Research and Practice News

Check out some highlights of research and practice under way at Pitt Public Health:

Inpatient opioids influence at-home use, Donohue reports 

Inpatient opioids influence at-home use, Donohue reports

MEDPAGE TODAY - Patients given opioids during their hospital stay were more likely to continue using them post-discharge. Compared with patients who were not prescribed opioids, those who did get a prescription were also twice as likely to continue using them in outpatient settings three months out... (06/24/2019)

HUGEN's Lauren Winter melds genetic counseling and dental genetics 

HUGEN's Lauren Winter melds genetic counseling and dental genetics

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 j... (06/10/2019)

Pitt Men's Study reflects on past, future of HIV fight 

Pitt Men's Study reflects on past, future of HIV fight

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, lamenti... (06/10/2019)

New hope for curing sepsis as researchers discover four strains - a breakthrough that could boost treatment options 

New hope for curing sepsis as researchers discover four strains - a breakthrough that could boost treatment options

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 tria... (06/03/2019)

Donohue comments on potential medicaid implications of study that says more Americans are being treated for depression 

Donohue comments on potential medicaid implications of study that says more Americans are being treated for depression

PSYCHOLOGY TODAY - More Americans receive treatment for depression and pay less out of pocket than they did two decades ago, according to a recent study. "States that haven't expanded Medicaid could look at these estimates and think: There's a way to expand treatment of mental health conditions lik... (06/03/2019)

Drake finds that rural counties that would most benefit from telemedicine lack broadband access 

Drake finds that rural counties that would most benefit from telemedicine lack broadband access

WESA - Telemedicine has the potential to connect people in rural communities to health care providers who might otherwise take hours to reach by car. But a new study by HPM's Coleman Drake finds that many of these places lack the infrastructure to actually make telemedicine possible.  (06/03/2019)

Garland on gun violence at Prevention 2019 

Garland on gun violence at Prevention 2019

BCHS' Richard Garland was among the presenters at the American College of Preventive Medicine's Prevention 2019 meeting held in Pittsburgh in May. Garland was on a panel called Lessons about Gun Violence from the National Violent Death Reporting System.  (06/03/2019)

As the U.S. measles count surpasses 25-year-old record, Roberts says: vaccinate 

As the U.S. measles count surpasses 25-year-old record, Roberts says: vaccinate

WDAM - U.S. health officials have reported 971 measles cases so far this year, the highest tally in 27 years, and experts say it's not clear when the wave of illnesses will stop. "What's causing these outbreaks is lack of vaccination," said HPM Chair Mark Roberts.  (05/31/2019)

Memory slips may be worrisome, but Ganguli study shows it's often not Alzheimer's 

Memory slips may be worrisome, but Ganguli study shows it's often not Alzheimer's

NJ.COM - New research suggests taht even for adults who develop noticeable cognitive impairments in later life, that doesn't mean they have Alzheimer's or will progress to Alzheimer's anytime soon. Mary Ganguli (EPI '87) says the findings suggest no one should jump to hasty conclusions about people... (05/29/2019)

The Mid-Atlantic Regional Public Health Training Center strengthens the current and future public health workforce 

The Mid-Atlantic Regional Public Health Training Center strengthens the current and future public health workforce

The Center for Public Health Practice's latest training center works to strengthen the public health workforce through collaboration with schools and agencies across a five-state region. The center meets workforce training needs on topics from project management and data analytics to the opioid epi... (04/30/2019)

Hoffman led research into anti-vaxxers on social media (video) 

Hoffman led research into anti-vaxxers on social media (video)

WPXI - Antivaxxers left negative business reviews for Kids First Pediatrics after they posted a social media video encouraging HPV vaccination. So, they teamed up with researchers at Pitt including Beth Hoffman (BCHS '19, '23) who found that we have to "...start thinking about how to deliver tailor... (04/29/2019)

Angus’ Early Sepsis Indicator Receives 510(k) Clearance from FDA 

Angus’ Early Sepsis Indicator Receives 510(k) Clearance from FDA

MANAGED CARE - HPM's Derek Angus contributed to a first-of-its-kind, hematology-based cellular biomarker that is designed to help emergency department physicians identify patients with sepsis or who are at increased risk of developing sepsis. Compared to the traditional method of reviewing white bl... (04/23/2019)

King: 2019 Delta Omega Inductee 

King: 2019 Delta Omega Inductee

Wendy King (EPI ’04) is associate professor of epidemiology at Pitt Public Health. Her work is focused on the design, coordination, and analysis of multicenter cohort studies and randomized clinical trials. She is currently the principal investigator of the data coordinating center for three prospe... (04/22/2019)

New measles outbreak simulator demonstrates the importance of vaccines 

New measles outbreak simulator demonstrates the importance of vaccines

WGCU NEWS - With measles outbreaks on the rise and vaccination rates falling in some places, HPM and PHDL's Mark Roberts discusses our latest simluator, FRED Measles Florida shows how quickly this preventable disease could spread if vaccination rates were to drop by 15%, highlighting the importance... (04/22/2019)

