PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE - In the Heinz History Center’s Great Hall, Senior Judge D. Michael Fisher recently administered the oath of allegiance to immigrants as they stood before a U.S. flag. Human genetics researcher ROBERT NICHOLLS was there. “I grew up in Australia and finished my undergraduate work in Melbourne,” he said. After earning a doctorate in England, he lived in Boston, Florida, Cleveland and Philadelphia before coming to Pittsburgh....
PITTSBURGH POST GAZETTE - “For a while we weren’t really sure if it was just a parallel decline with age or a truly linked decline,” said EPI’S lead author ANDREA ROSSO. Finding a brain region tied to both provides strong evidence that gait and cognitive change are not just correlated but linked, she said. Measuring gait could allow for earlier dementia detection because individuals often slow their walking speeds before any signs of cognitive im...
ABC KLKN-TV - Entering MPH student JENNIE LAENG (HPM '19) carried a 3.967 undergraduate GPA while excelling as an intercollegiate gymnast at the University of Nebraska. She won a total of 22 gymnastics titles and was named a three-time NACGC/W Scholastic All-American, a three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection, and a two-time Big Ten Distinguished Scholar. “Her genuineness and propensity to put others above herself have made her the unquestionab...
TRIB LIVE - In a study conducted by the National Council for Home Safety and Security, researchers examined the most recent data from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting and the National Center for Education Statistics for more than 2,000 colleges with 15,000 students of more.
STAT NEWS - Pitt Public Health Dean DONALD S. BURKE was asked to weigh in on the problem of projected opioid deaths. “Are we doing enough of what we think works — prescription drug monitoring programs, medication-assisted treatment, naloxone? And are we matching the societal costs with a like expenditure in prevention?”
CBS NEWS - As the Senate takes aim at replacing Obamacare, a new study says Medicaid cuts could boost the number of women diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer. “When women lose access to health insurance, they may be less likely to receive recommended mammograms and have access to regular primary care services that would facilitate an early diagnosis of cancer,” said HPM’s LINDSAY SABIK, senior author of the study published Monday in the journ...
ACCEPTANCE JOURNEYS PITTSBURGH and PROJECT SILK have created a photo exhibit to end Pride Month, illustrating stigma about people with disabilities, communities of color, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people using a community based, macro-level approach. The display is on view within the Harrisburg State Capitol from Monday 6/26 through Friday 6/30.
Dean Burke addressed the U.S. Congress last Monday during the ASPPH Opioid Briefing. As one of five public health deans invited by the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health, Burke presented expert testimony about the drastic need for more research data to confront the abuse epidemic.
It was announced today that alumna JANICE SCULLY DORMAN (HUGEN ’81, EPI ’83) is the recipient of the Pitt School of Nursing 2017 Dean’s Distinguished Teaching Award for tenured faculty. Dorman has taught classes at that school (and at Pitt Public Health) for 30 years, focusing primarily on molecular epidemiology and genetics.
While at AcademyHealth’s Annual Research Meeting, HPM’s MARIAN JARLENSKI was interviewed regarding her maternal and child research on Medicaid’s funding of medically-necessary abortion and the resulting 15 percent risk reduction in severe maternal morbidity. While in New Orleans, Jarlenski also made sure to get in an early-morning exercise run through the Big Easy's iconic French quarter.
Three epidemiology students traveled to Seattle this week to present findings at the 2017 annual meeting of the Society for Pediatric Epidemiologic Research. Pictured below are KYLE FREESE, LARA SIMINERIO LEMON, and TAMALA GONDWE. What was their take-away from the 30th anniversary event? Reproductive, perinatal, and pediatric epidemiology is no longer the “new kid on the block.”
E&E NEWS - The debate has gone on for some time over whether scientists should simply lay out their information and let politicians decide how to use it or advocate for a specific policies. Emeritus EOH professor and emeritus dean BERNARD GOLDSTEIN, who also served as assistant administrator for research in the Reagan administration says, “I find it very situational,” Goldstein said. He added that recent political attacks on science and particula...
U.S. CONGRESS - On June 20, 2017, emeritus dean and professor BERNARD GOLDSTEIN called on lawmakers to support a research agenda to mitigate global climate change during special D.C. hearing. As an expert environmental toxicologist, he emphasized the need to address conservatives’ reasons for not trusting climate science in order to get bipartisan support for research. He concluded that fighting over the issue is potentially disastrous to societ...
PITTMED MAGAZINE - Someone once told Eve, a teen with severe intractable depression, "You just aren’t working hard enough in therapy." And then her doctor, HuGen’s LISA PAN—along with fellow Human Genetics faculty member DAVID FINEGOLD—learned that she can’t seem to make critical neurotransmitters. As it turned out, Eve’s CSF level of biopterin, a chemical the body uses to synthesize several neurotransmitters, was through the floor.
Alumnus RAJESH PANDAV (EPI ’01) has now completed two years as the World Health Organization’s country representative to East Timor. Along with updates on his accomplishments, Pandav sent in a nice shout-out to his mentors at Pitt: “All this has been possible because of the excellent education I received when I was at Pitt Public Health. I would like to specially thank Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, MARY DERKACH, and my mentor, MARY GANGULI...
Alumna BETSY JOHNS (MMPH ‘99) recently joined the Stormont Vail Health medical team and will practice as a family medicine physician at Cotton O’Neil Corporate View. She received her medical degree at the Hahnemann University School of Medicine in Philadelphia in 1994. She completed a residency training in family practice at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia and a faculty development fellowship at University of Pittsburgh Medic...
PITTSBURG POST-GAZETTE - The numbers are staggering, and yet DONALD S. BURKE wants more of them. He believes good data is essential in fighting the opioid crisis that is growing exponentially across the country — and nowhere faster than the Appalachian region that includes Western Pennsylvania. Burke, dean of the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health, took his case to Washington, where he participated Monday in a panel discu...
On Monday, June 19, 2017, Dean Burke joined four other public health deans from Appalachian universities to speak at a U.S. congressional hearing on the national opioid epidemic. Addressing the standing-room-only crowd, he spoke about the epidemiology of the crisis and the need for better info on costs. “Billions [of dollars] are needed, and we don't have a good handle on the magnitude of the epidemic. We need data.”
PUBLIC HEALTH POST - In a public health article, HPM’s MARIAN JARLENSKI says fake scientific arguments should not shape abortion law. She asks “why it is that so much un-scientific medical guidance is being codified into state statutes. Six state laws require that women seeking an abortion be counseled that induced abortion may result in adverse mental health effects, four require counseling that induced abortion reduces future fertility, and fiv...
GO ERIE - A presentation and discussion of Erie’s opioid epidemic will highlight Thursday’s Challenges & Innovations in Rural Psychiatry Conference at the Bayfront Convention Center, sponsored by Stairways Behavioral Health. DONALD BURKE, dean of the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, will give the keynote address. Erie County Executive Kathy Dahlkemper will join Burke and Stairways professionals during a roundtable discus...