Research and Practice News

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

COVID Cases Still Low in Allegheny County, While Opioid Overdoses Continue to Plague Residents 

COVID Cases Still Low in Allegheny County, While Opioid Overdoses Continue to Plague Residents

WESA-FM - "[That's] a big loophole there in terms of potentially not having people covered who are sick," said board chair IDM and EPI's Lee Harrison.  (07/23/2021)

Donohue finds more Americans are receiving addiction treatment, but gaps persist 

Donohue finds more Americans are receiving addiction treatment, but gaps persist

PITTWIRE - Substantially more people in the U.S. with opiiod use disorder are receiving evidence-based treatment for the disease, but there are still considerable gaps in care along racial lines, according to the largest analysis to date of opioid use disorder among Medicaid recipients. The results... (07/23/2021)

Gary-Webb accepts award for impact of data from the Black Equity Coalition 

Gary-Webb accepts award for impact of data from the Black Equity Coalition

NATIONAL NEIGHBORHOOD INDICATORS PARTNERSHIP - Harnessing interdisciplinary expertise and perspectives, the Black Equity Coalition in Pittsburgh successfully used data to advocate for programs and policies to decrease racial disparities in COVID-19 response and created a forum to tackle other healt... (07/23/2021)

Strotmeyer receives renewal for NIH/NIA T32 in epidemiology of aging 

Strotmeyer receives renewal for NIH/NIA T32 in epidemiology of aging

EPI's Elsa Strotmeyer (EPI '00, '97) along with Anne Newman (department chair), and Jane Cauley, received a renewal on their NIH/NIA T32 in the Epidemiology of Aging. They appreciate the participation of all of their colleauges and their support of the epidemiology of aging at Pitt. "We will be rec... (07/23/2021)

Gary-Webb featured in PHRESH: Communities Thrive When Residents are Involved in Decisions That Affect Their Neighborhoods 

Gary-Webb featured in PHRESH: Communities Thrive When Residents are Involved in Decisions That Affect Their Neighborhoods

The Hill District and Homewood are similar and different in various ways. They're similar in the sense that they've been relatively stable over time and they have predominantly Black populations but they have very different histories overtime," explains EPI's TIffany Gary-Webb, assocaite dean for d... (07/23/2021)

Garland and Brooks: Young People at Center of Surge in Violent Crime in Allegheny County 

Garland and Brooks: Young People at Center of Surge in Violent Crime in Allegheny County

KDKA - "The age group is15-25 - younger and drugs and alcohol...people getting out of lock down now and not being in school and not being in jobs," explained BCHS' Gina Brooks. After a year without school or direction, many of these young people with easy access to guns have turned to drug use and ... (07/23/2021)

Drake: How To Improve Consumer Plan Selection in ACA Marketplaces 

Drake: How To Improve Consumer Plan Selection in ACA Marketplaces

HEALTH AFFAIRS  - There is currently an opportunity for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to help consumers enroll in better Marketplace coverage in 2022. By adjusting how returning Marketplace enrollees are automatically re-enrolled in coverage, CMS can nudge more enrollees into plans... (07/23/2021)

Baumann blogs about Health Policy and Planning article, asking Is criminalization the answer for ending a harmful practice in Nepal? 

Baumann blogs about Health Policy and Planning article, asking Is criminalization the answer for ending a harmful practice in Nepal?

HPP DEBATED - BCHS' Sara Baumann (BCHS '19) talks about a recent article in the journal Health Policy and Planning, Is criminalization the answer? Perspectives of community members and police on menstrual seclusion policy in Far-West Nepal. The study was completed by an interdisiplinary Pitt team i... (07/23/2021)

Four SWAN studies explore women's brain and heart health during midlife 

Four SWAN studies explore women's brain and heart health during midlife

NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING - Meaningful research from our students, alumni, and faculty suggest that midlife health may be an important determinant of cognitive function and heart health later on in life. Featuring work from four SWAN manuscripts, one led by EPI's Emma Barinas-Mitchell for which E... (07/09/2021)

5 COVID-19 Takeaways. Roberts: Masks Work. Really.  

5 COVID-19 Takeaways. Roberts: Masks Work. Really.

DISCOVER MAGAZINE - Fierce debate raged in the pandemic's early months about whether wearing face masks curbed viral transmission. There was never much science that said masks didn't work, says HPM's Mark Roberts, director of the Public Health Dynamics Laboratory. Pre-2020 research already showed m... (06/22/2021)

Hill and colleagues find that coke works fire made asthma worse for sufferers nearby 

Hill and colleagues find that coke works fire made asthma worse for sufferers nearby

WTAE - Brandy Bywra-Hill (EOH '22) was lead author on a recent study in collaboration with ACHD that recounts the impact of the Christmas Eve 2018 fire that destroyed the pollution controls of the U.S. Clairton Coke Works. "This is the type of data that helps shape policy about air emissions, facto... (05/06/2021)

Mendez talks Black Maternal Health in Adagio Health's Better Health Outcomes Speakers Series 

Mendez talks Black Maternal Health in Adagio Health's Better Health Outcomes Speakers Series

In observance of Black Maternal Health week, EPI's Dara Mendez presented Black Maternal Health in Pennsylvania and the U.S., presenting data, discussing the implcations of racism and next steps. Open for the full recording.  (05/06/2021)

New research from Roberts shows Medicare and Medicaid fail Americans just above the poverty line 

New research from Roberts shows Medicare and Medicaid fail Americans just above the poverty line

ACADEMIC TIMES - Americans who receive Medicare but make slightly too much money to qualify for supplemental coverage from Medicaid spend thousands more dollars on out-of-pocket medical expenses while receiving fewer outpatient services and prescriptions than people covered by both programs, accord... (04/12/2021)

