WESA-FM - The rate of Pittsburgh renters facing eviction judgments is lower than state and national averages. One in 100 Pittsburgh renters were subject to evictions but Jay Dworin, executive director of Pittsburgh's Fair Housing Partnership, said that’s not the full picture of evictions. Tenants often don’t have enough legal help or don’t understand the eviction process, he said, so they never even appear before a magistrate.
NEW YORK TIMES - Nearly one million American households faced eviction in 2016, according to the data complied by a team lead by Matthew Desmond, author of this year's One Book, One Community selection. “An eviction isn’t one problem. It’s like 12 problems," said Amy Woolard, a lawyer and policy coordinator.
NEXT PITTSBURGH - Desmond, a social science professor at Harvard University, co-director of the Justice and Poverty Project, and author of this year's One Book, One Community selection, spoke in front of a crowd of about 50 people at East Liberty Presbyterian Church, where he served as the guest speaker during a SWPA Housing Alliance luncheon. Community organizers, landlords, tenants and private developers concerned with the growing housing cris...
WESA-FM - A new health insurance rule from the Trump administration is being criticized by the Pennsylvania Insurance Department. The policy would jeopardize those who buy health insurance on the individual market. "If only sick people enter the individual market place, premiums become completely unaffordable," said HPM's ERIC ROBERTS.
CHICAGO TRIBUNE - The ArcelorMittal steel mill at the Port of Indiana in Burns Harbor emitted 173,000 pounds of benzene during 2016, making it the nation’s largest industrial source of a volatile chemical known to cause leukemia. More could be on the way but regulators can't explain where the steel mill's pollution ends up. “It’s a constant fight,” said EOH's JAMES FABISIAK.
With research interests that explore the role of social context in determining outcomes related to pregnancy, birth, and women's health, EPI's MENDEZ applies frameworks and approaches focused on the social determinants of health equity and health disparities. She employs novel methods to measure and understand neighborhood environments, various forms of racism, and social stress.
HAWK (BCHS '12) is a founding member of this local housing program that uses harm reduction and housing-first approaches to engage marginalized people living with HIV/AIDS in clinical care. Hawk published the first study to use HIV viral load to measure the impact of the housing-first model of care on homeless people living with HIV/AIDS and she was awarded the Catherine Cartier Ulrich Memorial Award for Public Health Service to the Undeserved w...
THE WINDOW - Sustaining a quality journey within a health care organization is a complex, multifaceted process. As a 2018 Patient Safety Fellow, ABISOLA OLANIYAN (BCHS '21) delved into the emerging field of health implementation science, by studying teams that have been recognized for sustaining and spreading quality within and beyond their organizations.
Congratulations to Student Affairs' ROBIN LEAF and EPI's MARNIE BERTOLET, EPI professor, for completing the Diversity and Inclusion Certificate Program (DICP) and for being recognized at the recent Graduation Ceremony. DICP is designed to reinforce the University’s core values of diversity and inclusion through a series of six workshops open to all faculty and staff.
PITTWIRE - Under the leadership of EVAN FACHER (HUGEN '97), Pitt innovators started a record 23 new companies in FY18. Facher now moves into the new position of vice chancellor for innovation and entrepreneurship. “Pitt faculty and students are constantly pushing the boundaries of discovery across multiple disciplines," says Facher. “I am grateful for the opportunity to build on the positive momentum that has been established."
NPR - The governor of Arizona removed a doctor from the state's Medicaid drug committee and issued an executive order requiring disclosure of financial conflicts in response to a joint investigation by NPR and the Center for Public Integrity Investigation. Walid Gellad, HPM professor, says disclosing financial ties should be standard practice, especially for people serving on decision-making boards. "At least they can be out in the open."
REUTERS - How the media reports on suicides may impact whether others decide to kill themselves in the days following the original death, a study suggests. Stories can have a positive effect if they shed light on the role of mental health issues, according to EPI's DAVID BRENT.
THE BORGEN PROJECT - The “Brain Drain” is the migration of professionals from one country to another in search of a higher standard of living. This has negative effects on developing nations. To increase the connectivity between professionals in developed and developing countries a revolutionary network has been developed at the University of Pittsburgh called SuperCourse. EPI's TREVOR ORCHARD is on the editorial board and Faina Linkov (EPI '05)...
JESSICA THOMPSON (BCHS '21), was awarded a NRSA Individual Predoctoral Fellowship (F31) from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. This 3 year award will fund her doctoral training and dissertation research on cardiovascular disease prevention among rural Appalachian women. She plans to use a novel application of spatial analysis and concept mapping to improve CVD outcomes.
ALZHEIMER'S ASSOCIATION - The first dementia prevalence data from a large population of lesbian, gay, and bisexual older adults was reported at the 2018 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Chicago by JASON FLATT (BCHS '13) and colleagues. "We really need to think about providing more LGBT affirming services that are going to meet people where they're at but also acknowledge who they are," said Flatt.
Senior Associate Dean ELEANOR FEINGOLD gets a tour of Chatham University’s Eden Hall Campus. Pitt Public Health and Chatham are exploring academic exchanges centered on sustainability issues.
PITTWIRE - Pitt alum Brian Burley (BUS ’13G) continues to highlight young black leaders and create community ties through his www.YngBlkPgh.com site. This social enterprise started with his book “YNGBLKPGH” (Young Black Pittsburgh) which features more than 140 African-American professionals under the age of 40.
STAT NEWS - Over the past week, the Trump administration has begun to clarify their proposals to lower drug prices. “They’re clearly still in early stages – a plan is still a plan, and a proposed rule can be a proposed rule for a long time, and a workgroup is just a workgroup,” said HPM's WALID GELLAD. “But we’re ahead of where we were six months ago.”
CBS PITTSBURGH - Congratulations to HEATHER TOMKO (HPM '19), who was crowned Miss Wheelchair USA on Saturday, July 21, 2018. Born with spinal muscular atrophy, a genetic neuromuscular disease, she graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a bachelor of science in mechanical and biomedical engineering. She also won the Invacare People’s Choice Award and the Dr. Georgi Hudson Smith Quest for Knowledge Award.
STAT NEWS - As political pressure on the pharmaceutical industry builds, Merck has become the latest big drug maker to commit to halting price hikes. In a brief statement, the company agreed not to increase the average net prices of its medicines by more than inflation annually. “We’re now seeing an effort to address pricing that we haven’t seen before,” said HPM's Walid Gellad.