Tonia Branche

Class of 2010

As a rising senior concentrating in African American Studies

and pursuing a pre-medical track, my focus within the

department combines my interest in African American Studies

with medicine and public health.  For the past year, I have been

working with various professors and students in the department

and a local physician to take an interdisciplinary approach to

studying type-2 diabetes within the Haitian community.  Our

focus has branched from the traditional biological mindset to

also include the cultural, religious, and social factors that play

into the overall understanding of diabetes from the

perspectives of members of the Haitian community.  Despite

the growing number of initiatives to address diabetes in

African Americans as a race, there has been little attention

paid to how the disease affects Haitian-Americans, let alone

from a perspective outside of the biomedical context, which

heavily focuses on dietary risk factors as a cause of

prevalence.

After completing department courses, an independent study

and a month-long visit to Haiti this past summer, I am now

preparing to write a Senior Thesis that will look into ways to

address the discussion, treatment and view of diabetes and its

related concepts, specifically within the Boston Haitian

Community.  I will analyze factors other than those in the

biomedical arena and delve more into questions of cultural

understanding and social norms as they relate to disease

perception. More than just assessing the role of diabetes within

this community, I also aim to construct an applicable proposal

that can be used to help further communication and education

about diabetes between arenas that regularly interact with

Haitians in the Boston area, including physicians, media

personalities and food service providers.  Overall, I hope to

enhance and further a dialogue that will abet the overall

initiative to both prevent and treat diabetes within the African

Diaspora.