On March 28-30th, a team of high school fellows from the NYU School of Medicine Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP) won statewide recognition at the 16th Annual Statewide Step Conference in Albany. Sade Seidu, Crystol Thomas and Kiara Nunez won first place in the Human Services Senior Division at the conference.
The team project and poster was titled “Limited Access: How Much Do You Know About Diabetes?” The students investigated whether a relationship exists between risk of getting Type 2 diabetes and average household income. They examined neighborhoods in Harlem, Brownsville and East New York and analyzed food availability in the communities, environment and education. They hypothesized that a lack of resources and inadequate education about diabetes makes people who live in lower income areas at greater risk of getting the disease.
The students want to help educate the people in the communities by distributing educational materials about diabetes, host seminars in high schools and to petition government to improve accessibility to parks and healthier food choices in underserved communities.