Community-based participant-observation purposefully combines participant-observation and community-based participatory research. While participant-observation is the core method of ethnography and foundational to cultural anthropology, community-based participatory research initially emerged from health and related applied sciences to align researchers’ and communities’ agendas through focused collaboration. Participant-observation and community-based participatory research have different scholarly origins and norms but are united in centering communities’ understandings on their terms. Combining the strengths of both, we provide…
Greenness and excess deaths from heat in 323 Latin American cities: Do associations vary according to climate zone or green space configuration?
Green vegetation may protect against heat-related death by improving thermal comfort. Few studies have investigated associations of green vegetation with heat-related mortality in Latin America or whether associations are modified by the spatial configuration of green vegetation. We used data from 323 Latin American cities and meta-regression models to estimate associations between city-level greenness, quantified using population-weighted normalized difference vegetation index values and modeled as three-level categorical terms, and excess deaths from heat…
USC launches liver disease study as part of $50.3 million “multi-omics” consortium
The six-site consortium, funded by the National Institutes of Health, will study individuals from ancestrally diverse populations that are traditionally underrepresented in medical research. The Keck School of Medicine of USC has received funding from the National Institutes of Health as part of a five-year, $50.3 million “multi-omics” study of human health and disease involving six sites. Researchers in the Multi-Omics for Health and Disease consortium will study fatty liver disease, hepatocellular…
Surveillance Systems for Sustainable Fisheries: Perceptions on the Adoption of Electronic Monitoring in the Northeast US Multispecies Fishery
Amendment 23 (A23) to the Northeast Multispecies Fisheries Management Plan will remake monitoring systems for the Northeast US commercial groundfish fishery. In addition to substantially increasing monitoring coverage, A23 will provide fishers with the option to utilize electronic monitoring (EM) technologies in place of human at-sea observers. Based on twenty-sixinterviews with representatives of the fishing industry, nongovernmental organizations, regulatory agencies, EM service providers, and other stakeholder groups, this paper examines…
When Green Spaces Displace Residents, Our Cities’ Health Suffers
Op-ed: Cities are working to improve residents’ well-being with more urban green spaces. But they must be on the watch for green gentrification and its negative health consequences. By JPB Fellow VINIECE JENNINGS, ALESSANDRO RIGOLON & JPB Fellow NA’TAKI OSBORNE JELKS It’s an undeniable fact: Green spaces are crucial to our health and wellbeing. Again and again, researchers have found that access to urban green spaces – from parks to gardens to…
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Disparities in joint exposure to environmental and social stressors in urban households in Greater Boston
Understanding how environmental and social stressors cluster is critical to explaining and addressing health disparities. It remains unclear how these stressors cluster at fine spatial resolution in low to medium-income, urban households. We explored patterns of environmental and social exposures at the household-level and potential predictors of these joint exposures in two environmental justice communities in the Greater Boston area. Find here the full article.
Challenges & Opportunities at the Intersection of Climate, Health & Justice
The effects of climate change are here, and becoming increasingly apparent each year. Unquestionably, environmental injustices have already plagued low income communities and communities of color, and climate change exacerbates these threats. Addressing the many and severe impacts of climate change — from energy insecurity to agriculture vulnerabilities — and mitigating their harmful health effects requires multi-sector and interdisciplinary collaboration. This webinar brought together Alexa White, Dr. Ans Irfan, and Dr. Daniel Carrión, all…
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“Become a Gas Leak Detective!” Evaluating a multigenerational citizen science program for connecting distribution pipelines to energy justice
Buried beneath homes and businesses, pipelines convey an invisible threat: flammable natural gas. Methane gas leaks in distribution pipelines contribute to climate change, damage urban tree canopies, endanger public safety, and burden ratepayers financially. Despite this, residents often lack the ability to interpret the signs of an outdoor urban gas leak and understand its relationship to larger-scale infrastructural decisions. In order to counter information asymmetries between urban residents and utility…
‘Forever chemical’ exposure linked to higher cancer odds in women
New research finds evidence that exposure to PFAS and phenols increases odds of certain ‘hormonally driven’ cancers for women Women exposed to several widely used chemicals appear to face increased odds for ovarian and other types of cancers, including a doubling of odds for melanoma, according to new research funded by the US government. Using data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a team of academic…
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New Article: Exploratory profiles of phenols, parabens, and per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances among NHANES study participants in association with previous cancer diagnoses
Biomarkers across all exposure categories (phenols, parabens, and per- and poly- fluoroalkyl substances) were cross-sectionally associated with increased odds of previous melanoma diagnoses in women, and increased odds of previous ovarian cancer was associated with several phenols and parabens. Some associations differed by racial group, which is particularly impactful given the established racial disparities in distributions of exposure to these chemicals. This is the first epidemiological study to investigate exposure…