer diagnoses, establishing protective measurements against it are important. Surprisingly, sunscreen may not be as effective at protecting against basal cell carcinoma as it is for another non-melanoma type of skin cancer: squamous cell carcinoma. This paper aims to identify some differences between the two non-melanoma type cancers to find probable reasons sunscreen may be more effective at protecting against one over the other, as well as to find new solutions to protect against basal cell carcinoma. The results conclude that basal cell carcinoma does have UV-induced pathogenesis, in which case sunscreen is protective; however, it also revealed the need for ingredient studies and more sunscreen efficacy studies to determine other BCC pathogenesis pathways. Lastly, aided by dermatologist interviews, current interventions were established in order to provide greater protection against skin cancer. These include reforming the way commercials portray sunscreen to better educate the public about proper application and re-application, genetic testing for high-risk BCC markers, and an emphasis on sun education to the mothers of children.

Peer-reviewed literature on the effects of sound and music on babies ranging from the prenatal period to the postnatal period, called the perinatal period moving forward, is vast. Substantial research has been directed towards the neural connections they make with sound, musical therapy, audio learning, and much more. The primary focus of this thesis was to review the current literature on how the father's voice affects the fetus during the perinatal period. During the preliminary research of the topic, the process faced an immediate problem as this concept had very little substantial sources. The number of relevant articles or documents with the term “father” in the title can be counted on one hand. In some cases, research that explored the father’s voice did so only as a supporting statistic or comparison to the main goal of exploring the mother’s voice. The mother’s voice has been prioritized as a research topic because of the immediate physical connection between the mother and the child throughout the entire pregnancy. The third semester of pregnancy is often a period of study since what the mother senses, says or does will somehow translate into an experience for the child’s developing brain. On the other hand, the father’s voice has been considered an environmental sound, a position justified by some researchers due to phenomena such as differing levels of fetal attention and observed “preference” of a newborn. The scarcity of research regarding the father’s voice, or the voice of a non-parental male, can be explained in several ways. These include the father’s potential absence due to work, inherited ideologies and biases against active parenting for the father, parental roles, and their unwillingness to utilize infant-directed speech and singing for psychological reasons, during the perinatal period, compared to that of the mother. Researching ways to deepen the relationship between the father and baby during the perinatal period, along with developing new biotechnologies for different kinds of evaluative tests, will help advance the subject matter of how the father’s voice impacts a baby to a larger scale.

Every year, Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is diagnosed in a growing number of the Americans. Consequently, an extensive amount of research has been dedicated to understanding this disease, and identifying which factors contribute to its symptoms. A large portion of this research has been focused on diet. This paper outlines some of the common diets that are recommended to help those with IBD. The diets discussed are the specific carbohydrate diet, IBD-AID, enteral/parenteral nutrition, low – FODMAP diet, and exclusion diet. It was found that there is a lot of overlap between these diets. Several foods such as corn, dairy, and processed meats were on the avoidance list for more than one diet. Additionally, several diets recommend including probiotic and prebiotic foods each day. From the research gathered in this paper, it is recommended to create an individualized diet with a team of healthcare professionals, using the diets discussed as a guide. While diet is only one of many lifestyle choices that can affect the symptoms of IBD, it is an important one to consider, and can greatly impact the quality of life for patients.