In recognition of a career dedicated to improving the health of the world’s most vulnerable populations, ASPH, with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), established a fellowship in honor of Dr. Allan Rosenfield, former dean of the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.  The ASPH/CDC Allan Rosenfield Global Health Fellowship Program offers global health training opportunities for recent MPH and doctoral level graduates of ASPH-member, accredited schools of public health.

Educational session to address the issue of garbage disposal in Port au Prince, Haiti

From February 2-4, over 60 subject matter experts participated in staggered meetings to develop draft competencies for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-funded Public Health Preparedness and Response Competency Development Project. Leadership group co-chairs, Dean Audrey Gotsch (UMDNJ) and Dr. C. William Keck (Akron Department of Health, retired), kicked off the meeting with a plenary session in which they described the project background, goals and aims.

President Obama released his budget for Fiscal Year 2011 (FY2011) this past Monday, February 1.  It is now up to Congress to review this request, hold hearings with department and agency leadership and public witnesses, and then write and pass their own budget resolution, typically by mid-April. The Appropriations Committees in both the House and the Senate will then work to pass all 12 appropriations bills by early summer. Below is a short summary of a few of the budget provisions important to ASPH and its priorities.

ASPH hosts a public health advocacy section on its web site, which provides an opportunity to share information on advocacy efforts with all ASPH members. The site also highlights information on policy priorities, including several policy papers exploring the nation’s public health priorities, and provides links to sources of legislative information and resources and tips on how to contact Members of Congress. ASPH will also use the web site to post alerts on activities on Capitol Hill that are critical to public health. Visit www.asph.org/advocacy for more information.

ASPH regularly provides members and Friday Letter readers with information about grant opportunities.  New opportunities are listed each week in the “Funding Opportunities” section of the Friday Letter.  Readers can access a full listing of grant notices by visiting the “Funding for Faculty” section of the ASPH web site. Listed below are grant opportunities that have been posted within the last seven days. Click on the title for more information.

The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) has established a fellowship in honor of Dr. Benjamin H. Kean, a renowned teacher, researcher and practitioner of tropical medicine whose mentorship and support helped many medical students and physicians-in-training begin and sustain careers in tropical medicine. Administered by the ASTMH Clinical Group (American Committee on Clinical Tropical Medicine and Traveler's Health—ACCTMTH), the fellowship will provide travel expenses for medical students who arrange clinical tropical medicine or tropical medicine research electives in areas afflicted by tropical diseases.

The Asia-Pacific Global Health Summer Institute is designed to provide an exciting new forum for instruction focused on critical global health issues of the Asia-Pacific Region. Co-sponsored by the University of California at Berkeley School of Public Health and the University of Hawai'i at Manoa Office of Public Health Studies, this year's inaugural 2010 Summer Institute will focus on four pressing global health challenges: indigenous health disparities, linkages between healthy ecosystems and public health, the socio-ecology of emerging infectious diseases and public health leadership.

Mr. Rick Ingram, a research assistant at the Center for Public Health Systems and Services Research (CPHSSR) at the University of Kentucky, was chosen by the American Public Health Association (APHA) Health Administration Section as one of three students nationally who submitted outstanding abstracts to advance the field of public health administration.

The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) School of Public Health has launched the Midwest's first online doctor of public health (DrPH) degree—only the second such program in the U.S. The doctoral-level, distance-based program will allow public health professionals to pursue their DrPH with minimal disruption to family and work life and without having to travel to campus.

Chicago’s Bleeding Heart Bakery has chosen CeaseFire, an initiative of the Chicago Project for Violence Prevention at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, as its charity of the month.  For every red velvet cupcake purchased throughout the month of February, Bleeding Heart Bakery will donate $1 to support the work of CeaseFire.

University of South Carolina scientists are developing a plan that could make fresh fruit and vegetables available to more people across South Carolina. The project, spearheaded by the SC Statewide Cancer Prevention and Control Program (CPCP), will involve faculty from the Arnold School of Public Health and other colleges at the University of South Carolina, said Dr. James Hébert, Arnold School researcher and director of the CPCP.

The first wave of renovations to the School of Public Health building at the University of Maryland, College Park has created space for all its academic units to be under one roof. The department of family science and the Center for Healthy Families moved across campus to join the School of Public Health. Before the first phase of renovations, which was completed in January, the department and the Center for Healthy Families were in Marie Mount Hall, more than a half-mile away from the rest of the school.

