The Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH) launches August 1, 2013! 

The founding members of the new organization, which represents the CEPH-accredited schools and programs of public health, decided the name on Wednesday May 15.  The announcement follows an open and collaborative process that ensured broad input into the decision. 

Next steps are to develop a new tagline and logo to highlight the goals and objectives of ASPPH.  Founding members will remain closely involved as these branding tools and the governance structure are developed.

The launch of the new organization will be official on August 1, with a celebration to welcome all members at the first ASPPH annual meeting.  The annual meeting will be held in Boston from November 2nd-4th.  Online registration will open summer 2013.  All faculty and staff of the CEPH-accredited schools and programs of public health are invited to join in the celebration.

The Association of Teachers of Maternal and Child Health (ATMCH) recently hosted a webinar titled “Developing a Repository of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health: Past, Present, and Future Voices.”

SOPHAS site visits to introduce the centralized application system to faculty and staff from CEPH-accredited schools and programs continue. On Friday, May 10, Ms. Allison Foster, ASPH deputy executive director, and Mr. Guy Piotrowski, coordinator for applications and admissions at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, visited the West Virginia University School of Public Health where they met with Dean Jeffrey Coben, Dr. Gilbert Ramirez, senior associate dean for academic affairs and educational effectiveness, as well as the following faculty and staff:  Ms. Tracey Beckley, Dr. Kelly Gurka, Dr. Ruth Kershner, Dr. Mike Regier, Dr. Mike Hendryx, Dr. Mike McCawley, Mr. Tim Broadwater, Ms. Jessica White, Ms. Janet Hunt, Ms. Renee Seitz, Ms. Leah Adkins, Ms. Tara Davis, and Ms. Crystal Toth.

This week, the New York Times reported on Mr. Rick Del Sontro and his family, who are hoping to unlock the genetic secrets of heart disease. Their family has been ravaged by the disease despite their youth and otherwise healthy lifestyles. To find out why, they have joined a federal research project to sequence and identify possible genetic causes for heart disease that go beyond traditional risk factors like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, smoking, and diabetes. It was not long ago that genetic research on this scale might have been unworkable, but the cost of large-scale data analysis has plummeted, making the Del Sontro research potentially invaluable. By comparing a wide range of risk profiles for heart disease, researchers hope to find the mutations that set this family apart. There is no guarantee of success, but with heart disease the leading cause of death in the United States, claiming nearly 600,000 people a year, this research could reveal important clues toward improving public health.  You can read the full article here.

Dr. Arthur Frank, professor and chair in the department of environmental and occupational health, is the lead author on a new article titled, "Health care access and health care workforce for immigrant workers in the agriculture, forestry, and fisheries sector in the southeastern US," published online ahead of print in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine.

Pregnant mothers’ exposure to the flu was associated with a nearly four-fold increased risk that their child would develop bipolar disorder in adulthood, according to researchers at Columbia University Medical Center. This is the first study to follow families prospectively in the same HMO, using physician-based diagnoses and structured standardized psychiatric measures. The findings are published online in JAMA Psychiatry.

A University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health study applying a novel approach has revealed clues about how certain chemical properties of air pollutants may be associated with cardiovascular disease. The study applied quantitative ion character-activity relationships (QICAR) to estimate associations of human cardiovascular diseases with a set of metal properties commonly observed in ambient air pollutants. Results indicated that specific cardiovascular disease outcomes were statistically significant associated with many ion properties reflecting ion size, solubility, oxidation potential and abilities to form covalent and ionic bonds. The properties are relevant for reactive oxygen species generation, which has been identified as a possible mechanism leading to cardiovascular diseases.

Dr. Brian Lee, assistant professor in the Drexel University's School of Public Health department of epidemiology and biostatistics, coauthored a new article titled, "Parental depression, maternal antidepressant use during pregnancy, and risk of autism spectrum disorders: Population based case-control study," published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ). His coauthors on this paper are colleagues from the United Kingdom and Sweden. The objective of the study discussed in this article was to examine the association between parental depression and maternal antidepressant use during pregnancy with autism spectrum disorders in offspring.

