To assist in defining the structure of and content for undergraduate public health education, an Association of Schools of Public Health-led expert panel, chaired by Dean Randy Wykoff of East Tennessee State University College of Public Health, has identified a draft set of critical component elements for bachelor's degrees in public health. The panel welcomes comments on the draft by Tuesday May 29 to AUGPHelements@asph.org.   

A new vision for public health education-- from undergraduate through doctoral levels-- was the topic of a town hall session on April 11 at the Association for Prevention Teaching and Research (APTR) Teaching Prevention 2012 meeting in Washington, DC. Moderated by Ms. Ruth Gaare Bernheim (University of Virginia School of Medicine) and co-led by Dr. Harrison C. Spencer (Association of Schools of Public Health) and Dr. Richard K. Riegelman (George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services), the town hall featured energetic deliberation between members of the ASPH-organized Task Force, "Framing the Future: The Second Hundred Years of Education for Public Health," as represented by the moderator and speakers, and the participants. 

Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health have discovered several regions of the genome that may predispose cystic fibrosis (CF) patients to develop an intestinal blockage while still in the uterus. Dr. Fred Wright, professor of biostatistics at UNC, is a co-author of the international study.

Researchers from the University of Michigan School of Public Health have found that African-Americans and Hispanics with major depressive disorder are less likely to get antidepressants than Caucasian patients, and Medicare and Medicaid patients are less likely to get the newest generation of antidepressants. Michigan examined data from 1993 to 2007 to try to understand the antidepressant prescribing patterns of physicians. They looked at two things: who received antidepressants, and what type of antidepressant was prescribed.

A new study led by the Yale School of Public Health has found that people who received frequent dental X-rays in the past have an increased risk of developing a meningioma, the most common and potentially debilitating type of non-cancerous brain tumor. The study found that individuals receiving bitewing exams (which use X-ray film held in place by a tab between the teeth) on a yearly or more frequent basis were approximately 50 percent more likely to develop a meningioma than their peers in the control group.

New research from Harvard School of Public Health suggests that seemingly small changes in summer temperature swings-- as little as 1°C more than usual-- may shorten life expectancy for elderly people with chronic medical conditions and could result in thousands of additional deaths each year. While previous studies have focused on the short-term effects of heat waves, this is the first study to examine the longer-term effects of climate change on life expectancy.

A new study from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health finds that in order for the nation to achieve goals set by the federal government for reducing obesity rates by 2020, children in the U.S. would need to eliminate an average of 64 excess calories per day. This reduction could be achieved by decreasing calorie intake, increasing physical activity, or both. Without this reduction, the authors predict that the average U.S. youth would be nearly four pounds heavier than a child or teen of the same age was in 2007-2008, and more than 20 percent of young people would be obese, up from 16.9 percent today.

According to researchers at the University of Texas School of Public Health, safety net providers in the Houston-Harris County area lack the primary care capacity to meet a projected surge in demand once the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) is fully implemented.

According to a new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health, adolescents' expectations of an early death can predict their economic futures more than a decade later.

The University of Washington School of Public Health will help launch the first clinical trial of a Wearable Artificial Kidney. The 10-pound, battery-powered kidney would be worn on a belt around the waist and could improve the quality of life for kidney-disease patients who must spend hours tethered to a dialysis machine.

The risk of suffering a stroke increases with the duration of type 2 diabetes, according to a new study by Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health’s department of epidemiology associate professor Dr. Mitchell Elkind and colleagues at Columbia University Medical Center. Stroke risk triples for those who have diabetes for 10 years or more, according to the study.

According to a new study from the Harvard School of Public Health, imidacloprid, one of the most widely used pesticides, is to blame for the sharp worldwide declines in honeybee colonies since 2006. The authors, led by Dr. Chensheng (Alex) Lu, associate professor of environmental exposure biology in the department of environmental health, write that the new research provides “convincing evidence” of the link between imidacloprid and the phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), in which adult bees abandon their hives.

On Monday and Tuesday of this week, ASPH staff and a number of schools of public health attended the fifth "Become a Disease Detective: Discover Public Health!" conference, which was held at the University of Texas at Austin. This conference, funded by the ASPH Cooperative Agreement with CDC has been previously held in 2003, 2006, 2008, and 2010.

As a service to its members, ASPH’s grants staff regularly provide timely information about grant opportunities for faculty. This week’s additions include announcements from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Readers can access a full listing of grant notices by visiting the “Funding for Faculty” section of the ASPH website. 

With a $4 million award from the National Institutes of Health, the Yale School of Public Health, the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health, and Florida International University Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work will establish a Global Health Training Program to address health issues surrounding urbanization and social inequality.

Researchers from the University of Michigan School of Public Health were five of the first to sign on to a letter calling on Michigan’s congressional delegation to support the Mercury and Air Toxics Standard recently filed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “Humans and wildlife that eat fish can be exposed to hazardous levels of methyl mercury. Because residents of Michigan and the rest of the country are exposed to this pollutant, there needs to be a federal control on the emissions of mercury,” said Michigan’s Dr. Joel Blum, John D. MacArthur Professor of earth and environmental sciences.