In a recent article in the Washington Post, Dr. Alfred Sommer, dean emeritus of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, commented on the question of sustainability in light of the recent tragedy in Haiti. Referencing the “girl in the well” phenomenon, Dr. Sommer warns about the tendency for the public to be captivated by and respond to a devastating emergency, but then, as time goes by, attention wanes from the chronic public health needs that occur in everyday life.

This fall, Dr. Wilbur Milhous, professor of global health and associate dean for research at the University of South Florida College of Public Health, was awarded the LePrince Medal for outstanding contributions to the study of malaria. He is the latest of only 22 recipients of the medal, which the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene has awarded once every three years since 1951 (including twice to two recipients).

Dr. David Holtgrave, professor and chair of the department of health, behavior and society at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, was appointed to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius made the announcement on Monday, February 1. The Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS provides advice, information and recommendations to the President through the Secretary of Health and Human Services on domestic and global HIV/AIDS policy issues.

Dr. Mark S. Roberts has been recruited by the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health to lead the school’s department of health policy and management. Dr. Roberts’ areas of expertise are decision analyses and the mathematical modeling of diseases and their treatments. He uses a variety of methods from cost-effectiveness analysis to simulation modeling to examine costs and policies related to transplantation, vaccination, surgery and the use of medications.

The Society of Toxicology's Inhalation and Respiratory Specialty Section (IRSS) recently selected Dr. Qinghua Sun, assistant professor in the Ohio State University College of Public Health's division of environmental health sciences, for its IRSS Young Investigator Award. Research within the IRSS addresses the impact of airborne chemicals and particles on the body. The Young Investigator Award is given to a scientist who has made significant contributions to the field of inhalation or respiratory toxicology.

The University of South Carolina recently named Dr. Saundra Glover, associate dean for health disparities and social justice at the Arnold School of Public Health, as the faculty recipient of the 2010 Martin Luther King Day Social Justice Award. The Social Justice Award is presented annually to a South Carolina faculty member, a student and a staff member who exemplify the philosophies of the late civil rights leader through random or ongoing acts of community service, social justice or racial reconciliation.

Dr. Robert McKeown of the University of South Carolina Arnold School of Public Health has been appointed interim director of the Institute for Advancement of Healthcare (IAHC), a partnership of the University of South Carolina and the Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center. The institute will be at the center of healthcare initiatives between the two institutions, which have had collaborative programs for nearly two decades.

Dr.  Ilan H. Meyer, associate professor of sociomedical sciences at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, testified as an expert witness in the highly visible gay civil rights case tried in California federal district court. Dr. Meyer’s research on minority stress is widely quoted in scientific papers. The case, Perry v. Schwarzenegger, which just concluded two weeks of testimony, is a constitutional challenge to the California Proposition 8 law, which says that only opposite-sex partners could marry in California.

At a series of informal discussions led by Columbia University’s foremost professors, Dr. David Rosner, Ronald H. Lauterstein professor of sociomedical sciences at the Mailman School of Public Health, and co-director of the Center for the History and Ethics of Public Health, spoke about his experience as an expert witness, following the publication of several books he co-authored on industrial pollution with Dr. Gerald Markowitz, a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. While in the past historians had rarely testified in trials, in recent years historians have been called into suits about lead poisoning, vinyl chloride, air pollution, silicosis, asbestosis and tobacco as contention over responsibility for environmental and industrial-related diseases has escalated.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) Gillings School of Global Public Health nutrition professor Dr. Alice Ammerman has joined a new state council focused on improving policies and access to local, sustainable food in North Carolina. The North Carolina Sustainable Local Food Advisory Council held its first meeting Tuesday, February 2.  Dr. Ammerman, who also is director of UNC’s Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, was appointed to the statewide council by NC Senate President Pro Tempore Marc Basnight.

Ms. Janet Place, director of the Southeast Public Health Training Center, part of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) Gillings School of Global Public Health's NC Institute for Public Health, has received an award for Best Leadership Project at the Southeast Public Health Leadership Institute (SEPHLI) meeting, held recently in Winston-Salem, NC Her project was titled "Workforce Development Roadmap."

On Wednesday, February 3, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the appointment of 24 new members to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA). The PACHA’s chair, Dr. Helene Gayle, was appointed in August 2009. This council of HIV/AIDS experts is composed of a diverse group of researchers, service providers and community leaders from around the country, including people living with HIV. Among the new members is Dr. David Holtgrave of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

On Friday, January 29, Mr. and Mrs. Bill and Melinda Gates announced that their foundation will commit $10 billion over the next 10 years to help research, develop and deliver vaccines for the world’s poorest countries. They said that increased investment in vaccines by governments and the private sector could help developing countries dramatically reduce child mortality by the end of the decade, and called for others to help fill critical financing gaps in both research funding and childhood immunization programs. The foundation used a model developed by a consortium led by the Institute of International Programs at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health to project the potential impact of vaccines on childhood deaths over the next 10 years.

