# Understanding health disparities in Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Asian Indian immigrants: the role of socio-cultural context, acculturation and resilience resources - Supplement > **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · 2024 · $203,552 ## Abstract SUMMARY The objective of the parent R01 Mediators of Atherosclerosis in South Asians Living in American (MASALA) study is to identify how socio-cultural context, discrimination, acculturation strategies and resilience resources act as risk or protective factors explaining cardiovascular health (CVH) disparities in Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi immigrants. MASALA is a longitudinal study that involves participants completing a physical exam, survey, and providing biospecimens. The parent study includes a qualitative component (Aim 3) to “conduct in-depth interviews to elucidate how South Asian immigration experiences influence acculturation strategies, resilience resources, and CVH.” While these in-depth interviews will provide important insights into participant lives, the interviews may miss seminal moments that shaped their life trajectory and health status. For South Asians in particular, there are historical (e.g., partition, Bangladesh war of independence, migration out of South Asia) and contemporary sources (e.g., family dynamics, discrimination) of trauma. Building on Aim 3 of the parent grant, Dr. Naheed Ahmed’s diversity supplement application will use a life history interview methodology to apply a trauma informed lens on lifetime sources of distress related to migration, violence, discrimination, acculturation, socioeconomic status, and family dynamics with a sub-set of MASALA participants (N=20) interviewed for Aim 3. Participants will be selected based on depressive symptoms from the CES-D scale (low symptoms: <16 vs. high symptoms: ≥16). These life history interviews will provide rich data on the lived experiences of participants, and how historical and contemporary events shaped their current situation and health status. Participants, who complete a life history interview, will be invited to attend a storytelling workshop to learn how to share aspects of their lives through creative mediums. After attending the workshop participants will be invited to share their storytelling project in a community forum organized by the study team. Research has demonstrated that storytelling as a public health intervention has the potential to increase group cohesion, support, and promote healthy behaviors. The specific aims of this study are: Aim 1: Deepen our understanding of intergenerational and lifetime trauma on depressive symptoms among South Asians in the MASALA study by conducting life history interviews with 20 participants that have either low or high depressive symptoms; Aim 2: Conduct a storytelling workshop using a strengths-based approach for participants to share aspects of their life history interviews from Aim 1 for social and emotional support; and Aim 3: Evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of storytelling as a mental health intervention using qualitative approaches, and the Reach, Efficacy, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance (RE-AIM), and social and behavioral change models. ## Key facts - **NIH application ID:** 11020921 - **Project number:** 3R01MD016071-04S1 - **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO - **Principal Investigator:** NADIA S ISLAM - **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.) - **Funding institute:** NIH - **Fiscal year:** 2024 - **Award amount:** $203,552 - **Award type:** 3 - **Project period:** 2021-07-02 → 2026-03-31 ## Primary source NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11020921 ## Citation > US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11020921, Understanding health disparities in Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Asian Indian immigrants: the role of socio-cultural context, acculturation and resilience resources - Supplement (3R01MD016071-04S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11020921. Licensed CC0. --- *[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*