News

mpox vaccine
September 30, 2024

Is the mpox outbreak abroad a threat to the U.S.?

“Yes, there is a risk that this could become global,” said Jean Nachega, associate professor of epidemiology. “We saw it before, and there’s no reason not to see it again.”
Stephen Wisniewski
September 25, 2024

U.S. Department of Defense Awards Pitt $100M to continue transformative trauma trials

“The strength of the LITES network lies in our partnerships with dozens of trauma centers dedicated to providing the best possible life-saving care to the communities they serve,” said coprincipal investigator Stephen Wisniewski, professor of epidemiology.
Dean emeritus Donald Burke
September 23, 2024

Will the next pandemic be a self-fulfilling prophecy? A leading epidemiologist and onetime Pitt dean has thoughts

In a recent issue of the journal Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, through Johns Hopkins University Press, dean Emeritus Burke looks back at the 1977 Russian flu H1N1 pandemic and its origins, seeing it as an eerie specter that humans are capable of repeating.
Foster, Hotez, Lichtveld
September 23, 2024

Meet 2024 Porter Prize awardee Peter Hotez

Since his high school days, Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, has considered University of Pittsburgh virologist Dr. Jonas Salk his personal hero for developing the first safe and effective vaccine for polio in 1955.
panelists at the frontlines of public health symposium
September 18, 2024

New efforts to combat anti-science rhetoric and encourage vaccines topic of Pitt panel

“Any decline we’re seeing in vaccination rates is concerning,” said Theresa Chapple-McGruder, director of the Center for Health Equity and associate professor of health policy and management.
coronavirus
September 17, 2024

US COVID-19 rates oscillate every six months

“The COVID-19 winter waves are consistent with that of other respiratory viruses, but the existence of a repeated additional surge during the summer was unexpected,” said senior author Donald S. Burke, M.D., dean emeritus.
Drs. Cauley, Newman and Wenzel
September 13, 2024

Faculty trio cited among top female scientists – For yet another year

Data analytics company Research.com has again ranked three School of Public Health faculty members among their annual list of top 1,000 female scientists.
protesters
September 12, 2024

More women had their tubes tied after Roe v. Wade was overturned

“It looks like the data they used were able to break things down by state, which is nice and something we were unable to do with the data we used,” said Jacqueline Ellison assistant professor of health policy and management.
Vice Dean Jeanine Buchanich
September 10, 2024

Path to public health: Vice Dean Jeanine Buchanich

Jeanine Buchanich, PhD, MPH, MEd, started her journey as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, where she traversed a winding path to her new role as the vice dean of Pitt Public Health.
children and adults attend a back to school event. Photo credit: AP News
September 9, 2024

Hundreds of places in the US said racism was a public health crisis. What’s changed?

“If we’re not going to name racism in the first place, then we’re not going to start to develop solutions to address it,” said Dara Mendez, associate professor of epidemiology.
Tiffany Gary-Webb
September 5, 2024

Tiffany Gary-Webb named Provost Faculty Fellow

Pitt’s Office of the Provost has announced that Tiffany Gary-Webb, professor of epidemiology, has been named Provost Faculty Fellow working with John Wallace.
Meredith Hughes wearing a jacket in front of blue background
September 4, 2024

Meredith Hughes chosen for new State Health Policy Fellowship

Meredith Hughes, assistant professor of health policy and management, is one of three inaugural fellows in the pilot State Health Policy Fellowship (SHPF) program, the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) announced.

Don Burke, Pitt professor emeritus
September 4, 2024

Preparing for a pandemic that never came ended up setting off another − how an accidental virus release triggered 1977’s ‘Russian flu’

Donald S. Burke, dean emeritus and distinguished university professor emeritus, explains how an overreaction to a new flu strain led to an unintentional lab leak that triggered the 1977 flu pandemic.

Linda Frank, infectious diseases and microbiology
September 3, 2024

More than half of HIV-positive Americans are 50+. Figuring out care is complex

Linda Frank, professor of infectious diseases and microbiology, advocates for routine testing for HIV by primary care physicians. 

The Greenfield tornado caused damage in Iowa
August 23, 2024

Extreme weather can leave a trail of destruction and a lasting health impact

Addressing these increasing disasters means addressing climate change. Environmental health experts like Dean Maureen Lichtveld say policymakers should work with communities that are affected even if some people may not recognize climate change as a threat.