The deadline is approaching for the ASPH/CDC Allan Rosenfield Global Health Fellowship Program. 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 the fellowship in honor of Dr. Allan Rosenfield, former dean of the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

Based on input from over 300 subject matter experts, the DRAFT "Core Competencies in Public Health Preparedness and Response for Mid-Level Public Health Workers" currently contains nine domains and 29 competencies. Click here for a two-page summary of the 29 draft competencies. The domains include: 1) Communication; 2) Hazard, Vulnerability and Risk Assessment; 3) Interventions; 4) Leadership; 5) Legal; 6) National Response Framework; 7) Planning and Improvement; 8) Surveillance and Investigation; and 9) Worker Health, Safety and Resilience.

Pfizer is clearing out its warehouse of “Milestones in Public Health” books and is continuing to offer free copies for a short time only.  This book describes the eleven public health milestones in the 20th century, which each chapter outlining the history behind the milestone, a case study, a vignette and a reflection on the future challenges that lay ahead in each topic area.  Free copies of the book are available online here until Friday, April 30.  Stay tuned to the Friday Letter for the forthcoming announcement about the Milestones in Public Health curriculum developed by The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services. 

The “This Is Public Health” t-shirts are now on sale for a limited time only. National Public Health Week is coming up next month, so order your t-shirts now! The shirts are $12.00 each (shipping included) for all quantities.  For the t-shirt order form and more information on the “This Is Public Health” campaign, please click here. The sale will end Friday, April 9.

Earlier today, faculty from two schools of public health participated in a Congressional briefing focused on public health research. Dr. Richard Crosby, University of Kentucky College of Public Health and director of the University of Kentucky Prevention Research Center, and Dr. David Jernigan, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and executive director of the Center on Alcohol Marketing & Youth, joined Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC and Assistant Surgeon General, U.S. Public Health Service, and Dr. Joanne Bartkus, director of the Public Health Laboratory Division at the Minnesota Department of Health, to share information on the public health research currently being conducted at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), schools of public health and state health department public health laboratories.

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 Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Section of the American Public Health Association (APHA) is seeking nominations for its Student Fellows Program. This program is an opportunity for students to learn more about the MCH field and to be actively engaged in the activities of the MCH Section.

The Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma (HPRT), Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital(MGH) with the support of Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS—Italian Ministry of Health) will sponsor the 2010-2011 Global Mental Health: Trauma and Recovery Certificate program.

Each July, for the past 10 summers, The Ohio State University College of Public Health has trained hundreds of students, practitioners and researchers in applied biostatistical and epidemiological methods. The program brings faculty from across the globe to provide hands-on education and training in a flexible short-course format. This year’s program has been expanded to include methods in applied public health practice.

The 2010-2012 cohort of Kellogg Health Scholars has been selected. The program, funded by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and managed by the Center for Advancing Health in partnership with the University of Michigan School of Public Health, supports the development of a cadre of new leadership in the effort to reduce and eliminate health disparities and to secure equal access to the conditions and services essential for achieving healthy communities.

After the earthquake, six students from the International Emergency Medicine, a program directed by Dr. Rachel Moresky from the Columbia University Mailman School’s Program on Forced Migration and Health and Emergency Medicine, deployed with the International Medical Corps. Physicians from New York-Presbyterian Hospital, the fellows are trained in international health and disaster mitigation and management. Below is a transcript from the article Reflections on Haiti, which details the experience of Dr. Jennifer Schwieger, an attending ER physician and a full-time student at the Mailman School of Public Health.

Mr. Caleb Bliss, a biostatistics doctoral student at the Boston University (BU) School of Public Health, is being honored with the Boston University 2010 Graduate Outstanding Service Award.  He has been working as a research data analyst at the School of Public Health’s Data Coordinating Center (DCC) since January 2007. The award is the second highest award given to a graduate student employee, with the first being Graduate Student Employee of the Year. Mr. Bliss will be honored at the Student Employee of the Year reception in April.

Now that Dean Barbara K. Rimer (UNC) thinks about it, earning master of public health and doctor of public health degrees, the research she did, the period of leadership at the National Cancer Institute and the path that led her to be dean of the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) are the fulfillment of an adolescent promise to First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. When she was 15 years old, Dean Rimer wrote a letter of condolence to the First Lady after President Kennedy's assassination, which is included in a new book released this month.

The University of Michigan will award the Thomas Francis Jr. Medal in Global Public Health to Dr. Alfred Sommer, dean emeritus and professor of epidemiology and international health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, whose research into vitamin A deficiency has saved millions of children from blindness and death. Vitamin A supplementation is known to be one of the most cost-effective of all health interventions

Dr. Melissa A. Valerio, assistant professor of health behavior and health education, led University of Michigan School of Public Health’s Public Health Action Support Team (PHAST) to the south Texas Rio Grande Valley area for a week-long public health immersion.  Students participated in activities related to public health issues on the U.S.-Mexico border by working in collaboration with Texas-based academic and community partners.

