New technologies matter only if care systems can deliver them, and some of the most consequential innovations are new models of care. NYU Meyers faculty in this area are designing and testing nurse-led, community-partnered, and culturally and linguistically responsive interventions that close gaps in care across the life course: couples-based HIV prevention for young Black and Latino adults, diabetes self-management education for Haitian American adults, serious illness conversations for residents of Medicaid-supported assisted living, care management for families navigating hospice transitions in advanced dementia, and assessment of the unmet needs that drive avoidable nursing home placement among Black, Latino, and White older adults living with dementia. Their work produces practical assessment instruments, care management models, and research infrastructure for testing interventions in long-term care. Importantly, these investigators also study how policy and staffing shape outcomes, so that the evidence they generate can inform state and federal decision-making as well as bedside practice.
Explore recent publications, peer-reviewed articles, books, and ongoing research projects from our faculty, listed below in alphabetical order.
Daniel David, PhD, RN
Dr. David is developing community-partnered approaches to improving serious illness and palliative care for low-income older adults. His Someone To Talk To initiative, funded by the Rita and Alex Hillman Foundation, is testing a serious illness conversation and advance care planning model in Medicaid-supported assisted living with three New York City community partners and a community advisory board. His research has documented high symptom burden and fragmented care among residents, many of them Black and Hispanic older adults with histories of homelessness, and aims to extend person-centered palliative care to populations with limited access to specialized services.
Recent Publications and Presentations
- "There Should Be a Nurse on Call": Complex Care Needs of Low-Income Older Adults in Medicaid-Supported Assisted Living. David D, et al. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 2025. Residents described high symptom burden, limited access to care, communication gaps, and fragmented care coordination.
- Primary Palliative Care in Assisted Living and Residential Care: A Metasynthesis. David D, Jimenez V, Brody AA. Journal of Hospice and Palliative Nursing, 2025. Across 88 qualitative studies, assisted living settings often lacked skilled nursing support while residents had substantial unmet needs.
In the News
- Complex Care Needs of Low-Income Older Adults in Medicaid-Supported Assisted Living (Center to Advance Palliative Care, April 2025)
Labs, Programs, and Websites: Someone To Talk To Project · NYU Meyers Faculty Profile
Yzette Lanier, PhD
Dr. Lanier developed Project YESS, a CDC-funded, couples-based HIV prevention intervention for heterosexual Black and Latino youth ages 16 to 24 and their romantic partners in the South Bronx and Upper Manhattan. Rather than focusing on individuals, the intervention engages both partners to promote combination prevention: condom use, routine HIV and STI testing with linkage to care, and PrEP uptake and adherence. Her research has shown that couples recognize the added protection of combining methods but face relationship-level barriers to adoption, findings that directly inform intervention design. She also co-developed First Steps, a toolkit co-created with Black and Hispanic adolescent mothers in New York City to strengthen sexual and reproductive health visits.
Recent Publications and Presentations
- Attitudes Toward the Uptake of Combination HIV Prevention Methods Among Young Black and Latino Heterosexual Couples Living in New York City: A Qualitative Study. Lanier Y, et al. Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, 2024. Couples valued the added protection of combining methods, but perceived burden and fit with serious relationships limited adoption.
- First Steps: A Toolkit Co-Created With Black and Hispanic Adolescent Mothers to Improve Sexual and Reproductive Health Visits. Gerchow L, Lanier Y, et al. JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting, 2024. Describes the participatory development of a clinician and patient toolkit for adolescent mothers.
In the News
- Health Care Providers Should Prioritize Sex Talks With Youth (Newsweek opinion, December 2024)
Labs, Programs, and Websites: Project YESS · NYU Meyers Faculty Profile
Cherlie Magny-Normilus, PhD
Dr. Magny-Normilus developed An Santé ak Dyabèt (ASAD, "Let's Live Healthy with Diabetes"), the first known multilevel, culturally and linguistically responsive type 2 diabetes self-management education program for Haitian American adults, with support from an NINR K99/R00 award. She pairs continuous glucose monitoring with ecological momentary assessment to link daily glucose patterns to social, cultural, and structural factors. Her research has found that race-related stress is associated with greater glucose variability among Haitian American immigrants with type 2 diabetes, underscoring the need for interventions that address structural drivers alongside self-management behaviors.
