SCIENCE - Since 2000, almost half a million Americans have died from drug overdoses. This modern plague—largely driven by opioid addiction—degrades health, saps productivity, spawns crime, and devastates families, all at enormous societal cost. How did we get here, and what do we do now?
Dean Donald S. Burke , MD, of Pitt Public Health advocates in the November 4, 2016 issue of Science that "a new, public health–oriented approach is neede...
INSIDE UPMC - Wendy King, Ph.D., of the Department of Epidemiology of the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, has been awarded the Circle of Excellence Award from the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS). The award was recently presented at the group’s annual conference luncheon to recognize and honor a member who has made a significant and meaningful contribution to the Integrated Health Sciences Se...
SLEEP REVIEW … “We found that shorter objective sleep time was associated with significantly higher odds of carotid plaque,” says Rebecca Thurston , PhD, director of the Women’s Biobehavioral Health Laboratory and Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh, in a release. …
TRAVEL+LEISURE - Its comeback from postindustrial malaise was already one of the best stories in the annals of American urbanism. Now something even more unlikely is happening: the Steel City is turning into Cool Town, U.S.A.
PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE - “There’s been conflicting data on whether people are just living longer and we’re just prolonging the period of time they’re in poor health,” said Anne Newman, a Pitt geriatrician and epidemiologist involved in both studies. …
PITT MED - Amid the wreckage of the opioid crisis, DONALD S. BURKE, dean of the Graduate School of Public Health, has contributed to the discussion of the epidemic with a time-lapsed graphic of accidental poisoning deaths in the United States, with counties colored according to their death rates. By the mid-2000s, the map displayed explosive color all around the nation (with a red hot spot indicating poisonings in Western Pennsylvania).
PITTSBURGH BUSINESS TIMES - A University of Pittsburgh public health law class that recently presented five recommendations for curbing opioid deaths in the region using naloxone to the Allegheny County Health Department will share those recommendations today at the American Public Health Association's annual meeting in Denver.The two-year-old class, Law in Public Health Practice, focused its semester-long research into tackling opioid abuse on ...
FORWARD MAGAZINE - Pitt Public Health MPH alumna Ivette Lopez (BCHS ‘90) was recently recognized in Seton Hill’s Forward magazine for her work in addressing diverse health problems, including HIV/AIDS, diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. Lopez directs Latino Health Initiatives and serves as an associate professor of Public Health, Behavioral Science and Health Education at Florida A & M University.
PITTSBURGH BUSINESS TIMES - “Of the populations we studied, our research suggests that people recently released from incarceration would benefit the most from naloxone distribution because they are highly susceptible to overdosing,” said Elizabeth Van Nostrand, assistant professor of health policy and management at Pitt’s Graduate School of Public Health, and adjunct professor at Pitt’s School of Law, in a statement. …
MEDICAL XPRESS - "Heroin-related deaths have tripled in the past decade. There is no quick fix to the opioid overdose epidemic," said Elizabeth Van Nostrand, J.D., assistant professor of health policy and management at Pitt's Graduate School of Public Health, and adjunct professor at Pitt's School of Law. …
Training Allegheny County Jail inmates in the use of the heroin overdose antidote drug naloxone, distributing free naloxone to the family and friends of local veterans at risk for overdosing, improving overdose data collection—these are among the main recommendations that an innovative public health law class at the University of Pittsburgh presented recently to the Allegheny County Health Department.
MD MAGAZINE ( video ) - Whatever it is called there is mounting evidence that staying active, whether through exercise or other means, is an important part of preventing the development of diabetes as well as overall health in general.
Pitt Public Health epidemiology professor Andrea M. Kriska discussed the role of activity in the results of the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) during the annual meeting of the American Diabetes Associatio...
“I don’t think I chose public health. Public health chose me....The more I learned about genetics, the more I knew it was what I wanted to focus on for my career,” she says. The Philadelphia native and Penn State grad says the short distance from her hometown and in-state tuition are nice bonuses, and she’s enjoying her new city. “I was surprised at how different Pittsburgh is from Philadelphia."
THE WASHINGTON POST - “Our focus on Zika has changed,” said Ernesto Marques , an epidemiologist at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health who is working on a project to develop a vaccine for the virus.
PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE - Pitt Public Health's Epidemiology Data Center to coordinate data collection and analysis for a new U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) contract to Pitt for up to $90M in research to improve trauma care for both civilians and the military alike...
The Center for Health Equity (CHE) has extended the application deadline to October 18 for its Master's & Doctoral Student Scholarship Award.
In the Introduction To The U.S. Healthcare Delivery System I, students are asked to write a letter to the editor as part of developing the competency of Community Orientation. Occasionally letters get published. I’m pleased to share that Amrit Kaur’s letter that was published in today’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Third-year medical student Simon Yohannes decided on Pitt Public Health's Multidisciplinary Master of Public Health to better serve the communities he cares about most. “I chose public health because of my interest in psychiatry—particularly in immigrant and refugee populations.”
Opportunities for funding through Competition Space
PUBLICSOURCE/WESA - Environmental toxicologist Dr. Bernard Goldstein of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health weighs in on the safety of artificial turf fields.
“Sometimes there is a real relationship, and it shows up first as a cluster. Unless you do the epidemiological studies, we just don’t know,” Goldstein said, adding that such clusters can occur in nature without a common cause."It’s far too early to assume any c...