EMS1 - Many EMS agencies are reporting record numbers of overdose-related 911 responses and unprecedented amounts of naloxone being administered during resuscitative efforts. Many systems are turning to new mobile integrated health care and community paramedicine approaches to help. DAN SWAYZE (BCHS '09) shares the 5 things community paramedics should know to be effective.
WESA-FM - Black babies in Allegheny County are nearly three times more likely than white babies to die before their first birthdays. Making doula services in Pennsylvania more affordable could help close the gap, says alumna DEMIA HORSELY (BCHS '18). Black moms especially need the advocacy of a doula because it’s not uncommon for them to be treated poorly in medical settings.
WESA-FM - A new study found that women who had preterm births and a pattern of increasing blood pressure were also more likely to have greater calcium buildup in their hearts, putting them at higher risk for cardiovascular disease and heart attacks. Associate professor, alumna, and lead author JANET CATOV (EPI ’05) said it’s interesting that women who also had increasing blood pressure but gave birth to full-term babies didn’t have as much plaque...
NPR - After weeks of warnings to toss out romaine grown in the Yuma, Ariz., region, the CDC says there are no longer any greens coming from this region. Now that lettuce grown in the Yuma region is likely no longer being sold in supermarkets or served in restaurants, LAURA GIERALTOWSKI (EPI '09) head of the CDC's foodborne outbreak response team says, "We hope people can enjoy their romaine lettuce again."
Connections4Health (formerly Birmingham HealthLinks) was developed by JENNIFER SLOAN (BCHS ’14) while she was a Pitt Public Health student. The program works to address the social health needs of underserved people by focusing on issues such as housing, food security, job training, and utility assistance. The program is celebrating its five year anniversary with a fundraising event on May 23, 2018.
To ensure the continuity of the Chicago Women in STEM and Academia Initiative, and represent postdoctoral women, Northwestern University welcomed IDM's COLLEEN ZACCARD to the Northwestern University Postdoctoral Forum (NUPF) Executive Board as the Chair of the Chicago Women in STEM Initiative.
HEALIO - Patients treated with chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy will incur on average $30,000 to $36,000 in additional costs aside from drug expenses, according to a research letter published in JAMA Oncology. "It is important to quantify the total costs of these therapies to account for them when doing pharmacoeconomic evaluations and deciding on their coverage," said INMACULADA HERNANDEZ (HPM '16).
PITT WIRE - In Pitt's graduate student address, EPI doctoral graduate LARA SIMINERIO LEMON told the audience: "You only have one life. So do what you choose with it but remember: it's the only chance you'll get ... Please do not lose the momentum that Pitt has provided to each one of us ... get out there and do what you're trained to do." (View photo gallery)
ARIZONA SONORA NEWS - Nationwide studies of sexual assault indicate that racial minorities, transgender people, and people with disabilities are targets of sexual violence at greater rates than the general population. Transgender students were three times as likely to be sexually assaulted than non-transgender men, according to a study conducted by BCHS' ROBERT COULTER and colleagues.
Dean DONALD BURKE talks about the history of Pitt Public Health and looks to a future full of continued success of our alumni and faculty. DAVID SATCHER (HON '01), 16th United States Surgeon General, presents the keynote, "Informing and Influencing Public Health Policy and Practice." Satcher is also the founding director and senior advisor for the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine.
PITTWIRE - Doctoral alumna MALIHA ZAHID ( HUGEN '09) aims to reduce the amount of radiation that patients are exposed to when undergoing diagnostic imaging. Her creation, to be used during cardiac stress tests, was a previous Pitt PInCh winner.
In charming footage from an early episode of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," famed Pittsburgh muralist and sculptor, Virgil Cantini shares the maquette for his scientific "Man" sculpture and explains his vision for the work. The angular, larger-than-life metallic figure has adorned the Fifth Avenue facade of the school for the last half century, showing Man ever-reaching for the expansion of knowledge. (Excerpt courtesy of The Fred Rogers Company...