Recent Publications and Presentations
- The Role of Social Determinants of Health and Diabetes Self-Management on Glycemic Indices: A Cross-Sectional Analysis. Magny-Normilus C, et al. Diabetology, 2025. Among foreign-born Haitian Americans wearing continuous glucose monitors, poorer diet was linked to higher average glucose and race-related stress to greater glucose variability.
- Continuous Glucose Monitor Use and Diabetes Self-Management Behaviors in Adults Managed in Specialty Clinic: Qualitative Descriptive Study. Underwood PC, et al. The Science of Diabetes Self-Management and Care, 2026. Adults reported that CGM supported diet, exercise, medication use, and provider communication, while costs and supply refills contributed to diabetes distress.
Labs, Programs, and Websites: Self-Management and Glycemic Control in Haitian Immigrants Project · NYU Meyers Faculty Profile
Komal Patel Murali, PhD, RN
Dr. Murali is developing nurse-led care management interventions to improve hospice transitions for people living with advanced dementia. Her NIH-funded Engage-D project is designing culturally responsive approaches to supporting families and care partners during end-of-life decision-making. Her research has also shown that more mature state POLST programs are associated with more nursing home residents dying in place or in hospice, and has examined the policy, system, and individual barriers that drive lower hospice use among racially and ethnically minoritized, sexual and gender minority, and low-income people.
Recent Publications and Presentations
- State POLST Program Maturity and Dying in Nursing Homes or Hospice. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 2026. As state POLST programs matured, nursing home residents became more likely to die in place or in hospice.
- A Multidimensional Narrative Review of Disparities in Hospice Care Use. Patel Murali K, et al. American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, 2026. Interacting barriers from policy to individual beliefs contribute to hospice underuse among minoritized and low-income groups.
In the News
- State Policy Trends Linked to Goal-Concordant Care Improvement (Hospice News, March 2026)
- Longer-Running State POLST Programs Improve End-of-Life Outcomes for SNF Patients (McKnight's Long-Term Care News, March 2026)
Labs, Programs, and Websites: Engage-D Research Project · NYU Meyers Faculty Profile
Jasmine Travers Altizer, PhD, RN
Dr. Travers Altizer is developing and testing IN-HOME, a new assessment instrument to identify unmet care needs that contribute to avoidable nursing home placement among Black, Latino, and White older adults living with dementia. Her research has identified seven categories of unmet need, including help with daily activities, access to resources, and caregiver support, that can lead to placement. She also investigates how nursing home staffing and neighborhood deprivation shape outcomes for residents with dementia, and leads NYU's participation in NEXT STEPs, a national network building infrastructure to include nursing home residents in clinical trials.
Recent Publications and Presentations
- Unmet Needs and Nursing Home Placements in Black, Latino, and White People Living With Dementia. Travers JL, et al. Alzheimer's & Dementia, 2025. Interviews identified seven categories of unmet need that led to avoidable nursing home placement.
- Staffing and Antipsychotic Medication Use in Nursing Homes and Neighborhood Deprivation. Travers JL, et al. JAMA Network Open, 2024. Understaffed nursing homes in disadvantaged neighborhoods used more antipsychotics without a qualifying diagnosis; adequately staffed homes showed no difference.
- Nursing Home Staffing: Ongoing Employer and State Approaches. Recorded webinar, UCSF AWARD Network, April 2024.
In the News
- Study Highlights Gaps in Dementia Care That May Lead to Unnecessary Nursing Home Placement (NeurologyLive, July 2025)
- 7 Themes Driving Avoidable Nursing Home Placements Among Individuals Living With Dementia (i Advance Senior Care, November 2025)
Labs, Programs, and Websites: NEXT STEPs Nursing Home Clinical Trials Network · NYU Meyers Faculty Profile