Pitt’s One Health Day explores the relationship of sustainability and health care
At the Office of Sustainability for the Health Science's One Health Day, Pitt Public Health environmental and occupational health graduate student Maahi Soni won first place for her poster, “From Waste to Whitening: Using Eggshell-Derived Hydroxyapatite as a Sustainable Alternative to Amalgam and Composite Fillings.”
2025 Public Health Practice Showcase
The 2025 Public Health Practice Showcase featured 15 graduate students representing each of Pitt Public Health’s seven departments, who presented work done in collaboration with community partners. Awards were also presented to faculty, staff and community partners who exemplify public health practice excellence.
In her opening remarks, Dean Lichtveld spoke of the importance of “making sure our science works for communities. Otherwise, our science doesn’t work.”
AE-SOT’s 38th Annual Meeting showcases regional toxicology research
The Allegheny-Erie Society of Toxicology (AE-SOT) Regional held its 38th annual meeting on October 29 at the West Virginia University Alumni Center in Morgantown, WV. The event, co-organized by Alison Sanders, PhD, associate professor in environmental and occupational health (EOH) at Pitt Public Health and director of the Rust to Resilience Environmental Chemical Research Center, brought together researchers, students and professionals to discuss current and emerging environmental toxicants impacting the region.
Kira Duncan recognized for innovation in research administration
Kira Duncan, post-award administrator in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, received the Innovator Award from Pitt’s Health Sciences Research Administration Recognition Awards program. The honor celebrates staff who develop creative, efficient solutions that strengthen research operations across the University.
Opinion: How climate change contributed to the impact of Typhoon Halong
"As a retired professor who has been active in environmental health since the 1960s, I have no doubt that climate change contributed to Typhoon Halong’s wind damage and flooding in Kipnuk, Kwigillingok and other Alaska coastal communities," writes Pitt Public Health Dean Emeritus Bernard Goldstein.
Researchers detail derailment health impact in East Palestine
The East Palestine Community-Engaged Environmental Exposure, Health Data, and Biospecimen Bank, led by principal co-investigators Juliane Beier and Maureen Lichtveld, actively works with residents to collect water and air samples in their homes and collect blood samples and other health data to evaluate and potentially reduce the immediate and long-term impacts of exposure to vinyl chloride and other chemicals on the liver.
Pitt, Kentucky and Yale awarded latest NIH funding to study derailment impacts
The University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health was awarded $440,000 of the $10 million research initiative that was announced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services earlier this year to assess and address the long-term health outcomes stemming from the 2023 East Palestine derailment.
Brunick and Soni 2025–26 TIPH Ambassadors
Two Pitt Public Health graduate students, McKenna Brunick and Maahi Soni, have been selected as This is Public Health (TIPH) ambassadors for the 2025–26 academic year.
Allison co-chairs NIH grant session
At the annual meeting of the International Society of Exposure Science and the International Society of Environmental Epidemiology, researchers, public health leaders and community advocates gathered for a session titled “Joining Forces in the Face of Disaster: How Five Universities Address Exposure and Health Concerns Resulting from the East Palestine, Ohio Train Derailment.”
Maureen Lichtveld to talk about global health landscape for CIF
Dean Lichtveld speaks on “Lessons from COVID, the Imminent Avian Bird Flu Threat, and the Certainty of Future Pandemics,” at the Chautauqua Insitute. Her talk provides a candid assessment of the global health landscape. She examines "what went wrong, what went right, and what we must do now to protect public health, strengthen resilience and navigate the challenges ahead.”
Pitt Public Health staff shine
Pitt Public Health recently presented the inaugural Staff Awards, honoring exceptional effort and dedication through teamwork, leadership, innovation and contribution to school, University and community culture. The awards were presented on August 5 at the annual Staff Recognition Picnic, preceded this year by a ceremony that also recognized staff who reached milestone service anniversaries in the last fiscal year. The event also celebrated the hard work of the entirety of the school’s staff.
Donors study alongside students
The Fosters, longtime fixtures in Pittsburgh business and philanthropy, joined the 2025 class for “Public Health Threats in Suriname: From Ecosystem to Human Health,” meeting with public health and other government officials and observing ecological and economic threats to the country on the northeast coast of South America.
Pitt researchers say residents will get results of tests for vinyl chloride and liver damage, refer people for treatment if needed
"We said unequivocally that every community member will get all their information personally," said Maureen Lichtveld, dean of Pitt's School of Public Health. "So if we see early warning signs, we will refer them to a specialist. We will also provide more overarching results."
Chunbin Zou and Rushikesh Deshpande win IJMS Best Paper Award
The International Journal of Molecular Sciences grants the award to highlight publications of high quality, scientific significance, and extensive influence. Chunbin Zou is associate professor in the School of Medicine with secondary appointment in Environmental and Occupational Health. Rushikesh Deshpande was a PhD candidate in his lab at the time of this publication.
