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Welcome

Welcome to our webpage for the PRISM research group.

PRISM (Policy Research In Social determinants of Maternal and child health) is a research group led by Drs. Slawa Rokicki and Mark McGovern at the Rutgers School of Public Health. Our group focuses on policy-relevant research that seeks to better understand the ways that social determinants affect maternal and child health across the life course, and the impact of social and economic interventions on maternal and child health outcomes.

For further information about our ongoing and completed work, please check the PRISM Projects and Publications links above. Work in progress is available in our Working Paper Series.

News and Updates

Drs. Woofter, McGovern, and Rokicki published a study examining the association between perinatal depressive symptoms and infant mortality in JAMA Network Open. The study was featured in Newsweek magazine.

Drs. Han, Woofter, and Rokicki presented research at the 2026 American Society of Health Economists annual conference in Minneapolis.

***Congratulations*** to Dr. Ahn who accepted a tenure track faculty position at Korea University (Sejong Campus), College of Public Policy, Division of Economics and Statistics!

Recent Publications

Woofter, R., McGovern, M. E., Abe, N., & Rokicki, S. (2026). Perinatal depression and infant mortality. JAMA Network Open, 9(9), e2631364.

Rokicki, S., Ahn, H., Han, H., Duberstein, P., Reichman, N. E., & McGovern, M. E. (2026). Impact of minimum wage increases on smoking before, during and after pregnancy in the USA: a difference-in-differences analysis of cross-sectional surveillance data. BMJ Public Health, 4(1).

McGovern, M. E. [1], Rokicki, S. [1], Ahn, H., & Reichman, N. E. (2026). Minimum wage policies and obstetric disorders in the US. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 70(2), 108156. [1]=joint first authors