Research!America released a 2010 update of its “Research: An Economic Driver” fact sheet with a greater emphasis on jobs and a lasting recovery. Research!America assembled the facts to help make the economic case for investing in research, and for organizations to use as an advocacy tool as Congress starts their work on FY 2011 funding for research to improve health.

The National Plan for Action, which captures the status of health disparities in our country and proposes 20 strategies for their elimination, is a thoughtful and thorough collaborative effort of representatives from community, faith-based and non-profit organizations, academic institutions, foundations and federal, state and local agencies. Initiated by the Office of Minority Health, the National Plan for Action calls for the implementation of strategies and provides us a roadmap to make an impact in the elimination of health disparities. Comments on the plan are currently being sought.

The results from two new studies from Mexico and Africa conclude that rotavirus vaccination can significantly reduce deaths from diarrheal disease among young children in developing countries. The studies are published in the January 28, 2010 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Mathuram Santosham, a pediatrician and professor of international health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, writes that the data support the use of rotavirus vaccines in the poorest countries in the world.

In the January 15, 2010 issue of the journal Science, University of South Florida College of Public Health malaria expert Dr. Wilbur Milhous comments on a promising new development to fast-track production of the natural anti-malarial compound artemisinin.  He co-authors the perspectives article, “The Botanical Solution for Malaria,” with Dr. Peter Weina of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.

Despite laws against the practice, the prevalence of child marriage in India remains high, especially among rural women, fueling the rates of unwanted pregnancies and maternal and infant mortality. After years of analyzing the consequences of child marriage, Boston University (BU) School of Public Health researcher Dr. Anita Raj and a team of colleagues now have grant money in hand to try to intervene to reduce pregnancy rates for girls and young women.

African-Americans who report experiences of discrimination have higher levels of a particular protein that is associated with cardiovascular and other health problems, a new study led by the Yale School of Public Health has found. The marker, C-reactive protein (CRP), is found in the blood and its levels increase in response to inflammation. In addition to heart problems, its presence has also been linked with several psychosocial processes such as mental stress and depression.

Children who were exposed to acetaminophen prenatally were more likely to have asthma symptoms at age five in a study of 300 African-American and Dominican Republic children living in New York City. Building on prior research showing an association between both prenatal and postnatal acetaminophen and asthma, this is the first study to demonstrate a direct link between asthma and an ability to detoxify foreign substances in the body. The findings were published this week in the journal Thorax.

A new analysis of a randomized controlled trial found that hormone therapy provided no overall protection against functional decline in nondisabled, postmenopausal women ages 65 years or older after six years of follow up monitoring. The results of the study, which was directed by Dr. Yvonne Michael, a professor at the Drexel University School of Public Health, was published in the February 2010 Journal of the North American Menopause Society.

About one-third of doctors and their patients with diabetes do not see eye to eye on which of a patient’s health conditions is most important, according to a survey led by the University of Michigan Medical School with researchers from the School of Public Health. While both doctors and patients frequently ranked diabetes among their top concerns, 38 percent of doctors ranked hypertension as the most important condition that the patient faced, compared to only 18 percent of patients. Patients were also more likely to prioritize symptoms such as pain and depression.

Women with higher blood levels of PBDEs, a type of flame retardant commonly found in household consumer products, took longer to become pregnant compared with women who have lower levels of PBDEs, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.

ASPH will regularly provide members and Friday Letter readers with links to other electronic newsletters that may be of interest to the public health community. Links to E-newsletters will be added to a web page found at www.asph.org/document.cfm?page=924. This week's additions include:

The Academic Public Health Caucus is now accepting abstracts for the 138th APHA Annual Meeting. The caucus solicits abstracts for oral and poster session formats during the meeting. Consideration will be given to abstracts that (a) promote the caucus purpose; (b) address one or more of the caucus’ topic areas; and (c) fulfill the abstract criteria. The deadline for submission for the Academic Public Health Caucus has been extended through Thursday, February 11.

Loma Linda University School of Public Health is accepting abstracts for a poster session at Healthy People 2010, a lifestyle conference for chronic diseases, to convene March 9-10 on the campus of Loma Linda University in Southern California. Abstracts are due by 5 p.m. (Pacific) on Friday, February 12. Applicants will hear a decision on or about Friday, February 19.

