PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE REVIEW - A fire at the U.S. Steel Clairton Plant knocked pollution controls offline and heightened concerns about pollution. Allegheny County ranks in the top 2% for cancer risk from about 200 potentially cancer-causing pollutants identified by the EPA, according to a 2013 Pitt Public Health report. "That risk is going to be much more elevated the closer you are to those point sources," said EOH's Jim Fabisiak.
PITT WIRE - Bee Friendly Pitt is a team of undergraduates that has installed seven bee houses near plantings and pollinator gardens throughout the Pittsburgh campus. The project was conceived during a sustainability course focused on development of impactful sustainability projects on campus and in the community.
The Peace Corps showed Alyssa Amendola that she wanted to pursue public health. She chose Pitt because of our focus on global health, eclectic research interests, and strong faculty. Her time in the Peace Corps also helped prepare her for graduate school. "I gained a new perspective that I would not have otherwise [and] I am getting more out of my graduate experience than I would have if I had not volunteered with the Peace Corps."
Pitt Medicine and Pitt Public Health graduate, Eva Chernoff (MMPH '19, MD '19) was honored with the 2019 U.S. Public Health Service Excellence in Public Health Award in recognition of her commitment to advocacy, education, and service for marginalized and underserved populations, and leadership in policy change in public health. The award recognizes visionary medical students who are public health champions advancing the service's mission to “pr...
Congratulations to EPI Chair Anne Newman for winning the award from the Gerontological Society of America, given annually to a prominent physician in the field of aging, both in research and practice.
Congratulations to HPM's Wendy Braund for receiving the inaugural award, selected by and presented by ACPM CEO Donna Grande at the Prevention 2019 Conference in Pittsburgh on May 20, 2019. Braund has a long history of service to ACPM. Currently, she is secretary of the ACPM Board of Regents and chair of the CME/MOC Committee. She is also a fellow of the college.
BCHS's Andre Brown recently assumed the role as executive director for Pittsburgh Black Pride (PBP). Since 1995, the Pittsburgh Black Pride Association has provided entertainment, social information, and health education to Black LBGTQIA+ individuals and families in the city of Pittsburgh and across Southwest Pennsylvania.
PITTWIRE - The new Philippine Nationality Room was designed after consultation with scholars and architects from Manila and is the 31 nationality room to open in the Cathedral of Learning. It represents the influence of cultures that make up the nation, an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands. The Pittsburgh community celebrated the room's dedication with Philippine food, music, dance, and culture.
GC PROGRAM BLOG -- Genetic counseling student Lauren Winter (HUGEN '20) shares her experiences investigating genetic, environmental, behavioral, and microbial contributions to the disproportionately high rate of dental cavities in children living in Appalachia. She loves the variety found in her job, from solving problems with a multidisciplinary team of researchers to interacting with the mothers and children participating in the study, "I cou...
REUTERS - "The key message here is that expansion doesn't necessarily mean better access," said HPM's Eric Roberts. That's unfortunate since "Medicaid disproportionately insures people with serious mental illness," said Roberts. "This should be a point of concern for policy makers."
THE PITT NEWS - When an outbreak of HIV hit the U.S. in the early 1980s, not much was known about the virus or how it spread. Scientists, researchers, and volunteers at Pitt have been working for almost four decades to try and change that. Reflecting on 40 years means celebrating successes, lamenting that the cure hasn't yet been found, and commending those original study participants that came forward in a tumultuous and uncertain time.
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KDKA 1020 - BCHS's Richard Garland spoke to Lynne Hayes-Freeland about his work as director of the Violence Prevention Project, where he sees gunshot victims in the area, offering them services. He also talked about violence as a disease and how outreach workers interupt the spread.
ASPPH FRIDAY LETTER - Backed by a five-year, $6.7 million National Institutes of Health grant, PHDL's Wilbert Van Panhuis will lead a culture shift in data-sharing rippling through scientific fields and harness it to improve global knowledge of infectious diseases.
PITTSBURGH BUSINESS TIMES - UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh named MHA/MBA alumnus Mark Sevco (HPM/Katz '91) as its new president. Sevco, who was most recently COO of UPMC Pinnacle, has been interim president since January. His former classmate, MHA/MBA graduate Christopher Gessner (HPM/Katz '91), served as the hospital's previous president.
UPMC NEWS - IDM Chair Charles Rinaldo recently received the news that a major study he directs to confidentially collect information on men living with HIV will be renewed into 2026 at nearly $4 million per year. The funding from the National Institutes of Health ensures that the Pitt Men's Study will survive into its fourth decade. But today, on HIV Long-Term Survivors Day, Rinaldo calls the remarkable milestone bittersweet.
UPMC Workpartners health coach Carol Martin-Mack (BCHS '12) recently performed health assessments at Pitt Public Health. During the visit, she focused on obtaining - and then explaining - baseline measurements on heart rate, blood pressure, weight BMI, body fat%, as well as cardiovascular, strength, and flexibility for employees. Martin-Mack provides assessments and coaching to numerous clients at the University of Pittsburgh, aiming to educate ...
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ASPPH FRIDAY LETTER - Broadband penetration rates are substantially lower in many rura counties where access to primary care physicians and psychiatrists is inadequate, which limits the potential of telemedicine to mitigate barriers to care say findings from a brief research report led by HPM's Coleman Drake.
SCIENCE - The EPA plans to quickly revap its guidelines for evaluating whether environmental contaminants can cause cancer or other ailments, a move Trump administration critics fear is part of a broader effort to weaken the basis for regulating a wide range of pollutants. "The problem is, there's no way it can be done in any serious way," said EOH's Bernard Goldstein, dean emeritus. "The danger is you'll just get it wrong and for 15 years, you'...
UK DAILY MAIL - The findings published in JAMA could explain why several recent trials of treatments for sepsis - an immune response in which the body attacks its own organs - have failed. "The next step is to find therapies that apply to the scientific types of sepsis and then desing clinical trials to test them," Said study author HPM's Derek Angus.
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ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION - The build a culture for health, we must first ensure everyone has the basics to be healthy. And when it comes to expanding opportunities for health, thinking the same approach will work universally is like expecting everyone to be able to ride the same bike. This graphic from RWJF helps to explain the work being done at our Center for Health Equity to #PromoteHealthEquity.