USF latest to use FRED to simulate measles outbreak in Florida 

USF latest to use FRED to simulate measles outbreak in Florida

WUSF NEWS - University of Pittsburgh's Public Health Dynamic Laboratory teamed up with the University of South Florida College of Public Health to create a new online measles simulator that shows how quickly measles can spread from just one measles case over a nine-month period.  (04/05/2019)

Mailliard and Rinaldo on the quest to cure HIV using immunotherapy 

Mailliard and Rinaldo on the quest to cure HIV using immunotherapy

INFECTION CONTROL TODAY - IDM's Robbie Mailliard and Charles Rinaldo are on the quest to cure HIV using an all-in-one immunotherapy approach that not only kicks HIV out of hiding in the immune system but also kills it. The key lies in immune cells designed to recognize an entirely different virus. ... (04/03/2019)

Analyzing a Facebook-fueled anti-vaccination attack: 'It's not all about autism' 

Analyzing a Facebook-fueled anti-vaccination attack: 'It's not all about autism'

ASPPH FRIDAY LETTER - Research led by Beth Hoffman (BCHS '19, '23) finds that anti-vaccination arguments on social media aren't all about autism, but instead center on four distinct themes that can appeal to diverse audiences, offering a framework that pediatricians can use to open a conversation w... (04/01/2019)

Kuller receives 2019 Peter J. Safar Pulse of Pittsburgh award  

Kuller receives 2019 Peter J. Safar Pulse of Pittsburgh award

EPI’s Lewis Kuller was honored at the Pittsburgh Heart Ball for his groundbreaking contributions to the study of cardiovascular disease. When presenting the award, Anne Newman, chair of the department, said that Kuller "always challenged current public health knowledge through research and interven... (03/27/2019)

Costacou finds menarche heightens overt nephropathy risk in type 1 diabetes 

Costacou finds menarche heightens overt nephropathy risk in type 1 diabetes

HEALIO – "A major question of concern in type 1 diabetes is the association of age at menarche with glycemic control; however, studies evaluating the impact of glycemic control on the age at menarche in young women with type 1 diabetes have provided conflicting results," said EPI’s Tina Costacou, f... (03/26/2019)

What drives 'anti-vaxxer' parents? It's a mixed bag, Hoffman shows 

What drives 'anti-vaxxer' parents? It's a mixed bag, Hoffman shows

U.S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT - People who voice their anti-vaccine sentiments online range from conspiracy theorists to parents who have safety worries or interests in alternative medicine. Investigators, including Beth Hoffmann (BCHS '19), came to that conclusion after looking into a viral Facebook ... (03/22/2019)

Research Videos

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As the U.S. measles count surpasses 25-year-old record, Roberts says: vaccinate 

As the U.S. measles count surpasses 25-year-old record, Roberts says: vaccinate

WDAM - U.S. health officials have reported 971 measles cases so far this year, the highest tally in 27 years, and experts say it's not clear when the wave of illnesses will stop. "What's causing these outbreaks is lack of vaccination," said HPM Chair Mark Roberts.  (05/31/2019)
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Hoffman led research into anti-vaxxers on social media (video) 

Hoffman led research into anti-vaxxers on social media (video)

WPXI - Antivaxxers left negative business reviews for Kids First Pediatrics after they posted a social media video encouraging HPV vaccination. So, they teamed up with researchers at Pitt including Beth Hoffman (BCHS '19, '23) who found that we have to "...start thinking about how to deliver tailor... (04/29/2019)
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Scientists uncover dual-layered scaffolding of cellular nuclei (video) 

Scientists uncover dual-layered scaffolding of cellular nuclei (video)

PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES  - Using super-sensitive microscopic imaging, a team of scientists led by HuGen's Quasar Padiath has made a fundamental biological discovery that explains the structure of the nuclear envelope and gives tantalizing clues as to how cells squish throug... (02/19/2019)
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Hartman among researchers trying to prevent virus more dangerous than Zika (video) 

Hartman among researchers trying to prevent virus more dangerous than Zika (video)

WPXI - Pitt researchers are looking to lessons learned about Zika when preparing for the possibility of Rift Valley Fever virus, noting that it's important to develop therapies and vaccines now. "We saw the ffects of Zika when it got into a larger population and so our work highlights the need to r... (02/11/2019)
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Hernandez's research adds to pharmaceutical industry's growing pressure over high price of drugs 

Hernandez's research adds to pharmaceutical industry's growing pressure over high price of drugs

FOX NEWS - "It's not about innovation, it's about inflation in existing products," explains Inmaculada Hernandez (HPM '16). "They are the same companies that operate in other countries and they don't show this behavior and that's because in other countries they are lucky to have this regulatory env... (01/24/2019)
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BCHS team tries new technique to share research with LGBTQ youth (video) 

BCHS team tries new technique to share research with LGBTQ youth (video)

Post-doctoral researcher Robert Coulter (BCHS '17), BCHS's Jessica Burke, and Sara Baumann (BCHS '19) tried using a video approach to share highlights of Coulter's recent research on how welcoming school environments reduce drinking among both LGBT+ -identified students and their heterosexual count... (11/24/2018)
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