WashU’s School of Medicine is starting a master’s program in reproductive sciences & accepting applications for its inaugural cohort. Sarah England, PhD, director, Center for Reproductive Health Sciences, & Public Health Faculty Scholar, is senior faculty adviser.
Author: External Media Source
Local collaboration key to effective evidence-based training, study finds (Links to an external site)
A study led by Stephanie Mazzucca-Ragan, assistant professor, Brown School, & Public Health Faculty Scholar, is showing the importance of collaboration with public health departments & other agencies to deliver training in evidence-based public health.
Local collaboration key to effective evidence-based training, study finds (Links to an external site)
Public Health Faculty Scholar, Stephanie Mazzuca-Ragan, assistant professor at the Brown School leads a study showing the value of collaborating with local health departments to deliver training in evidence-based public health.
Dean designate Galea to present vision for WashU’s planned School of Public Health (Links to an external site)

Missouri bird flu case raises questions for scientists (Links to an external site)
Jacco Boon, PhD, associate professor of Medicine, Molecular Microbiology, Pathology & Immunology, & Public Health Faculty Scholar, was a guest on NPR’s Weekend Edition talking about an unusual human case of H5 avian influenza reported in Missouri.
Galea named editor of JAMA Health Forum (Links to an external site)

Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH, dean designate of WashU’s planned School of Public Health has been named editor in chief of JAMA Health Forum, effective Jan. 1.
New NSF grant to fund faculty equity programs and new center focused on civic mindfulness (Links to an external site)
Diana Parra Perez, PhD, assistant professor, Brown School, & Public Health Faculty Scholar, is a co-PI on $3 million five-year National Science Foundation ADVANCE-Institutional Transformation grant to increase STEM equity at a systemic level.
Health Insurance Coverage in Missouri, 2008-23: Impact of Medicaid Expansion, Economic and Policy Changes (Links to an external site)
Center for Advancing Health Services, Policy & Economics Research co-director & Public Health Faculty Scholar, Timothy McBride, PhD, reviews changes in MO insurance coverage from recent Census Bureau data, in research supported by the MO Foundation for Health.
Refining, implementing, and evaluating an anesthesia choice conversation aid for older adults with hip fracture: protocol for a stepped wedge cluster randomized trial (Links to an external site)
Public Health Faculty Scholar Mary Politi, PhD, co-authored an article published in Implementation Science Communications on a study evaluating the implementation & effectiveness of “My Anesthesia Choice─Hip Fracture” in clinical practice.
A call for equity in digital health tool design (Links to an external site)
Maura Kepper, assistant professor, Brown School, & Public Health Faculty Scholar, is senior author of “How to Design Equitable Digital Health Tools,” providing strategies for making future digital health tools more accessible, effective and equitable.
Bowel cancer ‘red flags’: Four signs you should see a doctor now – even if you’re young (Links to an external site)
Associate professor and Public Health Faculty Scholar, Yin Cao, ScD, and team, studied data on early-onset bowel cancer and found four key early warning signs that indicated an increased risk of bowel cancer in patients under age 50.
57. The Life of a Refugee: Economic Integration and Forced Migration w/ Dr. Mitra Naseh (Links to an external site)
Mitra Naseh, PhD, assistant professor, Brown School, and Public Health Faculty Scholar, discussed the work she is doing in the field of social work and refugee wellbeing in a Global Health Pursuit Podcast.
Addressing poverty key to better TB and HIV treatment in Uganda (Links to an external site)
Fred Ssewamala, PhD, & Proscovia Nabunya, PhD, Brown School and Public Health Faculty Scholars, co-authored a correspondence in The Lancet highlighting tackling poverty as a key strategy for improving HIV and TB treatment outcomes in Uganda.
Strategy evaluated for boosting exercise capacity in heart failure patients (Links to an external site)
A team led by Linda Peterson, MD, professor, Medicine & Radiology, & Ken Schechtman, PhD, professor, Biostatistics, & Public Health Faculty Scholars, received a $2.9 million NIH grant to investigate the effect of inorganic nitrate on muscle function & exercise performance in heart failure patients.
