PhD candidate Anamika Barman-Adhikari was selected by the American Public Health Association as the recipient of its 2011 Robert Keefe Social Work Section Student Award, which recognizes the top research abstract submitted by a student.

Barman-Adhikari’s abstract, “Navigating for Sexual Health Information Online: Decoding Homeless Youth's Help-Seeking Behavior in Networked Spaces,” is the result of research conducted under the mentorship of Assistant Professor Eric Rice, who is also the co-author of the paper. Barman-Adhikari and Rice wanted to understand the role that technology, especially the Internet and social media, play in influencing how homeless youth look for health and sexual health information.

“As a resource-poor population, people are surprised that homeless youth are accessing the power of the Internet to connect with their families and non-street friends,” Barman-Adhikari said. “We found that the pro-social connections that they were maintaining online were shown to have significant associations with more proactive searches for health and sexual health information.”

The doctoral student, whose professional and research interests also include health and mental health disparities, HIV/AIDS prevention and intervention, and international social work, said that winning the award is meaningful to her because it recognizes the contribution of her research to the social work profession.

“[Receiving this honor] provides reinforcement that what I am trying to accomplish through my research is significant and has practical implications for social work and public health practice,” she said.

Barman-Adhikari received the award, as well as presented her research, at the American Public Health Association’s annual meeting on October 31.