El Khoudary finds abdominal fat gain tied to heart disease risk in menopause 

El Khoudary finds abdominal fat gain tied to heart disease risk in menopause

UPMC - Women who experience an accelerated accumulation of abdominal fat during menopause are at greater risk of heart disease, even if their weight stays steady, according to research published in the journal Menopause. "We need to shift gears on how we think about heart disease risk in women, par... (03/19/2021)

Costacou - Type 1 diabetes onset before menarche shortens reproductive window 

Costacou - Type 1 diabetes onset before menarche shortens reproductive window

HEALIO - "Studies have provided discrepant findings on the issue of early menopause in women with type 1 diabetes," said EPI's Tina Costacou. "Our results suggest that the discrepancies may relate to whether the type 1 diabetes diagnosis precedes menarche or not, something that previous investigati... (03/04/2021)

Discarded drugs: a wasteful and costly problem that requires whole-of-government approaches 

Discarded drugs: a wasteful and costly problem that requires whole-of-government approaches

STAT FIRST OPINION —  HPM chair Julie Donohue and National Academies colleagues advocate for a “whole of government” approach to reforming the biopharmaceutical supply chain: Drug developers, manufacturers, clinicians, payers, and policymakers should focus on reducing system inefficiencies in drug ... (02/26/2021)

BIG STAKES, BIG STATS: Making sense of COVID-19 trials 

BIG STAKES, BIG STATS: Making sense of COVID-19 trials

PITTWIRE — When we hear about clinical trials, we might picture doctors and patients partnering to test new therapies. What we might not think about are the many others who make those studies happen. Take Maria Mori Brooks, professor of epidemiology and biostatistics, who makes sense of the numbers... (02/24/2021)

Sexual violence and adolescent relationship abuse unaffected by gender-based outreach program 

Sexual violence and adolescent relationship abuse unaffected by gender-based outreach program

PSYCHIATRY ADVISOR  – Research by Elizabeth Miller of Pitt Medicine and BCHS showed small, neighborhood classes could significantly reduce sexual violence among teenage boys living in areas of concentrated disadvantage. Adapted from a program in Brazil, Manhood 2.0's core message remains the same: ... (02/22/2021)

Drake: Next year, extend open enrollment of the ACA Marketplaces into January 

Drake: Next year, extend open enrollment of the ACA Marketplaces into January

HEALTH AFFAIRS - HPM's Coleman Drake and Duke University colleague David Anderson say that by offering an extended open enrollment period, the Biden administration can remove a major administrative burden that often stands in the way of families obtaining health insurance.  (02/20/2021)

Alumni Research: Lack of health services and transportation impede access to vaccine in communities of color 

Alumni Research: Lack of health services and transportation impede access to vaccine in communities of color

THE WASHINGTON POST -  Doctoral alumna Inma Hernandez (HPM '16) with researchers at Pitt and West Health Policy Center said not enough attention has been paid to gaps in the health-care system when addressing vaccine uptake in vulnerable populations. The research applauded the decision by the Biden... (02/16/2021)

Community Engagement Updates & News

Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum Blood Drive 

Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum Blood Drive

Vitalant is hosting a Blood Drive on 2/24, 3/4, 3/9, 3/16. 3/25, and 3/31 from 9 am- 2 pm. Appointments recommended. (02/22/2021)
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Pitt's community engagement programs, fortifying the interface of the University with the broader community 

Pitt's community engagement programs, fortifying the interface of the University with the broader community

Visit www.cec.pitt.edu to learn about collaborative possibilities with other Pitt schools and local neighborhoods, community leaders, residents around health - as part of Pitt's 15-year committment to strengthen and support communities and Pitt!  (12/11/2020)

Research Videos

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Gary-Webb featured in PHRESH: Communities Thrive When Residents are Involved in Decisions That Affect Their Neighborhoods 

Gary-Webb featured in PHRESH: Communities Thrive When Residents are Involved in Decisions That Affect Their Neighborhoods

The Hill District and Homewood are similar and different in various ways. They're similar in the sense that they've been relatively stable over time and they have predominantly Black populations but they have very different histories overtime," explains EPI's TIffany Gary-Webb, assocaite dean for d... (07/23/2021)
image

Hill and colleagues find that coke works fire made asthma worse for sufferers nearby 

Hill and colleagues find that coke works fire made asthma worse for sufferers nearby

WTAE - Brandy Bywra-Hill (EOH '22) was lead author on a recent study in collaboration with ACHD that recounts the impact of the Christmas Eve 2018 fire that destroyed the pollution controls of the U.S. Clairton Coke Works. "This is the type of data that helps shape policy about air emissions, facto... (05/06/2021)
image

Mendez talks Black Maternal Health in Adagio Health's Better Health Outcomes Speakers Series 

Mendez talks Black Maternal Health in Adagio Health's Better Health Outcomes Speakers Series

In observance of Black Maternal Health week, EPI's Dara Mendez presented Black Maternal Health in Pennsylvania and the U.S., presenting data, discussing the implcations of racism and next steps. Open for the full recording.  (05/06/2021)
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COVID-19 In Pennsylvania: Health Care Workers In Underserved Communities Get Vaccine To Build Trust 

COVID-19 In Pennsylvania: Health Care Workers In Underserved Communities Get Vaccine To Build Trust

WDKA CBS NEWS —  In a multipronged effort to prioritize the biggest impact among Phase 1A groups, UPMC vaccinated community advocates  to fight vaccine hesitancy in vulnerable, often minority, populations, where COVID-19 has had a disproportionately terrible effect.BCHS's Richard Garland got the va... (02/01/2021)
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