HEALTH AFFAIRS - "Identifying Gender Minority Patients' Health and Health Care Needs in Administrative Claims Data" is the title of a recent article by ANA PROGOVAC (HPM '15) appearing in the top-tier health policy journal. Progovac was also invited to speak on her work as part of a press briefing panel focused on advancing health equity.
University of Texas Medical Branch-Galveston has offered KEVIN MELODY (IDM '17) a postdoctoral fellowship in a BSL-4 research group headed by Thomas Geisbert. Due to the security and proficiency needed to perform the work, Kevin will undergo extensive training before beginning high-containment pathogen-related research.
"A great company in a great industry," says ZACHARY SWAN (IDM '16) who has recently secured a position as a Regulatory Affairs, Clinical Strategy Scientist at a CRO in the Research Triangle Park named Cato Research.
Helping out with The United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) Country Operational Plan submission, EMERSON EVANS (IDM '12) is currently working in South Africa on detail with the CDC.
The San-Pin Wang Award for the best graduate student oral presentation at the Chlamydia Basic Research Society 2017 conference was given to TAYLOR POSTON (IDM '17). This award was established in honor of the memory of Dr. San-Pin Wang and a cash prize was generously donated by the San-Pin Wang Endowment Fund.
MEGAN KAVANAUGH (BCHS ’08) became a principal research scientist at the Guttmacher Institute in 2017. Her research portfolio has focused on contraceptive use and service delivery, unintended pregnancy and abortion. In her most recent studies, she has been tracking national trends in contraceptive use, examining the consequences of unintended pregnancy and understanding the impact of travel on women seeking abortions.
COLLETTE NCUBE (BCHS ’14) is a future faculty fellow in the Department of Health Sciences and the Institute of Urban Health Research and Practice at Northeastern University. Ncube’s research focuses on determinants of racial/ethnic disparities in adverse birth and pregnancy outcomes and later life cardiovascular/metabolic disorders, with particular focus on lifecourse and intergenerational factors.
CHONGYI WEI (BCHS '09) recently moved from the University of California, San Francisco to join the faculty at the Rutgers School of Public Health. His primary research focuses on the epidemiology and prevention of HIV/AIDS among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Asia and in the U.S. He is interested in creating innovative strategies to increase HIV testing uptake among MSM and improve access to care and treatment among HIV-infected MSM.
CHRISTINA WILDS (BCHS '06) serves as senior program officer of the Highmark Foundation. Prior to joining Highmark, Wilds served as program evaluator in Highmark Inc.'s division of community affairs, where she was responsible for all phases of program evaluation. Before joining Highmark, she worked for a world-class medical center where she served in various fundraising positions.
Kent State College of Public Health faculty member, TINA BHARGAVA (BCHS, '12) is the coordinator for the Prevention and Control of Diseases course, which is taught online. She is interested in improving online teaching methods. Her research interests include health behavior change and the cognitive limitations that may affect success with behavior change. Her current work focuses on re-envisioning the standard for student success.
ELIZABETH FELTER (BCHS ’09) joined the faculty as assistant professor in 2010. She has been a Certified Health Education Specialist since 2001 and leads the department’s health communication/health risk communication curriculum. Her teaching portfolio has expanded to include development of infographics, preparation of public service announcements, and use of video for public health communication.
DIDIER CHALHOUB (MMPH ’12, EPI ’15) is a postdoctoral research fellow at the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Aging Interdisciplinary Studies Aging Section. His areas of research include aging, osteoporosis, and sarcopenia, concentrating on osteoporosis and body composition with a special interest in understanding the effect of muscle-bone interaction on outcomes such as fractures.
While completing her MPH and PhD degrees, JEANINE BUCHANICH (EPI ’98, ’07) worked full time for the Department of Biostatistics at Pitt Public Health and was appointed research assistant professor and deputy director of the Center for Occupational Biostatistics and Epidemiology in 2008. She has served as principal investigator or coinvestigator on many studies in occupational health epidemiology, vital status systems and tracing, and other topic ...
