Dr. Daphne Hernandez

Assistant Professor

Office Number: 104 GAR
Phone: 713-743-9858
Fax: 713-743-9860

Email: dherna32@Central.UH.EDU

Mailing Address:
3855 Holman St., Rm 104 Garrison
Houston, TX 77204-6015

Research Interests

Through my doctoral and postdoctoral education I received training in the areas of developmental psychology, poverty, and public policy. My research has focused on 1. family-related factors, such as poverty and family structure, and their influence food insecurity and food assistance program participation and 2. how family-related factors and participation in public assistance programs influence child and adult health outcomes. As a NICHD K12 Scholar in the Building Interdisciplinary Careers in Women’s Health (BIRCWH) Program, I focused on the how individual-level contextual factors and policies predict gender differences in obesity. In the future, I plan on continue the above lines of research by including measures of the built environment, nutrition, and physical activity.

Recent Publications and Research Activity

Selected Funded Grants

Scholar, “Demographic and Socio-economic Determinants of Food Insecurity and Food Assistance Program Participation and Their Relation to Women’s Body Mass Index (BMI).” NIH/ORWH K12 Program in Building Interdisciplinary Careers in Women’s Health (BIRCWH). 2010-2012 ($200,000)

Principal Investigator, “Trends in Food Assistance Program Participation on Childhood Weight Trajectories.” United States Department of Agriculture Research Innovation and Development Grant in Economics (RIDGE) Grant, 2008-2009 ($35,000) with L. Francis.

Co-Investigator, “The Effect of Food Insecurity on the Physical, Cognitive, and Socio-emotional Development of Infants and Toddlers.” United States Department of Agriculture Research, Innovation, and Development Grant in Economics (RIDGE) Grant, 2007-2008 ($40,000) with A. Jacknowitz.

Selected Publications
* indicates student co-author

Hernandez, D. C. (forthcoming). Disadvantaged, Urban Fathers’ Health and Risky Health Behaviors: The Role of Relationship Status and Fathering Practices. Fathering.

Hernandez, D. C. (in press). Determinants of Longitudinal BMI Transitions among Socio-economically Disadvantaged Mothers. Journal of Women’s Health. DOI: 10.1089/jwh.2011.2899

Hernandez, D. C. & Kimbro, R. T. (in press). The Association between Acculturation and Health Insurance Coverage for Immigrant Children from Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Regions of Origin. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health. DOI: 10.1007/s10903-012-9643-1

Hernandez, D. C. & *Pressler, E. (in press). Maternal Union Transitions and Household Food Insecurity: Differences by Race and Ethnicity. Journal of Family Issues. DOI: 10.1177/0192513X12449134

Hernandez, D. C. (2012). Soda consumption among food insecure households with children: A call to restructure food assistance policy. Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk, 3 (1), Article 16. Available at: http://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/childrenatrisk/vol3/iss1/16

Hernandez, D. C., Francis, L. A., & *Doyle, E. A. (2011). National School Lunch Program and gender differences in low-income children’s BMI trajectories. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, 165 (4), 346-353. DOI: 10.1001/archpediatrics.2010.253 (PMID: 21135318)

Ziol-Guest, K. M., & Hernandez, D. C. (2010). First and second trimester WIC participation is associated with low rates of breastfeeding and early introduction of cow’s milk during infancy. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 110, 702-709. DOI: 10.1016/j.jada.2010.02.013

Hernandez, D. C., & Ziol-Guest, K. M. (2009). Income volatility and family structure patterns: Association with stability and change in food stamp program participation. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 30 (4), 357-371. DOI: 10.1007/s10834-009-9168-5

Hernandez, D. C., & Jacknowitz, A. (2009). Transient, but not persistent adult food insecurity influences toddler development. Journal of Nutrition, 139 (8), 1517-1524. DOI: 10.3945/jn.109.105593

Education

A.B. in Psychology; Certificate in Spanish at Princeton University, 1998

MSEd in Psychological Services at University of Pennsylvania, 2000

Ph.D. in Applied Developmental & Educational Psychology at Boston College, 2005

Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow in Research and Training Program on Poverty and Public Policy at University of Michigan, 2005 - 2007