This week Pitt Public Health is launching a public art campaign of banners showing those impacted by the field of public health and sharing some of the school's areas of excellence such as health equity, healthy aging, global and women's health. "With seven departments doing widely different work, we're always seeking new ways to respond to the question, 'What is public health?'" says Eleanor Feingold, senior associate dean."One solution is to f...
MEDPAGETODAY - Financial incentives and patient care in today’s health care industry are near inseparable. This article delineates some important issues and tips about Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Included are benefits from voluntary bundles, care calculation issues, and a study on inconsistencies in value based payment methods from HPM’s ERIC ROBERTS.
FACTCHECK.ORG - As lead author of the study on recovered guns in Pittsburgh, EPI's ANTHONY FABIO comments on the lack of relevant data in firearm research. Fabio served in a fact checking capacity, commenting on the recent President-Congress discussion on gun violence reduction. His major criticism; “There’s not a lot of money for research with the word ‘firearm’ in it.”
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.
PITTSBURGH JOURNAL OF TECHNOLOGY LAW & POLICY - HPM's Tina Batra Hershey and Dean Burke discuss the early pioneering work of researchers in the legal field who developed the "Pittsburgh System" a precursor to the computerized legal research tools ubiquitous today.
ALZFORUM - The latest function of the ALS-related protein FUS, is gene silencing mediated by micro RNAs. HUGEN’s UDAI PANDEY finds the study interesting because it reveals how mutations in FUS could have even more widespread consequences than previously thought. He added that the authors’ finding that a C. elegans homolog of FUS facilitates miRNA silencing indicates the pathway is highly conserved.
ASPPH FRIDAY LETTER - DNA determines what we look like, including our facial features. But first, researchers need to figure out which genes in our DNA are responsible for specific characteristics of our face. HUGEN’s SETH WEINBERG says, “In the past, scientists selected specific features, including the distance between the eyes or the width of the mouth. They would then look for a connection between this feature and many genes.” HUGEN's JOHN SH...
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.
HPM's NATHAN HERSHEY played an integral role in founding the modern-day field of health law, which regulates what is now the nation's largest industry. Hershey coauthored the Hospital Law Manual, which for more than 40 years has been the definitive guide to the legal responsibilities and liabilities of health care providers. "We were absolutely in awe—our teacher was the guy who created the health law field," said Mike Evans (HPM '80).
PITT PUBLIC HEALTH MAGAZINE - “The phrase ‘If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere,’ certainly applies to me,” says Brooklyn, N.Y., native BILL SOLLECITO. However, it was his formative years spent in Pittsburgh at Pitt Public Health that made him—both personally and professionally—who he is today.
“From a very young age I knew I wanted to pursue a career in service and helping others, says Molly Shiflet. “The field of public health seemed like a perfect fit.” When the
time came to look at graduate schools, Shiflet says she immediately was drawn to Pitt Public Health for its strong national reputation and “seemingly endless” opportunities for students.
Manasa Pallapolu discovered she had an interest in health care administration while on the pre-med path at Drexel University. After graduation, the Fairfax, Va., native worked as the head of medical billing at a psychiatric office, where she was exposed to “a completely different side of health care.” She decided to return to school to pursue a Master of Health Administration (MHA) degree.
JOHANNA BELLON (HPM '15) is the Senior Director of Quality Analytics and Performance at the UPMC Wolff Center. UPMC is a 40+ hospital integrated finance and delivery system with over 3,500 providers and a multitude of clinical sites.
THE BODY - Long-term survivors of HIV have experienced relentless trauma over the course of several decades, resulting in a syndrome unique to this population called AIDS Survivor Syndrome. Until now, there has been no scientific research to validate it. BCHS’ RON STALL became interested, noting that "street epidemiology tends to be pretty correct and street wisdom raises questions that are worth looking into very carefully."
MID POD – Episode 18 of this podcast covering midterm elections across the country features DEAN BURKE discussing the impact of the opioid epidemic in our region, specifically the 18th Congressional District. “Here in Southwestern Pennsylvania, our overdose death rates are about double what they are average in the country.” “Eight years from now we’ll have twice as many deaths as we did this year.”
PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE – Health department officials like ERIC HULSEY (BCHS '08) are diving deep into the data in order to predict where and when an opioid overdose is going to occur. The trick will be getting the information, and its implications, out to the broader community. “This is not just the responsibility of the government,” says BCHS’ KAREN HACKER, director, Allegheny County Health Department. “We can hopefully influence the health ca...
Honoring an individual who has a clearly articulated and enacted vision for advancing the scientific and business prowess of Pennsylvania, HUGEN's DIETRICH STEPHAN was honored with the 2017 award.