STAT FIRST OPINION — HPM chair Julie Donohue and National Academies colleagues advocate for a “whole of government” approach to reforming the biopharmaceutical supply chain: Drug developers, manufacturers, clinicians, payers, and policymakers should focus on reducing system inefficiencies in drug development, delivery, and payment that result in discarded drugs, rather than on trying to recover the financial worth of the unused portion.
PITTWIRE - EPI's Dara Mendez, interim director of the Center for Health Equity, received the award for enhancing Clincial Experience courses for first-year students by introducing a book club which explored the history and ongoing practice of racism within medicine. "Star faculty like Dr. Mendez will help accelerate our efforts in diversity and inclusive excellence in our school," said Dean Maureen Lichtveld. Congratulations!
KDKA/CBS NEWS – Lee Harrison of Pitt Medicine and EPI said the current safety efforts are enough for now. “What we know about the UK strain is that it’s definitely more transmissible,” said Harrison. “It spreads more rapidly than other strains. We also know the current vaccines are quite effective against it.” He said symptoms of the variant and original strains aren’t much different. But washing hands, social distancing, and double masking are ...
PITTWIRE — When we hear about clinical trials, we might picture doctors and patients partnering to test new therapies. What we might not think about are the many others who make those studies happen. Take Maria Mori Brooks, professor of epidemiology and biostatistics, who makes sense of the numbers generated by multicenter research collaborations. As co-director of the Epidemiology Data Center, she helps design and optimize data collection and m...
WTAE NEWS — According to its trials, Johnson & Johnson was about 25% less effective than the two vaccines already on the market at preventing someone from getting COVID-19. But HPM professor Mark Roberts said Johnson & Johnson is just as effective as the other two at preventing serious illness. "When you look at the data for preventing serious disease, and preventing death, it’s almost indistinguishable from the Pfizer and Moderna."
WPXI NEWS — A group of children rolled up their sleeves for their place in history on Feb. 23, 1954, at a mass inoculation held at Arsenal Elementary School in Pittsburgh. The new polio vaccine they received was developed by Dr. Jonas Salk at the Virus Research Lab at the University of Pittsburgh.
Casa San Jose is a community resource center that advocates for and empowers Latinos by promoting integration and self-sufficiency through breaking down language barriers with prenatal care and delivery, confusion around insurance and payments for delivery, birth certificate complications such as names being misspelled, which can complicate applications for benefits, and social security cards.
PUBLIC SOURCE — Pittsburghers who have lived with HIV for decades say the COVID pandemic echoed many of the scariest and most dangerous parts of living through the HIV and AIDS epidemic, including confusion about the science, social isolation, a reluctance to adopt public health measures, and a lack of presidential leadership. HIV disease persists, particularly among younger gay Black men living in the South, said Dr. Mackey Friedman , “If yo...
PSYCHIATRY ADVISOR – Research by Elizabeth Miller of Pitt Medicine and BCHS showed small, neighborhood classes could significantly reduce sexual violence among teenage boys living in areas of concentrated disadvantage. Adapted from a program in Brazil, Manhood 2.0's core message remains the same: challenging gender norms that foster violence against women and unhealthy sexual relationships.
The mission of the Pittsburgh Black Breastfeeding Circle is to protect, promote, and support human milk feeding as the cultural norm and optimal feeding method for birthing people of African descent in Pittsburgh and surrounding areas, which includes providing culturally humble and relevant care led by trained and certified lactation professionals.
HEALTH AFFAIRS - HPM's Coleman Drake and Duke University colleague David Anderson say that by offering an extended open enrollment period, the Biden administration can remove a major administrative burden that often stands in the way of families obtaining health insurance.
MARKETWATCH - Three-quarters of adults in an AARP survey said they wanted to remain in their homes, but only 59% thought they would be able to do so. If you want to stay in your home as you age, experts recommend paying attention to these 9 things now. BCHS Chair Steve Albert talks about saving money: "Older people who have paid off a mortgage and invested in adaptations to minimize effects of disability are best off."
Black Women, Femmes, Girls and Folx deserve to live a long, healthy and joyous life. New Voices for Reproductive Justice develops the next generation of leaders, organizes communities and advocates for policy change at all levels.
PITTWIRE - EPI's Dara Mendez started her work in health equity as an undergrad and has now been researching racial and socioeconomic inequity in pregnancy, birth, and women's health for the past 18 years. She will lead a conversation with scholar Dána-Ain Davis, author of this year’s OBOC selection, on 2/26.
The Women's Health Activist Movement (WHAMglobal) is on a mission to identify the root causes of maternal mortality and better understand how we as a regio support and care for moms and families through the entirety of their care. The disparities in accessing maternal and child health care in Pittsburgh are alarming and maternal mortality is a public health crisis with serious disparities. In the U.S., maternal mortality rates are nearly four ti...
USA TODAY - The CDC defines endemic as the “constant presence and/or usual prevalence” of a disease within a population. An endemic disease spreads at a baseline level every year without causing major disruption to people's lives, said EPI's Donald Burke. “Things that are endemic are present for long periods of time without interruption, continuously circulating in the population," like the common cold, he said. “Epidemic means something that co...
The Greater Pittsburgh Region, like most of the United States, faces disparate health outcomes, where Black mothers and babies die at higher rates than mothers and babies of other races. These health outcomes, which persist across socioeconomic backgrounds, are a direct result of systemic racism.
THE WASHINGTON POST - Doctoral alumna Inma Hernandez (HPM '16) with researchers at Pitt and West Health Policy Center said not enough attention has been paid to gaps in the health-care system when addressing vaccine uptake in vulnerable populations. The research applauded the decision by the Biden administration to use community pharmacies as vaccine access points — they tend to be open nights, weekends and holidays and have parking lots, capac...
PITTSBURGH POST GAZETTE - Elizabeth Miller, M.D., Ph.D., is director of the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and professor of pediatrics at University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine . Julie M. Donohue , Ph.D., is professor and chair of the department of Health Policy and Management at the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health.
PITTSBURGH QUARTERLY — “Diet is the best explanation for weight loss,” says EPI's Andrea Kriska, “Physical activity is the best for weight maintenance." Colleague Bonny Rockette-Wagner adds, "Physical activity is important for people who are obese, independent of the weight loss. It has effects on reducing risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes."