One of the many informal summer gatherings of former Pitt Public Health classmates, this group of MPH alumni has reunited every year since graduation in a different place! This year was coastal Maine, primarily Bar Harbor. Pictured are CAROLYN BYRNES (EPI), SARAH LOCH (EPI), NICOLLE NESTLER (BCHS), KELSEY ALLEN (BCHS), KATHLEEN CREPPAGE (EPI), and JESSICA SUCHY (BCHS). Past locations have included Buffalo, DC, Pittsburgh, and Colorado.
MICHELE BUZZELLI (BCHS ’15) is putting her MPH to work this fall teaching courses in global health at the Northampton Community College’s Monroe Campus in Tannersville, PA. Buzzelli will also teach a required first-semester course for incoming students entitled College Success which helps students navigate the college environment.
The Gerontological Society of America recently announced that new rankings show its academic journals lead among the most-cited aging publications. The Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences, which is edited by ANNE NEWMAN, chair of Pitt Public Health's Department of Epidemiology, upheld its first-place ranking on the list of 32 publications, with an impact factor of 5.957.
PITTSBURGH POST GAZETTE - The Sharpsburg city council unanimously passed the “complete streets” resolution introduced by Councilwoman Brittany Reno with support from Eric Boerer of BikePGH and CAROL REICHBAUM of Pitt Public Health’s WalkWorks program. “We want people to feel safe when walking.” Providing safe spaces for people to be more active and walk or bike instead of drive encourages them to become more physically active and healthier.
WESA 90.5 - Lead isn't the only potential water contaminant Pittsburgh residents should worry about, according to researchers at the nonprofit Environmental Working Group. Of potential concern are chemicals called trihalomethanes, though they don't worry Pitt researchers including EOH's AARON BARCHOWSKY, “It’s a weak association that comes from rodent studies but … linking to human cancers has been controversial or weak at best.”
WESA 90.5 - WVU’s Mike McCawley studies the spike in diesel truck traffic as a potential contributor to health impacts associated fracking. EOH’s JIM FABISIAK isn’t surprised, as diesel exhaust is a known carcinogen, adding “We also know that it contributes probably significantly to many of the other health endpoints we attributed to air pollution, such as aggravating asthma and premature deaths from cardiovascular or lung disease.”
NEW YORK TIMES - Herbert Needleman, whose studies of children exposed to low levels of lead prompted regulations that limited or banned the metal in a range of common products, like gasoline and paint, and set a standard for the modern study of environmental toxins, died on July 18 in Pittsburgh.
“[His] was the insight that changed everything,” said BERNARD GOLDSTEIN, former dean of Pitt Public Health.
What a great city! The Picklesburgh festival is a culinary celebration that goes beyond the dill pickle to include international dishes, prepared foods and artisan cocktails; an embrace of the farm-to-table movement and the rising popularity of canning; a selection of handcrafted foods and artisan cocktails from local restaurants; informative how-to demos and author talks at our demo area; and merchandise such as pickled goods, books, and DIY pro...
UNIVERSITY TIMES - The Department of Health Policy and Management has named a new vice chair of education and director of the Master of Health Administration (MHA) and MHA/MBA joint degree programs. KEVIN BROOM comes to Pitt from Saint Louis University, where he served as an assistant professor of health management and policy. Broom succeeds WESLEY ROHRER, who returned to the HPM faculty on June 30.
TV3 EXPOSE - Ireland's private-TV news broadcaster cites research by Pitt Public Health's BONNY ROCKETTE-WAGNER on the impacts of TV watching on weight gain and diabetes risk. “Television watching (like other sitting behaviors) has very low energy expenditure, and therefore large amounts of time [spent doing it] could lead to energy imbalance and weight gain.”
MEDICAL NEWS TODAY - Epidemiologist ANDREA ROSSO set out to uncover why some people respond to physical exercise inventions better than others. Her hunt for these super-responders saw her looking at genes involved in dopamine regulation. Rosso speculates that higher dopamine levels may play a role in sticking to exercise regimes in lifestyle interventions.
In May 2017, ELIZABETH VAN NOSTRAND and her team from the Center for Public Health Practice were honored with the Medical Reserve Corps Program National Partner Recognition Award for the development of ELI, the Emergency Law Inventory tool — a repository of statutes and regulations that impact volunteers participating in emergency response activities on the topics of liability, license reciprocity, scope of practice, and workers’ benefits.
EDMOND SUN - The American Society of Human Genetics has given its 2017 Mentorship Award to JOHN J. MULVIHILL, first chair of Pitt Public Health's Department of Human Genetics and co-director of the Pittsburgh Genetics Institute until 1998.
On Wednesday, July 19, 2017, Dean DONALD S. BURKE addressed members of the Allegheny County Overdose Prevention Coalition at their 2017 Summer Conference. The conference theme was New Perspectives on the Opioid Crisis, and Burke’s keynote address was titled Forcasting and Deflecting the Opioid Epidemic Curve.
BLOOMBERG - If a pharmaceutical company wants to gain access to the VA’s market, it has an incentive to offer the VA a lower price on its drugs, said HPM’s WALID GELLAD. But would drug companies simply raise their prices to the VA?
PITTSBURGH BUSINESS TIMES - Alumna LAURA GRIFFIN (HPM ’13) has been honored by Pittsburgh Business Times as a 2017 30 Under 30 award winner. Her contributions as director of network nursing operations at Allegheny Health Network has brought her to the attention of management.
ENDOCRINE TODAY - “Midlife and the menopause transition is a time when women typically gain weight, and losing it is difficult because there are multiple things going on,” REBECCA THURSTON (EPI) told Endocrine Today . “Women’s physiology is changing, their lives are very busy, and they’re caring, oftentimes, for partners, children and aging parents, so it is a challenge.”
STAT NEWS - One health plan option Trump’s administration is considering may not be much of a deal for consumers. “It’s not going to lower prices substantially, certainly not in the short term and probably not in the long term,” said WALID GELLAD, HPM assistant professor and co-director of the Center for Pharmaceutical Policy and Prescribing at Pitt. “It’s an easy way out of addressing the real complexities.”
NEW YORK TIMES - This doctoral alum is amazing! CHRIS TAYLOR (EPI '10), who was inducted into the Pitt Public Health Delta Omega Honor Society chapter in May 2017, won best in show in the amateur division at the American Pie Council's championship in June in Orlando, Florida. His winner beat 205 other entries with a recipe inspired in part by a Take5 candy bar, one of his favorites.
"I think that Dawn left an incredible legacy. Every time I mention the foundation, I'm running into people who personally knew Dawn and every single person I runinto has a great story about her and had great interactions with her. And through all of these stories, I'm not only learning through the resources that the foundation has given me, but also through Dawn herself," said Free of how she's inspired by Gideon.