Fellows News

Diana Ceballos, assistant professor of environmental health at Boston University, studies the burden of exposure to toxicants in the workplace, community, and home. When the New York Times published a widely read, two-part exposé of labor abuse and poor working conditions at New York City-area nail salons in 2015, Diana Ceballos was part of a team of occupational health experts called upon by the state Department of Health to assess salon working environments and nail technicians’ exposure…

Continue reading “Professor Studies Hazard Exposure and Health Disparities among Workers”

Climate shocks are increasingly disruptive to global food systems, with far-reaching consequences for resource-based communities. Yet quantitative assessments of community impacts rarely account for economic connectivity between alternative resources. We show that patterns of resource use influence the sensitivity of US West Coast fishing communities to unprecedented fishery closures in the wake of a recent climate shock. Patterns of participation in commercial fisheries were significantly altered during the fishery closures,…

Continue reading “New Article: Climate shock effects and mediation in fisheries”

Nature has several benefits that impact a person’s overall well-being, according to a new research article, NatureRx@UMD: A Review for Pursuing Green Space as a Health and Wellness Resource for the Body, Mind and Soul. University of Maryand School of Public Health faculty members Dr. Jennifer Roberts (assistant professor, kinesiology) and Dr. Shannon Jette (associate professor, kinesiology) contributed to the American Journal of Health Promotion article, which explores three themes: “Admiration for Nature…

Continue reading “Nature Aids in Health and Wellness for Mind, Body and Soul, New Article Finds”

Health disparities exact a devastating toll upon Indigenous people in the United States. However, there has been scant research investment to develop strategies to address these inequities in Indigenous health. We present a case for increased health promotion, prevention, and treatment research with Indigenous populations. providing context to the recent NIH investment in the Intervention Research to Improve Native American Health (IRINAH) network. We discuss the disproportionate costs and consequences…

Continue reading “New Article: The Imperative for Research to Promote Health Equity in Indigenous Communities”

In Spring/Summer 2020, most individuals living in the United States experienced several months of social distancing and stay-at-home orders because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Clinicians, restaurant cooks, cashiers, transit operators, and other essential workers (EWs), however, continued to work outside the home during this time in order to keep others alive and maintain a functioning society. In the United States, EWs are often low-income persons of color who are…

Continue reading “New Publication:Clinicians, cooks, and cashiers: Examining health equity and the COVID-19 risks to essential workers”

The last few weeks have brought a key tool in the fight against coronavirus: Moderna recently announced that a vaccine in Phase 3 trials was nearly 95 percent effective, exceeding even the most optimistic projections. Pfizer and BioNTech have also made similar announcements. But excitement about a forthcoming vaccine has been tempered by the reality that more and more Americans report having serious reservations about getting vaccinated. Alongside further vaccine…

Continue reading “How Promising is the Vaccine News if People Won’t Take it? | Opinion”

HUD’s Supportive Services Demonstration is a large, cluster randomized-controlled trial that leverages HUD-assisted properties as a platform for the coordination and delivery of services to better address the interdependent health and supportive service needs of its older residents. The demonstration tests the Integrated Wellness in Supportive Housing (IWISH) model, which funds a full-time Resident Wellness Director and part-time Wellness Nurse to work in HUD-assisted housing developments that either predominantly or…

Continue reading “Supporting Aging in Place Through IWISH: First Interim Report from the Supportive Services Demonstration”

This summer, the skies in California, Oregon, and other West Coast states turned sickly orange—a hue that lingered in many places for days, due to the smoke and ash from wildfires. It’s estimated that more than eight million acres of land have been scorched this year, and wildfires are still blazing: Nearly 40 fires are still active out west. Climate change is creating warmer, drier conditions in western states, resulting…

Continue reading “How Do Wildfires Affect Our Bodies?”

“Take-home” exposure is when dangerous contaminants come home on workers’ bodies and clothing, unintentionally exposing their families and causing issues including child lead poisoning. And lead dust from construction is a particularly dramatic take-home exposure here in the Boston area, according to a new study by researchers from the Boston University School of Public Health and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Published in the journal Environmental Research, the…

Continue reading “Boston Construction Workers Are Vulnerable to Lead—and So Are Their Families”