TODD BEAR (BCHS ’07, ’13) joined the Pitt Public Health faculty as an assistant professor immediately upon earning his PhD in 2013. His primary research interest is the study of adversity, including child maltreatment and exposure to violence, and its effects on health over the lifespan. He utilizes a life-course perspective to study the behavioral and psychosocial pathways by which childhood adversity affects adolescent and adult health.
MICHAEL TALKOWSKI (HUGEN ’08) is associate professor of neurology (genetics) at Harvard Medical School and the Center for Genomic Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and an associate member of the Broad Institute of the Massachusettes Institute of Technology and Harvard where he directs the Broad Structural Variation and Assembly Group. His research has led to paradigm-shifting discoveries that have left a mark on the field of genetics.
In 2012, a year before completing her MPH, CHRISTINA FARMARTINO (IDM ’13) was hired as executive director of The Open Door, which provides supportive housing and representative payee services to individuals living with HIV/AIDS—including active injection drug users—to improve their health and housing stability. Among other duties, Farmartino has raised more than $250,000 over three years in additional, diversified funding.
BERNADINE PETER (EPI ’88) is population health coordinator and registered dietitian at Val Verde Regional Medical Center in Del Rio, Texas. She previously served at Franklin Primary Health Center Inc. in Mobile, Ala., where she educated patients with diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure, in addition to securing nutrition and wellness grants for the underserved.
FREDRICK MURPHY (MSHyg ’77) is executive director of Atlanta, Ga.-based Lifelong Health Inc., a nonprofit serving inner-city communities around public health and social justice issues. He served for more than 28 years as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS), active and inactive, and adjunct faculty member in the Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine at Morehouse School of Medicine.
JILL NORRIS (EPI ’88, ’90) is professor and chair of the Department of Epidemiology in the Colorado School of Public Health at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Her research focuses on the relationship of environment in the development of autoimmune diseases, including type I diabetes, celiac disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and lupus in genetically susceptible individuals.
A two-time breast cancer survivor, RUTH MODZELEWSKI (HUGEN ’96) has served as mission coordinator for Susan G. Komen Pittsburgh since 2009, when she went from researching cancer at the University of Pittsburgh to practicing and promoting cancer prevention and treatment throughout Western Pennsylvania. She oversees the Komen Pittsburgh community-based health grants program which annually gives close to $1 million back to the community.
MCSILVER INSTITUTE – This podcast series brings together thought leaders from the public and private sectors to analyze stereotypes and dispel myths concerning Black boys and men, while providing facts and best practices for those working with these often marginalized populations. MIKE LINDSEY (HPM ’01) says, “with increased media and attention, more folks are attuned to racial issues and the long lasting impact of discrimination.”
ASPPH FRIDAY LETTER - Health data scientist Yll Agimi, and BCHS’s Steven Albert interprets interesting link, or lack thereof, between mandated licensing procedures and motor vehicle accidents by those afflicted with dementia. “Laws requiring physicians to report dementia patients to licensing authorities not necessarily mean fewer hospitalizations.”
PITT MAGAZINE - Two of Pitt’s featured “change agents” are Pitt Public Health grads. SEUNG WOOK LEE (BIOS '79, '82) and HYUN KYUNG MOON (EPI '86) were pioneers and trailblazers in their fields whose careers were made possible by degrees from Pitt. “Everything I’ve done is possible because of Pitt,” says Moon. “It gave me the credentials to be in the room."
THE PITT NEWS – Nearly 3,000 Pennsylvanians died of opioid overdoses in 2015, according to the Public Health Dynamic's Laboratory. But researchers like MICHAEL MALLON (BCHS '13), the project coordinator for Pitt Public Health's Opioid Initiatives, are working to change that statistic. "Pennsylvania is one state that is being hit harder than others. the number of overdoses almost doubles every eight or nine years," Mallon said.
TRIB LIVE - Analyzing motor-vehicle-related hospital admissions, in-person license renewal laws and vision testing were found to dramatically reduce the number of motor vehicle accidents by drivers with dementia, according to BCHS' STEVEN ALBERT and YLL AGIMI (EPI '12) as published in Neurology.
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...