On Monday, March 8, Dr. Jane Bertrand, chair of Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine’s department of health systems management, was installed as the first Neal A. and Mary Vanselow Chair.  The investiture was celebrated at a ceremony in the school’s auditorium, followed by a reception in the gallery. Dr. Neal Vanselow, who was in attendance for the investiture, was chancellor of the Tulane Medical Center from 1989 to 1994.

A new firearms research database launched by the Harvard School of Public Health makes scholarly articles more accessible to reporters, law enforcement, public health officials, policymakers, and the general public. The Firearms Research Digest (www.firearmsresearch.org) provides summaries of articles gathered from social science, criminology, medical and public health journals and is written in clear, accessible language for use by those outside academia.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) North Carolina Institute for Public Health's NC Center for Public Health Preparedness has launched a new program to aid state and local public health agencies with emergency preparedness and other community-wide public health concerns. The institute is part of UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. The new program, called SHARP (Spatial Health Assessment and Research Program), will assist the agencies with data collection and spatial analysis projects.

Three recommendations from a national workshop have been released to address deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), a growing public health problem. The recommendations—developed by a group of representatives from federal health agencies and patient groups, as well as experts from the medical and public health communities—appear in the March 9, 2010, Supplement to American Journal of Preventive Medicine (AJPM): Blood Disorders in Public Health - Making the Connection. Dean Gary Raskob (Oklahoma) was a lead author on the paper.

As trade, travel and migration increase, so does the spread of contaminants and pathogens in food across borders. To quantify the extent of the burden of foodborne diseases, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched the Initiative to Estimate The Global Burden of Foodborne Diseases. Dr. John Ehiri of the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health was invited to join the Policy Subgroup of the Foodborne Disease Burden Epidemiology Reference Group (FERG) Country Studies Task Force to advance the translation of scientific evidence into policy-making.

The Florida International University (FIU) Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work recently welcomed Dr. Gilbert Ramirez as professor of health policy and management and associate dean of academic and student affairs. Prior to joining FIU, Dr. Ramirez directed an MPH program in urban health at Charles R. Drew University.  He brings extensive experience in evidence-based research and currently serves as a member of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Community Guide Taskforce.

Dr. Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, professor of epidemiology at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, has been unanimously selected as the 2010 recipient of the Academy for Eating Disorders (AED) Leadership Award for Research. Her research interests include adolescent health and nutrition, and obesity and eating disorder prevention. Dr. Neumark-Sztainer will receive the award at AED's 2010 International Conference June 10-12 in Salzburg, Austria.

Dr. Carolyn Tucker Halpern, associate professor in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) Gillings School of Global Public Health's department of maternal and child health, has received a five-year, $1.6 million grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). Dr. Halpern's study, "Sexual Behavior Trajectories from Adolescence to Adulthood," will use data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health project.

Dr. Mariana Chilton, a professor and expert in food insecurity at the Drexel University School of Public Health, was recently named to the Sesame Workshop's advisory board for its National Healthy Habits Outreach Project.  Sesame Workshop is the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street.  Dr. Chilton will help guide the development of a bilingual education program aimed at helping low-income families make food choices that are affordable, nutritional and set the foundation for lifelong healthy habits.

Dr. Steve Blair, professor of exercise science at the University of South Carolina Arnold School of Public Health, has long advocated for the value of exercise. When his friend Dr. Martin Seligman announced his intention to take five million steps during 2009, Dr. Blair also decided to set the goal of taking five million steps during his 70th year. Dr. Blair was a member of an Internet-based "steps-per-day" group Dr. Seligman, University of Pennsylvania psychologist, had organized to encourage members to walk.

In a recent interview, Dr. Conrad Volz, assistant professor of environmental and occupational health at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, discussed his worries over an explosion in natural gas drilling in western Pennsylvania with Team 4 investigator Mr. Jim Parsons.

A professor at the University of Maryland, College Park School of Public Health has received a $1.8 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to test the effectiveness of depression treatment to improve depression and substance use relapse rates among low-income substance abusers. Dr. Stacey Daughters developed the LETS ACT project two years ago, referring to a behavioral activation treatment to improve depression levels among a population of low-income substance abusers.

The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund (CBHF), established by Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush to raise money for Haiti relief and recovery efforts after the January earthquake, has appointed a Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer to manage the Fund’s operations. The six-person board will provide policy guidance and oversee the Fund’s strategy and processes, while monitoring fundraising and cash disbursements to relief organizations operating in Haiti to ensure full adherence to the Fund’s mission and vision. Among those appointed included Senator Bill Frist, chairman of Hope Through Healing Hands.

A new interactive map from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation will give policy-makers and advocates a nationwide picture of continuing state efforts on key tobacco control policies. The map consists of three distinct maps, each focusing on a different aspect of tobacco policy: state-by-state breakdowns on smoke-free laws, cigarette tax rates and total tobacco control spending. The breakdowns include population, timeline and other information to help present a complete picture of each state’s efforts.

On Wednesday, March 10, Former President Bill Clinton and Mr. Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, stated at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing "that U.S. investments in fighting [HIV/]AIDS, malaria and other diseases in underdeveloped nations save lives and play a vital role in improving America's image abroad."