Transcending geographic barriers through the use of technology, students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health and students at the Institute of Public Health (INSP) in Cuernavaca, Morelos, México, spoke about priorities in public health in Mexico and in the United states via a videoconference on March 28.

The Maryland General Assembly passed legislation this session that creates programs to improve health in underserved communities and to reduce racial and ethnic health disparities throughout the state. Governor Martin O’Malley signed the Maryland Health Improvement and Disparities Reductions Act (SB 234) into law on April 10 at a ceremony attended by several University of Maryland School of Public Health faculty members and other allies. The legislation will position the state of Maryland as a leader in the national effort to eliminate health disparities.

The Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health’s Dean Linda Fried was the keynote speaker at a Symposium on Healthy Aging on April 12 to commemorate World Health Day. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius gave opening remarks.

Dr. Sherrilene Classen, an associate professor in the department of occupational therapy at the University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions and the director of the Florida Institute for Mobility, Activity, and Participation, has been elected to the American Occupational Therapy Foundation’s Academy of Research. Academy membership is the highest scholarly honor the foundation confers, and it is one of the highest honors of the occupational therapy community. Dr. Classen is a prevention-oriented rehabilitation scientist researching the screening, evaluation, and intervention processes for at-risk older drivers, drivers with neurological conditions, and adolescent drivers.

Dr. Mark DeHaven of the University of North Texas Health Science Center School of Public Health has been named a 2012 Healthcare Hero by the Fort Worth Business Press, Fort Worth, Texas, recognizing groups and individuals who have contributed significantly to health care locally, nationally, and around the world. Dr. DeHaven, who serves as executive director for the Health Science Center’s Texas Prevention Institute, also teaches in the School of Public Health as a professor in the department of behavioral and community health.

Dr. Charles Begley, professor in the division of management, policy and community health at The University of Texas School of Public Health, was part of the 17-person Institute of Medicine (IOM) Committee of the Public Health Dimensions of the Epilepsies. The committee was tasked to prepare a report recommending priorities in public health, health care and human services, and health literacy and public awareness for the epilepsies and to propose strategies to address these priorities. 

Dr. Jacob Warren, assistant professor of epidemiology at the Georgia Southern University Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health and Dr. Bryant Smalley of the department of psychology, the co-executive directors of the Rural Health Research Institute, have been awarded a $450,000 federal grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration to fund Project ADEPT (Applied Diabetes Education Program using Telehealth). Project ADEPT will establish and determine the effectiveness of a new telehealth network that connects a diabetes educator housed within the Rural Health Research Institute to four clinic locations of East Georgia Healthcare Center.  In doing so, Project ADEPT will help under-served diabetics in Candler, Emanuel, Tattnall, and Toombs counties learn how to better manage their condition.

A delegation from University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Public Health's EMPOWER project was among 15 student groups honored by President Barack Obama on March 15 at the White House. EMPOWER was established in 2008 as a partnership with the Women Center for Advancement and the Service Learning Academy of the College of Public Health. EMPOWER works to address health disparities of women affected by domestic violence while exposing students from all health professions to the relevant issues.

The Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) has named Dr. Andrew Maccabe as its new executive director, effective May 15, 2012. Dr. Maccabe is currently employed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Emerging, Zoonotic, and Infectious Diseases. He serves as CDC’s liaison to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, where he coordinates policy and programs between the two agencies. Prior to his appointment with the CDC, Dr. Maccabe served as associate executive director at AAVMC where he led national programs in veterinary medical education.

Last week, “Navigate Public Health 101” launched. The online course combines proven content from the best-selling textbook by George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Sciences’ Dr. Richard Riegelman, with interactive learning exercises and course management tools, all in an instructor-- and student-friendly online learning environment.  “Navigate Public Health 101 is the perfect complement to Public Health 101: Healthy People-Healthy Populations,” explained Dr. Riegelman.  “It takes full advantage of the interactivity that the technology makes possible and includes an abundance of photos and graphics that make public health come alive.  Whether you want to teach Public Health 101 in class, in a hybrid course, or by distance education, Navigate Public Health 101 makes it easier and more fun for both students and faculty.”

A new online tool from the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health determines the extent of exposure to radio alcohol advertisements among young people ages 12 to 20 in 75 different media markets. This free and user-friendly tool (www.camy.org/radiotool) is the first service to provide parents, health departments, and other key audiences with access to customizable information on youth exposure to radio alcohol advertising.

The Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Healthy Survivorship phone application was launched at the “Care Beyond Cancer: An Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Summit” sponsored by Seton HealthCare Family in Austin, Texas on March 30. Ms. Deborah Vollmer Dahlke, chair of the Cancer Alliance of Texas, and a doctoral student at the Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health, helped design the phone app, which targets cancer survivors from 15 to 39 years old.

The Center for Health Workforce Studies at the University at Albany School of Public Health released a report showing employment in the health sector is expected to grow at twice the rate as the general economy by the year 2020.  The March 2012 report, Health Care Employment Projections: An Analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Projections 2010-2020, projects the U.S. health care sector will add 2.4 million jobs over the next 8 years, with more than 60 percent of the jobs in the ambulatory care setting.  The occupations projected to have the greatest growth include registered nurses, home health aides, and personal care aides. 

