Pitt Public Health's Erin Schuetz receives Chancellor’s Distinguished Service Award
Erin Schuetz, academic & student affairs administrator in the Department of Infectious Diseases & Microbiology, has been honored with the 2025 Chancellor’s Distinguished Service Award for Staff. These annual accolades recognize employees whose work demonstrates exceptional dedication to the University community and reflects Pitt’s spirit of possibility.
HPM alum Mark Sevco one of 20 Pitt people named to the Pittsburgh Power 100
Twenty Pitt leaders and alumni — including HPM alum Mark Sevco — are among the Pittsburgh Business Times’ 2026 Pittsburgh Power 100, an annual list recognizing the region’s most influential business leaders.
Dignity is in the details
The most important thing Arabella Johnson brought with her on outreach visits with Street Medicine at Pitt was not a medical kit. It was a willingness to listen to people experiencing homelessness.
Johnson, an MPH student in Pitt Public Health’s Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, joined the Street Medicine team nearly a year ago as part of her practicum. The clinical outreach program provides care directly to people living outdoors or in unstable housing. She quickly learned that dignity-informed items are just as essential as medical supplies.
Rebecca Thurston named Pitt Medicine’s associate dean for women’s health
Rebecca Thurston, Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, and professor of epidemiology, School of Public Health, has long worked at the interface of multiple fields, including menopause, neuroscience, cardiology, endocrinology, psychiatry, psychology and epidemiology, and she is widely lauded as an exceptional leader of interdisciplinary research teams.
Of mice and humans: What to know about the diseases mice can spread in the region
Danielle Tufts, an assistant professor of infectious diseases and microbiology and immunology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, says that simply seeing a mouse does not mean disease transmission is imminent or likely. But risk does increase with prolonged exposure, improper cleanup of droppings or nests, and contact with ticks that rely on mice as hosts.
Empowering communities to save lives: UPMC and Pitt’s commitment to cardiac arrest survival
When someone experiences cardiac arrest, every second counts. Survival often depends on more than advanced clinical care—it begins in the community. Recognizing this, UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh have partnered with community groups to break down barriers and empower everyday people to become lifesavers. The initiative also invests in future public health leaders. Undergraduate students from Pitt’s School of Public Health serve as trainers, gaining hands-on experience and mentorship.
Tiny new brain organoid model helps embody how viruses affect the brain
Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Schools of Public Health and Medicine have developed advanced cellular models that closely mimic the structure and function of the human brain, providing a powerful new platform to study how human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other neurotropic viruses damage the brain and spinal cord.
What TV gets wrong about CPR (video)
A University of Pittsburgh study looked at 169 episodes of American TV shows, all made after hands-only CPR became the standard. And, well, TV didn't exactly get the memo.
What ‘The Office’ and other TV shows get wrong about CPR
“...one thing we saw a lot was compressions that are not deep enough on TV,” said Ore Fawole, an author of the paper and a research coordinator for a lab at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health. “We really want to push back against this fear that people have, and it’s a reasonable fear, but unless you’re an Olympic bodybuilder, there’s probably no way for you to do CPR too hard.” (Subscription may be required.)
Faculty named to list of highly cited researchers
Three School of Public Health faculty are among 16 from Pitt who have been named to this year’s Highly Cited Researchers list, an annual compilation of researchers whose work has made a significant impact across a broad range of disciplines.
Kiyanda awarded prestigious fellowship
Alexis Kiyanda, MS, a first-year doctoral student in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, has been selected to join the All of Us Data Fellows Program, a competitive national training initiative supported by the All of Us Research Program through the University of Arizona and Banner Health.
Meet Calvin_412
Calvin Dziewulski (Jeh-voo-LSKI) works weekdays at Pitt’s School of Public Health as executive assistant to Biostatistics and Health Data Science Chair Yan Ma. A Greensburg native and Pitt alum, he also reaches more than 60,000 Instagram followers as Calvin_412, spending evenings and weekends exploring the city’s streets, alleys and overlooked buildings, showing its history and character through his photography.
Kuchipudi lab takes aim at bird flu, emerging diseases
Funding totaling $4.1 million will fuel four novel studies focused on diseases that spread between animals and humans, including highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 viruses, which have been found in more than 120 bird and mammalian species, including cattle, cats, and dogs. H5N1 has also spread to people in close contact with dairy cattle and poultry—causing at least one human death—since 2024.
Students launch resource locker to support Pitt Public Health community
When Grace Osborne, a junior at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, noticed peers struggling to access basic necessities, she decided to act. Through her involvement with Pitt’s Students for Sensible Drug Policy, Osborne was initially interested in supplying Narcan to the school. As she explored that idea further, the conversation expanded to include other ways to support students’ day-to-day needs.
