NCHH30 Throwback Thursday
Week 44: March 30, 2023
by Christopher Bloom
NCHH turned THIRTY on September 4, 2022, so we’re celebrating with a new “Throwback Thursday” photo each week.
This week, we look back at a photo from March 26, 2015—just over eight years ago—featuring our longtime biostatistician, Dr. Sherry Dixon, and Marta Gomez, who was a research scientist at the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH). They’re taking a quick break from crunching data just long enough to have their pictures taken for posterity.
These two great ladies were part of an all-star research team* that studied the impact of New York’s Healthy Neighborhoods Program across three articles subsequently published in the March/April 2017 issue of the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice:
- “The New York State Healthy Neighborhoods Program: Findings from an Evaluation of a Large-Scale, Multisite, State-Funded Healthy Homes Program.”
- “An Evaluation of a State-Funded Healthy Homes Intervention on Asthma Outcomes in Adults and Children.”
- “A Cost-Benefit Analysis of a State-Funded Healthy Homes Program for Residents with Asthma: Findings from the New York State Healthy Neighborhoods Program.”
In his official statement, Commissioner of Health Dr. Howard Zucker said, “Taken together, this body of research provides clear and compelling evidence that our Healthy Neighborhoods Program is making a significant impact on health and healthcare costs. By working directly with residents in high-risk neighborhoods, the Department is directly improving the health of these New Yorkers.”
For a summary of the team’s findings, check out this recap.
Sherry Dixon has been with the team for nearly 30 years, which means she’s had a hand in nearly every NCHH research project that we’ve done, and there have been a lot of them. For a more on Sherry, check out our week 17 throwback.
As for Marta, the Healthy Neighborhoods Program articles were among the final projects of her professional career with New York State. Now happily retired, she enjoys birding and playing piano but is still very active in her advocacy for healthy environments and climate justice.
We’re pleased to know that Marta is still as active, happy, and healthy, and we look forward to catching up with her again soon.
*The research team: Sherry Dixon, Marta Gomez, David Jacobs, Amanda Reddy, and Jonathan Wilson.
NCHH’s Sherry Dixon, left, with Marta Gomez from the New York State Department of Health.
See You Next Week
We hope that you’ve enjoyed this throwback in honor of our 30th anniversary. Remember that we’ll post a new throwback every Thursday morning at 9:04 a.m. on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter through May 25, 2023. If you’ve missed a previous post, you can always reminisce with us via our NCHH30 gallery.
Christopher Bloom is NCHH’s communications and marketing manager. He joined NCHH in 2008 after nearly a decade in the real estate industry. In a previous role at NCHH, he coordinated a national Renovation, Repair, and Painting (RRP) training program, one of the most successful in the nation. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Textual Studies from Syracuse University.