Countries in which girls are commonly married before the age of 18 have significantly higher rates of maternal and infant mortality, according to a report in the online issue of the journal Violence Against Women co-authored by a Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) researcher.

Ms. Whitney R. Garney, Brazos Valley regional manager with the Center for Community Health Development located at the Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health, recently authored an article on the lack of access to health care for rural residents. Published in the May issue of the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, “Rural Community of Solution: Increasing Access to Care for Brazos Valley, Texas” presents a case study of the Brazos Valley Health Partnership (BVHP) and its implementation of health resource centers within rural counties. Center for Community Health Development researchers worked with the BVHP to design a strategy to increase continuous access to a variety of health-related services and to obtain resources for implementation.

African-Americans know the signs of stroke, but concerns about medical cost, ambulance response time, and unfamiliarity with the need for prompt hospital care influenced whether they called 9-1-1 immediately. A study that included 77 African-Americans in Flint, MI revealed barriers among adults and youth in getting help for stroke which is significantly higher among African-Americans and leads to more deaths and disability.

Researchers from The University of Texas School of Public Health found that non-invasive ventilation (NIV) is safer and more effective than invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) in treating patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with respiratory failure according to a study published in the Journal of Hospital Medicine.

The prevalence and incidence of diabetes in the U.S. continue to rise, and the disease now affects 25.8 million children and adults. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, Mexican Americans are almost twice as likely as non-Hispanic whites to be diagnosed with diabetes by a physician. Researchers at The University of Texas School of Public Health conducted a randomized controlled trial to determine the impact of a culturally-tailored diabetes education and management program led by a community health worker (CHW) for Mexican Americans in the Dallas area. Study results were published in the journal Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice.

Men with prostate cancer who took statins to reduce their cholesterol had a much lower risk of dying from their cancer, according to a study led by researchers at the University of Washington School of Public Health and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

The American Academy of Neurology recently published the results of a study led by University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health’s Dr. Virginia Howard, professor of epidemiology. The study found that people who lived in “stroke belt” states – Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee – as a child or teenager has a 22 percent higher risk of having a stroke than people who currently live in the stroke belt but did not live there as a child.

According to a new study led by a team of researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, insomnia may be an important indicator of future hospitalization among middle-aged and older adults. They examined the association between insomnia and use of home health care services, nursing homes, and hospitalization and found that insomnia symptoms experienced by middle-aged and older adults were associated with greater future use of costly health services. The results are featured online in the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences.

The emergence of avian influenza H7N9 virus in humans has public health authorities around the world on high alert for a potential development of a human influenza pandemic. Yet the arsenal of public health tools to reduce influenza deaths or cases is limited. In the online version of JAMA, Dr. Michael Osterholm, Dr. Katie Ballering, and Dr. Nicholas Kelley of the University of Minnesota Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) share why there is no reason to believe that that a yet-to-be-developed H7N9 vaccine will perform any better than the H1N1 vaccine or existing seasonal vaccines, particularly with regard to vaccine efficacy in persons over age 65. 

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 and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health. Readers can access a full listing of grant notices by visiting the “Funding for Faculty” section of the ASPH website. 

The University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Public Health and the Central States Center for Agricultural Safety and Health (CS-CASH) present, “Agricultural Medicine: Occupational and Environmental Health for Rural Health Professionals.” CS-CASH is one of 10 National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health Agricultural Safety and Health Centers funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The University of Michigan School of Public Health Graduate Summer Session in Epidemiology, now in its 48^th year, takes place July 7-26 and offers a selection of graduate-level courses that enable participants to understand and conduct public health and clinical research. The summer program offers instruction in the principles, methods, and applications of epidemiology, biostatistics, data management, and public health practice. Participants can register for three-week introductory courses in epidemiology and biostatistics or a variety of one-week courses in specialized or advanced topics including infectious diseases, cancer prevention, health policy, epidemiologic methods, clinical epidemiology, several types of statistical analysis, SAS programming, public health surveillance, scientific writing, oral communication, social epidemiology, global health, meta-analysis, geographic information systems, community-based participatory research, and complex systems modeling.

