Research and Practice News

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

FEATURED

Students & community collaborators create 'Disrespecting the Border' mural

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Pitt student Camilo Ruiz (BCHS/Anthropology '20) collaborated with artists Leah Patgorski and Gil Rocha on a community mural-making workshop resulting in a magnificent art piece entitled "Disrespecting the Border."  An artist and teacher from Laredo, Texas, Rocha facilitated a diverse group of nineteen people through the five-day process of creating the mural which aims to" dignify and make visible the Latinx presence in Pittsburgh."  

Masks and Much More: Public Health in the Time of COVID-19 

Masks and Much More: Public Health in the Time of COVID-19

PITTSBURGH CURRENT—"Green is associated with 'go,' 'all clear,' 'nothing to worry about'—but during this pandemic, green could not be further from the truth." Doctoral candidate Chantele Mitchell-Miland (EPI '20) and advisor EPI's Dara Mendez explain why we all still need to be vigilant and practic... (07/01/2020)

Garland among those chosen for task force on police reform 

Garland among those chosen for task force on police reform

BCHS's Richard Garland is one of 17 civilians named to a Pittsburgh task force that will review policing in Pittsburgh and deliver recommendations by the fall. Garland is director of the Center for Health Equity's Violence Prevention Project where he oversees training, data collection, and outreach... (06/24/2020)

Worthington interns with Hawaii Department of Health for COVID-19 project 

Worthington interns with Hawaii Department of Health for COVID-19 project

MPH student Ke’alohi Worthington (EPI ’21) has been performing data analyses for her internship with the Department of Health in Hawaii, which examines how COVID-19 has affected indigenous and other populations.  (06/18/2020)

Health Department Responses 

Health Department Responses

EPI's Catherine Haggerty and HPM's Wendy Braund lead a conversation about the health department response to COVID-19 at the local and state levels. Haggerty starts the conversation with a discussion of the approaches, impact, and challenges of containment and mitigation efforts at the county level.... (06/13/2020)

Biostatistical Modeling and COVID-19  

Biostatistical Modeling and COVID-19

Biostatistical modeling, estimation, and decision-making support have been playing an important role in responses to COVID-19 challenges. Lu Tang and Andriy Bandos will discuss statistical considerations involved in modeling the epidemic progression and in the use of COVID-19 related tests for esti... (06/13/2020)

Gary-Webb on the new Pittsburgh coalition tackling racial inequities and the pandemic 

Gary-Webb on the new Pittsburgh coalition tackling racial inequities and the pandemic

WESA - Coalition scientists have pushed to get more coronavirus testing into communities of need. To get that done, EPI’s Tiffany Gary-Webb said they mapped out where Black families live in poverty and lack access to quality medical care, and then created an overlay showing where the federally qual... (06/08/2020)

Understanding and Addressing the COVID-19 Infodemic 

Understanding and Addressing the COVID-19 Infodemic

Since the initial outbreak of the novel coronavirus COVID-19, social media misinformation appears to be spreading faster than the virus itself, prompting the WHO to declare an "infodemic" of misinformation. During this conversation, BCHS's Steve Albert and Beth Hoffman (BCHS '19 '23) will discuss h... (05/30/2020)

Di, Deslouches, and Montelaro develop promising antibiotic molecule for drug-resistant infections 

Di, Deslouches, and Montelaro develop promising antibiotic molecule for drug-resistant infections

CISTIC FIBROSIS NEWS TODAY - With the rising prevalence of superbugs, researchers are turning their attention to antibiotic molecules. Study co-authors Y. Peter Di (EOH), Berthony Deslouches (EOH), and Ronald Montelaro (IDM) have engineered a cationic antimicrobial peptide named WLBU2, licensed by ... (05/30/2020)

A Health Equity Response to COVID-19 in Allegheny County 

A Health Equity Response to COVID-19 in Allegheny County

“When the pandemic first started, there were many of us that were worried that the toll on underserved populations, particularly African Americans where I focus, would bear a disproportionate burden of COVID-19,” said EPI’s Tiffany Gary-Web. "So I started locally asking for data by race and trying ... (05/21/2020)

MAR-PHTC experts discuss "Science and Health Law: Navigating through COVID-19" 

MAR-PHTC experts discuss "Science and Health Law: Navigating through COVID-19"

COVID-19 is a highly infectious coronavirus that jumped from an animal host to humans in late 2019 and subsequently became a pandemic. With so much information scattered over the internet, where can reliable information be found? Faculty experts in the fields of biology, medicine, law, and informat... (05/21/2020)

EPI's Mendez addresses Townhall Tuesday: What Black Pittsburgh Needs to Know About COVID-19 

EPI's Mendez addresses Townhall Tuesday: What Black Pittsburgh Needs to Know About COVID-19

Assistant professor of epidemiology Dara Mendez joined a panel of community leaders on this week's Townhall Tuesday: What Black Pittsburgh Needs to Know About COVID-19. Mendez talked about contact tracing and the importance of continued testing, particularly with regard to Allegheny County's transi... (05/19/2020)

Systemic Racism in the Time of COVID-19, Maseru on Tuskegee University Lecture Series (video) 

Systemic Racism in the Time of COVID-19, Maseru on Tuskegee University Lecture Series (video)

