WUSF NEWS - University of Pittsburgh's Public Health Dynamic Laboratory teamed up with the University of South Florida College of Public Health to create a new online measles simulator that shows how quickly measles can spread from just one measles case over a nine-month period.
THE CAMPUS - In a lecture at Allegheny College titled Genetic Enhancement: A Game Changer for Sports and Social Justice? HUGEN's Lisa Parker said that many components of individual effort are not in the individual's control but are rather the influenced by unjust social practices that are beyond the individual's control.
INFECTION CONTROL TODAY - IDM's Robbie Mailliard and Charles Rinaldo are on the quest to cure HIV using an all-in-one immunotherapy approach that not only kicks HIV out of hiding in the immune system but also kills it. The key lies in immune cells designed to recognize an entirely different virus.
Congratulations to Jessica Thompson (BCHS '21) and Stephanie Lynn Corey (EPI '19) for winning awards at this year's Health Disparities Poster Competition!
THE WASHINGTON POST - A powerful op-ed from Bernard Goldstein, dean emeritus and former head of the EPA's Office of Research and Development under Ronald Reagan. "I would have resigned either position had the agency’s overall advisory processes been subject to its current destructive alterations."
ASPPH FRIDAY LETTER - Research led by Beth Hoffman (BCHS '19, '23) finds that anti-vaccination arguments on social media aren't all about autism, but instead center on four distinct themes that can appeal to diverse audiences, offering a framework that pediatricians can use to open a conversation with parents who are hesitant to immunize their children.
WESA FM - It’s been more than three months since a fire at U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works significantly increased emissions of sulfur dioxide, and Mon Valley residents say it's still affecting their quality of life. On the debut of a new occasional series, "Moment of Science," 90.5 WESA’s Liz Reid talked with EOH's Jim Fabisiak about how sulfur dioxide affects the human body.
EPI’s Lewis Kuller was honored at the Pittsburgh Heart Ball for his groundbreaking contributions to the study of cardiovascular disease. When presenting the award, Anne Newman, chair of the department, said that Kuller "always challenged current public health knowledge through research and interventions designed to stimulate major advances in public health and prevention."
Pittwire - Epi’s Dr. Juan Celedón comments on research that shows that a set of genetic mutations found mostly in people of African ancestry may make them less likely to respond to albuterol, the most-prescribed asthma drug in the world. Asthma hits African-Americans particularly hard, and the health care system often fails them. CDC estimates 15.3 percent of black children have the disease compared with 7.1 percent of white children.
HEALIO – "A major question of concern in type 1 diabetes is the association of age at menarche with glycemic control; however, studies evaluating the impact of glycemic control on the age at menarche in young women with type 1 diabetes have provided conflicting results," said EPI’s Tina Costacou, finding that nephropathy is more likely to develop in women with type 1 diabetes who are older at age of menarche compared with those who are younger. ...
Congratulations to Susan Manzi (EPI '92) for being honored with the Catholic Youth Association's 2019 John E. McGrady Award. She was honored at the 45th Annual Art Rooney Dinner and Auction on April 29, 2019. Manzi is chair of Allegheny Health Network Medicine Institute and is an international leader in lupus patient care and research. The award recognizes individuals who are dedicated to community service.
BIOST's Shyamal Peddada attended the kick-off meeting for the Oral Bacteria as determinants for ReSpiratory Health (BRuSH) in March at the Solstrand Hotel in Norway. The meeting was organized by Randi Jacobsen Bertelsen in the Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Norway.
BCHS's Richard Zimmerman and Jonathan Raviotta (BCHS '18) and Patricia Nowalk (EPI '81, '93) are among those who recently published research that says that hundreds of deaths can likely be avoided if older adults wait until October to get their flu immunization. Since the protection offered by the vaccine wanes as the season progresses, waiting until closer to the start of the season ensures greater immunity.
HUGEN's Susanne Gollin, a past recipient, was invited to participate in an event this month to celebrate Wendie Berg winning one of this year's PA Breast Cancer Coalition (PBCC) research grants to support her breast cancer diagnostic imaging research, bringing the total that PBCC has awarded to researchers at Pitt and UPMC to over one million dollars. Gollin was gifted with a PBCC lab coat.
PITT WIRE - As estimated 700 to 900 U.S. women die of complications related to childbirth each year, and at least 60,000 women nearly die of pregnancy-related complications. And African American mothers are four times more likely to die or nearly die. Hear perspectives from EPI's Dara Mendez and three fellow experts on the alarming pregnancy-related death rate of new mothers and what can be done to save more lives.
SSM Health has named Steven M. Scott (HADM '85) as president after he's served as interim president since January. In this role, he is responsible for leading the 356-bed academic medical center that specializes in organ transplant, advanced cancer therapies, and trauma services.
Shaina Stacy (EOH '15), a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Epidemiology, received the Scholar-in-Training Award from the American Association for Cancer Research for her work Early Life Risk Factors and Childhood Cancer Risk. The award supports travel to the AACR annual meeting in Atlanta.
U.S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT - People who voice their anti-vaccine sentiments online range from conspiracy theorists to parents who have safety worries or interests in alternative medicine. Investigators, including Beth Hoffmann (BCHS '19), came to that conclusion after looking into a viral Facebook attack targeting a Pittsburgh pediatric practice that posted a video encouraging HPV vaccination.
THE GERONTOLOGIST - Leighton C, Fields B, Rodakowski JL, Feiler C, Hawk M, Bellon JE, James AE's results showed that organizational context and electronic health record capability were instrumental to the CARE Act implementation and integration into workflow. This study can help to inform others as they design and improve their compliance and implementation strategies.
BCHS associate professors Mary Hawk and Tiffany Gary-Webb participated in the provost's recent event, “A Celebration of Newly Promoted Women Faculty.” Sponsored by the Provost’s Advisory Committee on Women’s Concerns (PACWC), the event featured a panel of accomplished women professors offering perspectives and advice for successful academic careers and then introduced the recently promoted women among the faculty. The event was part of Pitt's on...