HEALTH NEWS DIGEST - The current movement in breast cancer research is matching DNA with targeted therapies and HUGEN's ADRIAN LEE is at the forefront. "We know now that no two cancers are alike...the concept is, with our ability to more comprehensively understand the genetic basis of the disease, we can more precisely understand the disease, and then treat the disease and/or predict risk."
CNBC - “The administration has not lived up to the hype I think people expected around drug prices,” said HPM’s WALID GELLAD of the Center for Pharmaceutical Policy and Prescribing at the University of Pittsburgh. “They’ve done a few things, but it hasn’t lived up to the hype.”
EPI's JENNIFER ADIBI was a featured speaker for the 2018 One Health One Community Symposium at Phipps Conservatory. The event centered on the theme "Health Impacts: Chemicals of Concern in the Environment," with a special focus on endocrine disruptors.
STAT - “The market has spoken,” said WALID GELLAD of HPM and Pitt’s Center for Pharmaceutical Policy and Prescribing. “The key issue for success and sustainability will be how the generic manufacturers and trade groups respond, and also how other hospital groups might respond. It’s a new world. Insurers become hospitals. Hospitals become pharmaceutical manufacturers. At some point, manufacturers will become insurers and providers.”
HELIO - Research from epidemiologist KRYSTAL K. SWASEY and colleagues has found that high rates of cardiovascular disease for those managing type1 diabetes with childhood onset may indicate that current recommendations for blood pressure and triglyceride levels may be too lax.
BALTIMORE SUN - “The takeaway so far may be that when hospitals change the way the health care delivery system works, you don’t necessarily get a broader transformation that people had hoped for,” said lead author, HPM’s ERIC ROBERTS. There may be several reasons, including that doctors are not yet widely provided incentives to participate in Maryland’s program.
MEDPAGE TODAY - Epidemiology chair ANNE NEWMAN says, "“It is reasonable to test anyone with concerns about change in cognitive ability, especially after age 80. There are numerous screening tests that tap the main cognitive abilities such as the mini-mental status exam, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment and informant questionnaires. These tests focus on short-term memory and language.”
POST-GAZETTE - If the declaration allows the free flow of medical data, it could help researchers come up with plans to control the epidemic, said Dean DONALD S. BURKE. “There’s currently substantial data on the opioid epidemic that is either hidden or lazy, meaning not being used,” he said. “We could turn that into active data. This would be one of the least expensive ways to get the most bang for the buck.”
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER - There are a number of areas statistics are being used for actual changes on the ground. One example is related to the opioid crisis. HPM’s ZAN DODSON, a postdoctoral researcher with the Public Health Dynamics Laboratory, used data on the concentration of opioid-related arrests to see which areas could use more “clean needle exchanges, Narcan kits, and readily available medical aid.”
Alumna MICHELE M. BUZZELI (BCHS ’15) is teaching about global health at Northampton Community College’s Monroe Campus in Tannersville, Pennsylvania, using her coursework at Pitt Public Health to cover the syllabus. She will also teach a section of College Success, a required first semester course for incoming students, helping them navigate the college environment.
Alumna SUSAN M. MANZI was honored with the 2016 Richard E. Deitrick Humanity in Medicine Award during the Celebration of Excellence Awards Gala , Saturday, March 4, 2017, at Heinz Field. Established in 2012, the award honors a physician who has improved the lives of patients by caring for them with integrity, honesty, and respect of their human dignity, and serves as a role model for other physicians. Manzi is chair of the Department of Medici...
The 2017 Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize, one of the most prestigious awards in the field of medicine, will be presented to IDM’s PATRICK MOORE and Yuan Chang. Their laboratory is credited with discovering two of the seven known human viruses that directly cause cancer. The award is given annually to researchers who have made significant contributions in the fields of immunology, cancer research, microbiology, and chemotherapy. “Doctor...
STREET INSIDER - Human genetic’s JERRY VOCKLEY, principal investigator on the program, noted, “I am very excited about our Phase 2 and other clinical results showing the near elimination of hypoglycemia and reduction in cardiomyopathy, addressing two of the major life-threatening symptoms in these disorders. A reduction in the frequency of rhabdomyolysis episodes will also greatly improve the lives of our patients. I look forward to continue work...
BECKER'S HOSPITAL REVIEW - Derek C. Angus (BCHS '92), HPM faculty member and Pitt Med's director of the Clinical Research, Investigation and Systems Modeling of Acute Illness laboratory, has developed an evidence-based approach for managing post-hospitalization sepsis. “We need to focus not only on saving the patient’s life, but on ensuring the patient will have the best possible quality of life after leaving the hospital.”
CNN - The international study, says BCHS’s CHRISTINA MAIR, has a “key strength“ in its “large, population-based database.“ The greater impact of drinking on lower socioeconomic status individuals is “an important health disparity to measure, understand, and seek to reduce.“ Her work focuses on how lower-income neighborhoods have less access to health-protecting resources. “Without addressing disparate environmental conditions...we will not be abl...
Congrats to EPI's MARY KAY KRAMER for winning the Pitt Innovator Award from the Pitt's Innovation Institute.
90.5 WESA - Health policy researcher LINDSAY SABIK said that more cancer screenings may be driving these results, but added “there’s also the possibility that people do have symptoms and they go to see their health care provider soon after the symptoms begin, instead of putting off care because of concerns of costs or an inability to get recommended treatment.” Her research should be considered as the country debates the future of the Medicaid an...
MEDSCAPE - Commenting on the study in an accompanying commentary, EPI’s JANE CAULEY points out that high-risk women in the current study had a 17.9 percent probability of sustaining a hip fracture and a 30 percent probability of sustaining a major osteoporotic fracture at 10 years. “Thus, despite the absence of a positive impact on the primary outcome, the results of the SCOOP study nevertheless have important public health implications.”
Upon completion of her PhD in Health Services Research and Policy, Inmaculada (Inma) Hernandez joined the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh in 2016. At Pitt she currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Pharmacy and Therapeutics and as Associate Director of the Center for Pharmaceutical Policy and Prescribing. Dr. Hernandez has published over 50 peer-reviewed manuscripts, including 42 as first or senior author. These articles ha...
TRI LE (HPM '16) is currently a research analyst in the Quality Measurement and Health Policy program at RTI International. He is part of a team that develops, maintains, re-evaluates, and implements outcome, structural, process, and composite quality measures for the Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH), Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRF), Skilled Nursing Facility (SNFs), and nursing home post-acute care quality programs.