In the first William "Bill" Jenkins Lecture at the Department of Graduate Public Health in the College of General Medicine at Tuskegee University, CHE's Noble Maseru spoke of Jenkins' committment to social justice through workforce development and tangentially addressed bioethics. "We don't see COV... (05/19/2020)

Maseru addresses Hill District Community Forum on COVID-19 on social equity responses to the pandemic 

Maseru addresses Hill District Community Forum on COVID-19 on social equity responses to the pandemic

On April 9, CHE Director Noble Maseru presented facts, best practices, and risks to the Black community, in addition to talking about equity and life expectancy in Pittsburgh by neighborhood. View the slides or watch the presentation.  (05/19/2020)

HUGEN's Lisa Parker shares COVID-19 resources 

HUGEN's Lisa Parker shares COVID-19 resources

Hugen’s Lisa Parker, director of the Center for Bioethics and Health Law, has made resources available for COVID-19 ethics, medical humanities, and narratives. (05/13/2020)

The History and Future of COVID-19 

The History and Future of COVID-19

COVID-19 is one of three novel coronavirus outbreaks in the past 20 years that originated in animals. How is the current outbreak similar and different from the previous ones? What course will COVID-19 take in Pennsylvania?  IDM's  Amy Hartman  puts the current outbreak in perspective with what w... (05/12/2020)

Maseru participates in panel themed around human rights and COVID-19 

Maseru participates in panel themed around human rights and COVID-19

BCHS's Noble Maseru recently contributed to a community health panel focused on shaping a health and human rights agenda where he discussed how COVID-19 disproportionately impacts the African-American community and called for a COVID-19 equity task force. (05/06/2020)

Mendez interviews Dornsife faculty on health equity and COVID-19 in the U.S. and Brazil (video) 

Mendez interviews Dornsife faculty on health equity and COVID-19 in the U.S. and Brazil (video)

EPI's Dara Mendez is health equity editor for Block Chronicles, a national web-series and online magazine profiling educators, artists, researchers, and community organizations on Latinx studies, urban education, health equity, and arts and culture. In this video, she interviews Sharelle Barber, sc... (04/12/2020)

Albert addresses town hall informing 13,000 retirees on coronavirus  

Albert addresses town hall informing 13,000 retirees on coronavirus

More than 13,000 retirees from across the country tuned in to an Alliance for Retired Americans and AFL-CIO "teletownhall" where BCHS Chair Stephen Albert was among the speakers. Albert encouraged retirees to avoid public spaces, to take advantage of senior hours or curbside pickup, to use cloth fa... (04/12/2020)

BCHS alum Arnold on harm-reduction during the coronavirus shutdown 

BCHS alum Arnold on harm-reduction during the coronavirus shutdown

PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER/SPOTLIGHT PA - At Prevention Point Pittsburgh, staff have been trying to raise awareness of COVID-19 for weeks. “If someone shows symptoms, they’re given gloves, a face mask, and extra harm reduction supplies so they can self-quarantine,” said executive director Aaron Arnold (... (03/31/2020)

Research Videos

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Health Department Responses 

Health Department Responses

EPI's Catherine Haggerty and HPM's Wendy Braund lead a conversation about the health department response to COVID-19 at the local and state levels. Haggerty starts the conversation with a discussion of the approaches, impact, and challenges of containment and mitigation efforts at the county level.... (06/13/2020)
image

Biostatistical Modeling and COVID-19  

Biostatistical Modeling and COVID-19

Biostatistical modeling, estimation, and decision-making support have been playing an important role in responses to COVID-19 challenges. Lu Tang and Andriy Bandos will discuss statistical considerations involved in modeling the epidemic progression and in the use of COVID-19 related tests for esti... (06/13/2020)
image

Understanding and Addressing the COVID-19 Infodemic 

Understanding and Addressing the COVID-19 Infodemic

Since the initial outbreak of the novel coronavirus COVID-19, social media misinformation appears to be spreading faster than the virus itself, prompting the WHO to declare an "infodemic" of misinformation. During this conversation, BCHS's Steve Albert and Beth Hoffman (BCHS '19 '23) will discuss h... (05/30/2020)
image

A Health Equity Response to COVID-19 in Allegheny County 

A Health Equity Response to COVID-19 in Allegheny County

“When the pandemic first started, there were many of us that were worried that the toll on underserved populations, particularly African Americans where I focus, would bear a disproportionate burden of COVID-19,” said EPI’s Tiffany Gary-Web. "So I started locally asking for data by race and trying ... (05/21/2020)
image

MAR-PHTC experts discuss "Science and Health Law: Navigating through COVID-19" 

MAR-PHTC experts discuss "Science and Health Law: Navigating through COVID-19"

COVID-19 is a highly infectious coronavirus that jumped from an animal host to humans in late 2019 and subsequently became a pandemic. With so much information scattered over the internet, where can reliable information be found? Faculty experts in the fields of biology, medicine, law, and informat... (05/21/2020)
image

Systemic Racism in the Time of COVID-19, Maseru on Tuskegee University Lecture Series (video) 

Systemic Racism in the Time of COVID-19, Maseru on Tuskegee University Lecture Series (video)

In the first William "Bill" Jenkins Lecture at the Department of Graduate Public Health in the College of General Medicine at Tuskegee University, CHE's Noble Maseru spoke of Jenkins' committment to social justice through workforce development and tangentially addressed bioethics. "We don't see COV... (05/19/2020)
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