Professor Steven Albert, Chair of the Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, is the newly appointed Philip B. Hallen Endowed Chair in Community Health and Social Justice, recognizing the exceptional quality and importance of his career-long commitment to conducting research intended to improve the health and functioning of vulnerable populations, his teaching, service and leadership, and his dedication to health equity.
Assistant professor TODD BEAR has been appointed to the CDC Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) national workgroup which provides oversight for the BRFSS through annual reviews and recommendations concerning the content of the survey, sample design modifications, and protocol adjustments. Congratulations, Todd!
TRIB LIVE - This year's flu vaccine cut infection risk by less than half, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention co-authored by RICHARD ZIMMERMAN, associate professor in Behavioral and Community Health Sciences and professor of family medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Zimmerman runs the Pittsburgh arm of a group that studies flu vaccine effectiveness for the CDC.
UNIVERSITY TIMES - Selected for this award in recognition of his “pioneering efforts in the field of HIV pre-vention and LGBT health,” RON STALL is praised as a leader in the development of behavioral risk reduction interventions because he has “directed the field to look at HIV from a new angle, setting today’s standard.” The highly competitive Chancellor’s Distinguished Research Award is given to Pitt faculty with an outstanding and continuin...
CITY PAPER - PATF's JASON HERRING (BCHS '13), director of programs and communications, says “We really want people to be honest. We’re a harm-reduction facility, so at the heart of that, we don’t judge. I’m not going to tell you what to do or what not to do. I’m here to help you be healthier."
A senior telephonic health coach for UPMC Health Plan, ELANA R. BARKOWITZ (BCHS ’11) also works part-time as an interviewer for the Pittsburgh Girls Study. She previously moonlighted as a paraprofessional counselor at Planned Parenthood of Western PA. Barkowitz is certified in public health (CPH) and credentialed as a Certified Health Education Specialist. She is happy to be growing her career in her hometown.
As community engagement coordinator for Pitt's Clinical and Translational Science Institute, JENNIFER JONES (BCHS ’11) bridges community and academia to build capacity and solidify partnerships. After working at public health non-profit in Washington, D.C., she realized she wanted to earn her own Master of Public Health--Pitt was her number-one choice! While an MPH student, Jones completed the community-based participatory research and practice c...
MELISSA KNORR (BCHS ’16) is the operations manager at The Open Door, Inc., where she first interned in 2014. During her time at Pitt, Melissa was an Evans Fellow, pursuing the joint MPH/masters in social work. She also served as an administrative intern for Bridging the Gaps and a board member of the Global Health Student Association. Previously, Knorr served in the Peace Corps in Zambia, Belize, and Costa Rica in the health, education, and youth...
Even before completing her MPH and global health studies, TAYLORDAPHNE MORSILLO (BCHS ’16) began working on the Plan for a Healthier Allegheny at the Allegheny County Health Department where she also supports the epidemiologist and manager of special projects. Previously, she served as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in Mozambique where her assignment focused on community and local hospital health presentations and direct work with an I-NGO, a provi...
Vice president for education, KATHARINE HOROWITZ (BCHS ’12) has been with Planned Parenthood of Western PA for nearly five years. She is a born-and-bred Pittsburgher, driven to improve sexual and reproductive health outcomes for everyone in the dynamic communities that make up our city. Horowitz has worked in youth development for eight years, having started her career leading summer trail crews with the Student Conservation Association. While pu...
MARA LEFF (BCHS ’15) is a program associate for the Jewish Healthcare Foundation working on planning and implementation across projects, including support for the foundation’s Aging Agenda. Previously, she worked on an NIH-funded childhood obesity prevention campaign at Ogilvy Public Relations, a global marketing and communications firm in Washington, D.C. While an MPH student, she conducted practicum research in India, informing her thesis, “Th...
MIRROR - Pitt Public Health researchers Candy Kammerer (HUGEN), Ryan Minster (HUGEN), Trevor Orchard (EPI), Chip Reynolds (BCHS), Akira Sekikawa (EPI), and Jian-Min Yuan (EPI) have discovered that apps for weight loss may not be the dieting aid you were hoping for.
YOU TUBE - In a short documentary for the Integrated Design Lab, RICHARD GARLAND, director of the BCHS Center for Health Equity's Violence Prevention Project, shares his thoughts on community violence.
AIDS AND BEHAVIOR - Congratulations to Ron Stall, James Egan, and the Pitt/amFAR fellows on their profiled work in HIV-prevention research regarding gay, MSM and transgender (GMT) populations in low- and middle-income countries. "The HIV Scholars Program at the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for LGBT Health Research is a prime example of a creative and dynamic approach to raising the expertise needed within GMT populations to respond to the gl...
JESSICA BURKE, associate professor of behavioral and community health sciences, was recently appointed as the new associate dean for education of the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, effective March 1, 2017.