Abstract submissions are invited for Reproductive Health 2010, the annual clinical and scientific meeting of the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals, Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Society of Family Planning. Abstracts submitted that demonstrate high quality research practices and relevancy to the meeting's learning outcomes will be selected for either oral or poster presentation at the meeting, which will be held September 22-25 in Atlanta, GA.

ACTHIV 2010 will be held in Denver, CO at the Hyatt Regency Denver from May 20-23. The Program Committee of The American Conference for the Treatment of HIV (ACTHIV) invites any health professional who directly provides care to persons living with HIV or who is part of a multidisciplinary team providing care for persons living with HIV, to submit a paper for consideration in the poster program of this conference.

The University of Minnesota School of Public Health is now accepting entries for the fourth annual "It’s Global" PSA Contest. Anyone can enter a 30-second public service announcement and is eligible for a chance to win up to $500. The deadline to enter is Friday, March 5. The top 15 PSAs will be screened and the cash prizes will be awarded on Monday, April 5. All PSAs will be showcased throughout National Public Health Week (April 5-9, 2010). To view past winners and more information, visit www.sph.umn.edu/psa.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Public Health announces the inaugural KoronisFest Public Service Announcement (PSA)/Poster Competition.  Selected PSAs will be screened at the KoronisFest on April 8 during National Public Health Week in Birmingham, AL.  Posters will be on display the entire week (April 5-9).  Submissions will be accepted until Friday, March 12.

Epidemiologic Reviews, a sister publication of the American Journal of Epidemiology, is devoted to publishing comprehensive and critical reviews on specific themes once a year. The theme of the 2011 issue (Volume 33) will be screening.

The MCH Information Resource Center, funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), has announced the next program in the DataSpeak Series: "Children’s Emotional, Behavioral and Developmental Well-being: New Data and Tools for the Field," which will be held from 3-4 p.m. (Eastern) on Tuesday, February 9.

On Wednesday, February 17 from 9:30-11:30 a.m. (Eastern), the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, will host a briefing on the release of the County Health Rankings, a collection of 50 reports—one per state—that ranks all counties within each state on their overall health.

The College of Public Health at the Ohio State University will host its 17th Annual Opportunities Fair on Wednesday, February 24 from 3–5 p.m. (Eastern) at the Recreational Physical Activity Center, 337 West 17th Avenue. The event will be held in meeting rooms 1-3. The purpose of this event is to market organizations to the college’s MPH, MHA, MS and PhD students looking for summer residencies, and practicum, research and post graduate opportunities. 

The 31st Annual Minority Health Conference, "Building Community in the Age of Information: Fighting Health Inequality in the Modern World" will be held at the University of North Carolina's Friday Center for Continuing Education. The 12th Annual William T. Small, Jr. Keynote Lecture will be presented by Dr. Robert E. Fullilove of Columbia University and will be broadcast as a (free) interactive webcast at 2 p.m. (Eastern). Simultaneous "partner conferences" will be held at the University of Illinois, Chicago, George Washington University, Tulane University and a growing list of other schools of public health.

Healthy People 2010, a lifestyle and chronic disease conference will be held March 9-10 at the Loma Linda University School of Public Health. With the theme of "crisis and opportunity," the conference is based on the idea that the opportunities for addressing chronic disease in this nation are just as big as the crisis itself. The conference provides a place for health care, public health and other community leaders to reframe the conversation on improving health now.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Public Health will host Research Day on Monday, April 5 from 9-11:30 a.m. (Central). Held each spring, Research Day features a poster display, with judging and presentation of awards for outstanding research poster in three categories: faculty, students and post doctoral.

The seventh annual World Health Care Congress will be held April 12-14, 2010 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, Washington, DC, and will convene global thought leaders and key decision-makers to share global best practices in a networking forum resulting in an exchange of valuable strategies to improve quality and cost-effectiveness.

The University of Kentucky's Center for Public Health Systems & Services Research is hosting the 2010 Public Health Systems & Services Research (PHSSR) Keeneland Conference from April 20-22 in Lexington, KY. Registration is open until Friday, March 26.

New!
Volume 125
Issue 1
January/February 2010

Public Health Reports (PHR) is an informative and accessible resource for practitioners, teachers and students of public health. The Journal provides important research and key discussions on the major issues confronting the public health community. Subscribe Today! Click here to advertise in the Journal.