BECKER'S HOSPITAL REVIEW - HPM alumnus and faculty member DEREK C. ANGUS, director of the Clinical Research, Investigation and Systems Modeling of Acute Illness laboratory at Pitt’s School of Medicine, 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.”
CENTRAL VALLEY BUSINESS TIMES - The analysis of California death rates was conducted at the county level using data from the Mortality and Population Data System (MPDS) at Pitt Public Health. Data from biostatisticians JEANINE BUCHANICH, SHANNON WOOLLEY, and MICHAEL LANN include ICD codes for underlying causes of death for nearly all U.S. deaths since 1950.
Alumnus DIEGO CHAVES-GNECCO (MMPH ’00), now associate professor at Pitt’s School of Medicine and founding director of the program SALUD Para Niños at UPMC’s Children’s Hospital, received the F. Edwards Rushton CATCH Award at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition. Named in honor of F. Edwards Rushton Sr., this award honors pediatricians who collaborate within their communities to increase children’s access to ...
CAPE MAY COUNTY HERALD — SHIRLENE TOLBERT MOTEN, MD, MPH ('93), has been appointed medical director for outpatient physician practice at Cape Regional Physicians Associates, a medical group of primary care physicians and specialists serving 13 locations in southern New Jersey. Dr. Moten earned her MPH from the Graduate School of Public Health and her medical degree from New Jersey Medical School.
CBS PITTSBURGH - Alumnus DAVID SALCIDO (EPI ’08), resuscitation specialist and assistant professor in Pitt’s Department of Emergency Medicine, is hoping his app can help save lives in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. The free app, called Pulse Point, is connected to the Allegheny County 911 system, so that those who know CPR to get to those in need before paramedics arrive. Listen to the interview and learn more about the app.
PITTSBURGH MAGAZINE - Alumna NATALIE BULGER (HPM ’12) left Pittsburgh for college, but she wasn’t away from home for long. “My mom likes to make a joke that Pittsburgh makes this big sucking noise—that when you leave, it sucks you back in so quickly.” Pittsburgh, she adds, is a good place for someone to “strike out on their own and make a career for themselves.” And that’s exactly what she did. She began her career at The Children’s Institute of ...
90.5 WESA - “The two main criticisms of the Affordable Care Act marketplace were that not enough plans were participating and that premiums were too high, and this policy change … will worsen both of those problems,” said HPM’s JULIE DONOHUE. CALEB WALLACE, an HPM alum and senior director of health policy and assistant counsel at UPMC Health Plan, said the company aims to maintain stability for consumers. “This change in particular … is a little ...
A new way to collect and organize data could be the answer to tackling the years-long opioid overdose epidemic. The University of Pittsburgh’s Program Evaluation and Research Unit (PERU) is working with Pennsylvania officials to standardize death data from overdose victims. The purpose of the project is to provide more detailed reporting in real-time that could help show where the problem areas are. A large number of staffers are Pitt Public Heal...
Congratulations to alumnus CHARLES JOHN SCHLEUPNER (IDM ’68), who has been appointed to the Dean’s Council on Advancement for the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. The council is a committee of volunteers created to advance the stature of the medical school by providing guidance, assistance, advocacy, and philanthropic investment in support of the school’s strategic objectives.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF MANAGED CARE - An article by alumna INMACULADA (INMA) HERNANDEZ (HPM ’16) discusses the impact of the outcomes-based pricing arrangements proposed by Amgen on the pricing of PCSK9 inhibitor therapy, and provides recommendations for payers on the design of outcomes-based contracts. She is an assistant professor at Pitt’s School of Pharmacy. Her research explores the intersection of pharmaceutical health services and outcomes re...
CHARLOTTE BUSINESS JOURNAL - After a natioinwide search, NC-based Carolinas HealthCare System has tapped alumnus ANTHONY DEFURIO (HADM ’89) to serve as executive vice president and CFO, effective October 2017. Carolinas recently announced it would merge with Chapel Hill-based UNC Health Care, forming one of the nation’s largest hospital networks. Leading up to this new position, DeFurio was senior vice president and CFO at University of Colorado ...