Click here to read more.   

ASPH regularly provides 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 CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics invites student and faculty researchers to submit poster abstracts for this year’s expanded Poster Session at the 2012 National Conference on Health Statistics, held on August 6-8 in Washington, DC. Conference registration is free and attendees will have the opportunity to meet and talk with NCHS staff from all surveys and programs, as well as representatives from other government agencies. 

The American Public Health Association (APHA) Public Health Education Health Promotion section is seeking health education, promotion, and communication materials for the 22^nd annual competition. The contest provides a forum to showcase public health materials during the APHA Annual Meeting.

Students from the Yale School of Public Health and the Yale School of Art have collaborated to educate and motivate broad swaths of society about some of today’s pressing health issues by means of art.

On April 18, the Columbia Unversity Mailman School of Public Health will host Dr. Samuel Wilson to speak about the “Perspective on the Role of Genetic Toxicology in Public Health.” This lecture is the 18^th Granville H. Sewell Distinguished Lecture in Environmental Health Sciences, and it is part of the Columbia Grand Rounds on the Future of Public Health lecture series. The lecture will begin at 4 p.m. in the Alumni Auditorium on Columbia’s campus and will be followed by a reception.

[Photo: Dr. Samuel Wilson]

The fifth annual James E. Clyburn Health Disparities Lecture on Friday, April 20, will feature Dr. Robert “Bobby” Satcher Jr., who graduated from high school in South Carolina and became the first orthopedic surgeon in space. The theme of the lecture, which is free and open to the public, is “Moving from Hope to Action: Transforming Research to Eliminate Health Disparities Across Generations.”

On April 25, Continuing Medical Education (CMED) Public Health Grand Rounds will host “Through the Looking Glass: Envisioning the Future of Health Care Through the Lens of Public Health and Behavioral Health.” The webcast will give an overview of the current status of the healthcare delivery system, will explain the important of public health and behavioral health in the delivery system, and will discuss the concept of “social determinants of health.”  Please RSVP by April 20 to ophp@hsc.wvu.edu.

Child Family Health International (CFHI) offers socially responsible Global Health Education Programs alongside local doctors in five countries. Immersion is achieved through clinical and public health rotations, medical lectures, homestays, and language classes.  CFHI staff will be conducting live CFHI Program Information Webinars on April 25 and May 9^. All students, advisors, and faculty interested in learning more are invited to call in and follow along online as staff and CFHI alumni talk and take questions on:

On April 27, Johns Hopkins University will host its annual undergraduate conference in public health, titled “Making Public Health Contagious.” The conference brings together students from all disciplines interested in public health and will feature student poster presentations, student oral presentations, a research workshop, a Johns Hopkins alumni speaker, and a keynote speech by a professional in the field.

To learn more and to register, click here.

PharmedOut will hold its third annual conference, “Missing the Target: When Practitioners Harm More Than Heal,” on June 14 and 15 at Georgetown University. The conference will explore the way pharmaceutical and medical device marketing can misinform doctors and ultimately harm patients.

Adults who have lost a loved one to illness, accident, or suicide and who are having trouble coping with the grief may be eligible to participate in a University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health research study. Researchers at the Late-Life Depression Evaluation and Treatment Center are seeking adults ages 18 to 95 to participate in the Healing Emotions After Loss (HEAL) study, which examines complicated grief.

New!
Volume 127
Issue 3
May/June 2012

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.

In Volume 127, Issue 3…

• Raising Awareness of Viral Hepatitis
• Setting an Agenda for Advancing Young Worker Safety in the U.S. and Canada
• Protecting Adolescents’ Rights to Seek Treatment for Sexually Transmitted Diseases without Parental Consent
• Return of the Epidemic Dengue in the U.S.
• From SARS to 2009 H1N1 Influenza
• An Explanation for the Recent increase in the Fall Death Rate Among Older Americans
• A Tale of Two Gonorrhea Epidemics
• Using Disability-Adjusted Life Years to Assess the Burden of Disease and Injury in Rhode Island
• The Colorado Violent Death Reporting System
• Integration of Syndromic Surveillance Data into Public Health Practice at State and Local Levels in North Carolina
• Patient and Clinician Ethical Perspectives in the 2005 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention HIV Testing Methods
• Experience of a Public Health Colorectal Cancer Testing Program in Maryland
• The ACA: Implications for the Accessibility and Quality of Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Services
• NCHS Dataline
• On Linkages: Using GIS for Administrative Decision- Making in a Local Public Health Setting

New!
Volume 127
Supplement 2

This supplement of Public Health Reports (PHR) presents findings from the Special Projects of National Significance Innovations in Oral Health Care Initiative, funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration’s HIV/AIDS Bureau. The research presented in this supplement shows that innovative program models can engage and retain people who are living with HIV/AIDS into oral health-care services. Subscribe! Click here to advertise in the journal.

In Volume 127, Supplement 2 …

• Innovations in Oral Health Care for People Living with HIV/AIDS