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have developed new methods for analyzing health data geographically. Typically, data are plotted spatially through a process known as geocoding in which mailing address information is translated into map coordinates. However, not all addresses can be converted successfully (nongeocodable). Rural postal routes, post office boxes and addresses with errors or missing information cannot be mapped using geocoding.

Measurements of hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) more accurately identify persons at risk for clinical outcomes than the commonly used measurement of fasting glucose, according to a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

A new study that followed participants for 20 years shows both weight and risk for diabetes decreased for people in communities where fast food prices increased. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) study, led by Dr. Barry Popkin and published in the March 8, 2010, issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, also showed the reverse—when fast food prices fell, then consumption, weight and diabetes risks rose.

One in three early stage breast cancer patients who received genomic testing when deciding about treatment options felt they did not fully understand their discussions with physicians about their test results and their risk of the disease recurring, a new study has found. The research, conducted by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) investigators led by Dr. Noel Brewer, also revealed about one in four women experienced distress when receiving their test results.

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:

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 U.S. National AIDS Housing Coalition (NAHC) and the Ontario HIV Treatment Network (OHTN), working in collaboration with the department of health, behavior and society of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, will hold the fifth Housing and HIV/AIDS Research Summit, a meeting of health, housing and social service researchers and policy makers from June 2-4 at the Courtyard Marriott Downtown, in Toronto, Ontario. Abstracts are currently being sought.

The Boston University (BU) School of Public Health Community Scholars Program encourages experienced public health workers to pursue advanced study for a master's degree in public health while continuing their full-time employment. As many as 10 half-tuition scholarships are awarded annually to MPH degree candidates.

The American Public Health Association (APHA) Public Health Education Health Promotion section is soliciting health education, promotion and communication materials for the 20th annual competition. The contest provides a forum to showcase public health materials during the APHA Annual Meeting and recognizes professionals for their hard work.

The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) is currently accepting abstracts of papers for presentation at the ASTMH 59th Annual Meeting. The society seeks contributions of new information as 15-minute oral presentations or as poster (discussion) presentations. The deadline to submit abstracts is Tuesday, May 4.

The Institute of Medicine is now accepting nominations for The Gustav O. Lienhard Award and The Rhoda and Bernard Sarnat International Prize in Mental Health. The Lienhard Award recognizes individuals for outstanding achievement in improving health care services in the United States, and the Sarnat Prize recognizes individuals, groups or organizations for outstanding achievement in improving mental health.

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.

On Monday, March 22 at 1 p.m. (Eastern), Public Health Reports will host a “Meet the Author!” web cast titled “How Healthy Could a State Be?,” based on the article of the same title in the March/April 2010 issue of Public Health Reports. The author, Dr. David Kindig, emeritus professor of population health sciences and emeritus vice chancellor for health sciences at the University of Wisconsin/Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, will discuss how states might expect their mortality rates to be lowered if they obtained the best levels of health determinants observed among all states.

World Water Day, celebrated annually on March 22, was established by the United Nations in 1992 and focuses attention on the world's water crisis, as well as the solutions to address it.  This year, a diverse coalition of water, sanitation, hygiene and health organizations has come together for World Water Day 2010. Its goal is to raise awareness and call for stronger commitments and more robust action to ensure universal access to safe drinking water and sanitation everywhere they are needed. For more information about World Water Day 2010 and featured events on March 22-23, visit www.waterday.org.

“Health, Poverty and Inequality: Innovative Approaches to Improving Global Health" is the theme of the 24th annual Public Health Students of African Descent Minority Health Conference at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. It is a weeklong series of free public events to be held March 22-26 at the School of Public Health and nearby venues (Palmer Commons).

The Boston University Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute is offering a one-day research symposium to introduce the research community to the university’s depth of resources supporting translational science. Participants will meet other investigators across Boston University who are discovering new treatments and techniques to keep our communities healthy.

The United States Conference on African Immigrant Health (USCAIH) will be held April 7 –11 at the Hilton Atlanta/Marietta Hotel & Conference Center in Atlanta, GA. The USCAIH 2010 will bring together members of the community, health scientists, public health workers, advocates and providers, as well as community organizers to chart a purposeful course for addressing prevention, education, care and treatment among the growing African immigrant communities and other populations in the U.S.

The National Public Health Leadership Development Network (NLN), housed within Saint Louis University’s School of Public Health, will host their 16th annual conference entitled, “Innovation 2010/Vision 2020: Creating the Future of Leadership Development,” in Nebraska City, NE at the Lied Lodge from April 28–30. With environmental programs that focus on trees, conservation and environmental stewardship, the environmental award-winning Lied Lodge was designed to serve as a resource for the Arbor Day Foundation and other conservation-related organizations.

The 2010 International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases (ICED) will be held July 11-14 at The Hyatt Regency Atlanta in Atlanta, GA. The conference brings together public health professionals to encourage the exchange of scientific and public health information on global emerging infectious disease issues.

New!
Volume 125
Issue 2
March/April 2010


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