In what will be the first of many steps aimed at bringing public health to local businesses across the state of Iowa, the University of Iowa College of Public Health Business Leadership Network hosted a community forum in Ottumwa, Iowa, during which college faculty and community members came together to discuss public health issues in their communities. Discussion topics included community health and wellness, workplace health and safety, aging populations and workforce, and health care policy reform.

Less than three percent of the 150,000 people living with HIV in South Sudan have access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) or comprehensive HIV care and treatment, and other primary health services in the country remain limited. While the Government of South Sudan has been taking critical steps to respond to this challenge, there are many, competing demands on government services. In January, to help facilitate the needed expansion of HIV care and treatment services in South Sudan, ICAP initiated activities to provide technical assistance and capacity building support focused on HIV programming. ICAP aims to work with the Ministry of Health and the South Sudan AIDS Commission to strengthen program management at the national level.  The goal is to support the expansion of quality HIV services throughout the country and to ensure effective and equitable implementation of the national HIV program.

A campus survey reveals a reduction in tobacco use by faculty and staff members roughly a year after the University of Michigan adopted a comprehensive smoke-free policy for all indoor and outdoor properties of its three campuses.

Dr. Simona Surdu, a postdoctoral associate in the environmental health sciences department at the University at Albany SUNY School of Public Health published two dissertation manuscripts investigating occupational exposures to the risk of developing of non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSC.)  The first manuscript, “Occupational exposure to ultraviolet radiation and risk of non-melanoma skin cancer in a multinational European study”, published in PLOS ONE, found the protective effect of occupational exposure to natural ultraviolet (UV) radiation was unexpected but limited to light-skinned people. The second manuscript, “Occupational exposure to arsenic and risk of non-melanoma skin cancer in a multinational European study,” published in the International Journal of Cancer (IJC), found no significant association between arsenic exposure in the workplace and non-melanoma skin cancer.

Dr. Jim Hagberg, professor of kinesiology in the University of Maryland School of Public Health, was invited to speak before Congress on May 9 about the consequences of physical inactivity in the United States. The National Coalition for Promoting Physical Activity (NCPPA) invited Dr. Hagberg to share his scientific expertise related to physical activity and cardiovascular disease risk factors for the briefing “In Our Classrooms, Boardrooms, and Bases: How Federal Policy Can Improve Physical Activity and Bolster America’s Youth, Workforce, and National Security.” 

This academic year, the Tulane Prevention Research Center has collected information in two New Orleans neighborhoods to see how residents shop and eat in areas that have limited availability of healthy food. So far, 900 door-to-door surveys have been collected by nearly 30 research assistants hired to work on the Makin’ Groceries project.

Dr. Jim Thrasher, associate professor at the University of South Carolina Arnold School of Public Health was elected co-chair of the Global Health Network for the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, considered the primary tobacco research organization in the world. Dr. Thrasher of the department of health promotion, education, and behavior also will serve as chair of the Scientific Committee for the fourth Latin American Conference on Tobacco or Health, which will be held in Costa Rica in March 2014.

Dr. Brian Leroux, professor of biostatistics at the University of Washington School of Public Health, has been elected as a fellow to the American Statistical Association. Dr. Leroux joined the department of biostatistics as a research assistant professor in 1991. He now is professor of biostatistics as well as a professor of oral health sciences.

A team of faculty and graduate students from the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health received a 2013 Hot Shot Award from The Arizona Partnership for Immunization (TAPI). The team was awarded for research that identified Arizona schools with high rates of personal belief exemptions (PBE) among kindergartners. The first part of their research was published in the journal Vaccine (January 2013).

