JPB Fellow Jennifer Roberts‘s research. As the modern urban–suburban context becomes increasingly problematic with traffic congestion, air pollution, and increased cost of living, city planners are turning their attention to transit-oriented development as a strategy to promote healthy communities. Transit-oriented developments bring valuable resources and improvements in infrastructure, but they also may be reinforcing decades-old processes of residential segregation, gentrification, and displacement of low-income residents and communities of color. Careful…
Are sleep patterns influenced by race/ethnicity – a marker of relative advantage or disadvantage?
Evidence to date Sleep is a fundamental necessity of life. However, sleep health and sleep disorders are not equitably distributed across racial/ethnic groups. In fact, growing research consistently demonstrates that racial/ethnic minorities are more likely to experience, for instance, shorter sleep durations, less deep sleep, inconsistent sleep timing, and lower sleep continuity in comparison to Whites. However, racial/ethnic disparities in reports of sleepiness and sleep complaints are inconsistent. Racial/ethnic groups…
JPB Fellows Explore Environmental Public Health at UM
JPB Fellows visited the University of Montana this week as part of a Harvard program to address social and environmental health disparities that disproportionately impact vulnerable communities. “It’s a really unique opportunity for UM to host a diverse group of Fellows who are really working to transform the lives and health of people throughout the nation,” said Senior Fellow Annie Belcourt, who has Blackfeet, Chippewa, Mandan and Hidatsa tribal affiliations.…
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Can Sleeping With The TV On Really Lead To Weight Gain?
JPB Fellow Chandra Jackson latest study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, suggests that sleeping with something that produces light may not be a bright idea. The study showed an association between the amount of artificial light, such as light produced by a television or a night light, in a room while sleeping and gain in body weight over time. Is this yet another reason why you shouldn’t install a constant…
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Wildfire Air Pollution and Health
JPB Fellow Colleen Reid latest publications: Associations between ozone and fine particulate matter with respiratory health during a wildfire event. Wildfires have been increasing in frequency in the western United States (US) with the 2017 and 2018 fire seasons experiencing some of the worst wildfires in terms of suppression costs and air pollution that the western US has seen. Although growing evidence suggests respiratory exacerbations from elevated fine particulate matter(PM2.5) during wildfires, significantly less is known…
Gina McCarthy, former administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency, Speaks at T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Gina McCarthy was appointed by President Obama in 2009 as assistant administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Air and Radiation, and was subsequently named EPA administrator in 2013. A longtime public servant and progressive leader, she previously served as commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, deputy secretary of the Massachusetts Office of Commonwealth Development, and undersecretary for policy for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs. Watch…