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) has selected a University of Massachusetts Amherst School of Public Health and Health Sciences (SPHHS) research team to perform a comprehensive, multi-year $3.64 million research project, believed to be the first of its kind, on the economic and social impacts of introducing casino gambling in Massachusetts. It will focus particularly on problem gambling, but also examine a wide array of social and economic effects of expanded gambling in Massachusetts.

The National Institute on Aging has awarded the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health $1.8 million towards their work on the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), the largest public-private partnership to date in Alzheimer’s disease research. The grant, made through the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, will renew funds for Berkeley’s ongoing Alzheimer’s research, led by Dr. William J. Jagust, professor of public health and neuroscience.

Six graduate students at the Texas A&M Health Science Center (TAMHSC) School of Rural Public Health have received the Governmental Public Health Practice Award from the Texas Public Health Training Center (TPHTC). Ms. Shaola Abagat, Ms. Noor Mahmoud, Mr. Matt Yuen, Ms. Veronica Cox, Ms. Lauren Rosenbluth, and Ms. Kiran Bhurtyal will have the opportunity to earn applied experience in various public health settings during their practicums.

University of Minnesota School of Public Health alumnus and postdoctoral fellow Dr. José Ricardo Suárez and colleagues received the "2012 Paper of the Year Award" from the Society of Toxicology in the Occupational and Public Health Subsection. The award was presented at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the Society of Toxicology on March 10, 2013.

Nineteen sections of first year MPH students at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health competed in an innovation challenge to design an intervention that promotes physical activity and encourages healthy eating among middle school children in New York City. The final four teams selected through a peer review presented their innovations to a panel of experts from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The campaigns were judged on their ability to increase physical activity and encourage healthy eating as the easier, unconscious, and default behavior among middle school children, and counter the impact of aggressive marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages.

Mr. Larry Pellegrini, a Ph.D. candidate in the health policy and management program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst School of Public Health and Health Sciences, recently received the American Public Health Association’s (APHA) 2013 Medical Care Student Session Award. Mr. Pellegrini will present his winning abstract, “The Impact of the Labor Market on Medicaid, the Industrial and Occupational Composition of the US Healthcare Industry and Mortality, 1999-2009,” at APHA’s Annual Meeting in Boston in November.

Ms. Omolola Adepoju, doctoral candidate at the Texas A&M Health Science Center (TAMHSC) School of Rural Public Health, has been selected as a winner for the Medical Care Student Session at the 2013 APHA Annual Meeting. Ms. Adepoju will present her abstract, “Effects of diabetes self-management programs on time-to-hospitalization among patients with Type II diabetes: A survival analysis model,” during the Medical Care Student Session, November 5 in Boston. All awardees receive certificates and a cash award.

An interdisciplinary team of graduate students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, some of whom attend Gillings School of Global Public Health, won first prize at the Triangle Global Health Case Competition, held April 13.

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 are added to a web page found at www.asph.org/document.cfm?page=924.

The Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health is hosting a talk on May 23 by author and teacher Dr. Helen Epstein on “Why Freedom is a Public Health Issue.” Sponsored by the Sophie and Alex Rosner Seminar Series in History, Health and Social Justice at the Mailman School and the Columbia University Seminar on Narrative, Health and Social Justice, the lecture series was launched in 2012 to commemorate the lives of Sophie and Alex Rosner, two friends of the Mailman School and social activists whose lives were dedicated to social justice, equality and human rights.

The University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health invites the public health community to attend a memorial symposium on Friday May 31, in honor of Dr. Kim Sutton Tyrrell who passed away late last year.

The Center for Reducing Health Disparities at the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Public Health will host a presentation by Dr. Kyriakos Markides, director of the division of sociomedical sciences, department of preventive medicine and community health, University of Texas Medical Branch and the Annie and John Gnitzinger Distinguished Professor of Aging Studies, entitled "Hispanic/Latino Paradox in Mortality, Health and Aging in the United States."  The talk will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 21, at the College of Public Health, Room 1003. 

The University at Albany SUNY School of Public Health’s Center for Continuing Public Health Education will host a free Public Health Live webinar on Thursday, June 20 on the topic of Ethics in Public Health: A Closer Look at Current Issues. The topic features Dr. Bruce White, director of the Alden March Bioethics Institute at Albany Medical Center, Albany, NY and focuses on defining public health ethics, the differences between clinical ethics and public health ethics, and current issues in public health ethics. The webinar is free. 

Speakers from federal agencies that support HSR, PHSSR, and related research will discuss current funding priorities and provide insight on how researchers can strengthen funding prospects. These agency experts will also highlight resources offered to support research, and extend its impact and dissemination. This free webinar will be held on May 29^th.

The Eighth Annual Conference on Health Disparities will be held May 30-31, 2013 at the University of North Texas Health Science Center. The overall theme for the conference is “Intersection of Smoking, HIV/AIDS and Cancer.” Tobacco smoking, HIV/AIDS and cancer are all known to disproportionally affect various under-represented minority and at-risk populations. There is a much higher smoking prevalence among economically disadvantaged populations, and the new HIV infection rate is highest in non-Hispanic blacks and Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders. The infection rates are also higher in other minority groups – Hispanic/Latino, African Americans/Blacks, American Indian/Alaskan Natives - than in non-Hispanic whites. The cancer incidence and death rates even differ among ethnic under-represented populations. The interplay among these three above-mentioned health disparity issues has been investigated. 

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will be presenting the latest webinar in the series, “Who’s Leading the Leading Health Indicators? – Mental Health” on Thursday, May 23 at 12:00 p.m. Eastern.

An event and live webinar from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, "Negotiating Boundaries: Developing the Next Generation of Engaged Scholars," takes place Thursday, May 30, 11:30 a.m.-2:00 p.m. Central. This event focuses on research collaboration, including faculty collaboration with graduate students, interdisciplinary collaboration, and engagement with research partners in the community. Dr. Catherine A. Solheim, associate professor in the department of family social science provides the keynote presentation.

On May 22, the School of Public Health and Health Services (SPHHS) at the George Washington University will host a symposium on the public health issues that disproportionately affect Latino immigrant communities. At the forum, SPHHS will also announce the launch of the Avance Center for the Advancement of Immigrant/Refugee Health, a collaborative partnership that aims to prevent/address Latino health disparities with a unique program that provides support to Latino youth and families. 

New!
Volume 128
Issue 3
May/June 2013

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 and/or click here to advertise.

In Volume 128, Issue 3…

Article Title

• A Message from the Editor (open access)
• The Face of Occupational Safety and Health: 2020 and Beyond (open access)
• Achieving Pharmacy-Based Public Health: A Call for Public Health Engagement (open access)
• Risk of Substance Abuse and Dependence Among Young Adult Sexual Minority Groups Using a Multidimensional Measure of Sexual Orientation                                     
• Correlates of HIV Risk Behaviors Among Homeless and Unstably Housed Young Adults        
• HIV Screening Practices and Hospital Characteristics in the U.S., 2009–2010
• Cardiovascular Disease Among Black Americans: Comparisons Between the U.S. Virgin Islands and the 50 U.S. States
• Estimates of Smoking Before and During Pregnancy, and Smoking Cessation During Pregnancy: Comparing Two Population-Based Data Sources
• Preschool Vision Screening in Primary Care Pediatric Practice
• Partners in Immunization: 2010 Survey Examining Differences Among H1N1 Vaccine Providers in Washington State
• Using GIS and Secondary Data to Target Diabetes-Related Public Health Efforts
• Correlation Between Aerial Insecticide Spraying to Interrupt West Nile Virus Transmission and Emergency Department Visits in Sacramento County, California
• Health System Transformation and the Role of Health Information Law
• NCHS Dataline