What to Know About Delta-8 and Other Common Vape Shop Drugs (Links to an external site)
According to Ginger Nicol, MD, CEDS, Dipl., ABOM, associate professor of psychiatry, Public Health Faculty Scholar, & head of the psychedelics research program, there is a lack of rigorous research and oversight on effects, side effects, & safety of delta-8 THC.
WashU scientists uncover hidden source of snow melt: dark brown carbon (Links to an external site)
A study co-authored by Rajan Chakrabarty, PhD, professor and Public Health Faculty Scholar, & published in Climate and Atmospheric Science, shows how dark-brown carbon (d-BrC) from wildfires plays a much larger role in snow-warming.
Ditch the needle – new COVID vaccine for nose, mouth reportedly halts transmission (Links to an external site)
“The nose and the mouth are the point of entry, so having these cells and these antibodies present right there where the virus comes in is really critical for the most effective vaccines against these viruses.” says Jacco Boon, PhD, associate professor of medicine & Public Health Faculty Scholar, about a next-generation nasal vaccine for COVID-19.
What to know about delta-8 and other common vape shop drugs (Links to an external site)
“It’s hard to even know basic information about what the potency of the drug in many of these products is”, says Ginger Nicol, MD, associate professor of psychiatry, Public Health Faculty Scholar & head of the psychedelics research program, about delta-8 THC or any other unregulated drugs.
What to know about delta-8 and other common vape shop drugs (Links to an external site)
Ginger Nicol, MD, associate professor of psychiatry, Public Health Faculty Scholar, & head of the psychedelics research program, recommends talking to your physician before taking delta-8 THC or any other unregulated drugs.
SPOTLIGHT: Center collaborator helps others implement, sustain evidence-based work (Links to an external site)
Public Health Faculty Scholar, Rebecca Lengnick-Hall, PhD, assistant professor, Brown School, integrates implementation science into her work of understanding how organizations are connected to the broader system environment.
A new smart mask analyzes your breath to monitor your health (Links to an external site)
“The biggest challenge has always been collecting real-time samples. This problem has been solved. That’s a paradigm shift,” said Rajan Chakrabarty, PhD, professor, McKelvey School of Engineering, & Public Health Faculty Scholar, about a new mask able to analyze biomarkers in breath.
Researchers take cue from vibes of elephants, spiders (Links to an external site)
Guy Genin, professor of mechanical engineering & Public Health Faculty Scholar, is a co-investigator on a research team that received a three-year $1.5 million grant from the Human Frontier Science Program to study new mode of cell communication.
Missouri Medicaid update: July application processing marginally improves (Links to an external site)
Based on an analysis by the Center for Advancing Health Services, Policy & Economics Research, co-director & Public Health Faculty Scholar, Timothy McBride gives an update on the latest news on the Missouri Medicaid expansion.
People, Health & Place Unit Expands Global Initiatives With New Collaborations in Brazil (Links to an external site)
Rodrigo Reis, professor, co-director of the People, Health & Place Unit at the Brown School’s Prevention Research Center, & Public Health Faculty Scholar, is helping address health disparities in Brazil.
Covid tied to higher risk of depression, anxiety, PTSD and other conditions, with the unvaccinated most affected, study shows (Links to an external site)
“The new research is not the first to show that Covid-19 is associated with an increased risk of mental illness,” said Ziyad Al-Aly, MD, assistant professor, School of Medicine, & Public Health Faculty Scholar, about a UK study on mental illness in unvaccinated people.
Biden says he’s ‘too old to stay as president.’ It shows the pull of ageism. (Links to an external site)
Brian Carpenter, PhD, Co-Director, Harvey A. Friedman Ctr for Aging, & Public Health Faculty Scholar, is quoted in an article on ageism & how it is pervasive in American culture – especially in the public perceptions of older people involved in politics.
Wash-U professor develops nasal COVID vaccine that halts transmission (LISTEN) (Links to an external site)
Jacco Boon, PhD, associate professor of medicine, Molecular Microbiology, Pathology & Immunology, & Public Health Faculty Scholar, spoke with Anthony Morabith on “Show Me Today” about the next-generation mucosal vaccine that he developed to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Long COVID-19 risk has decreased, thanks to vaccines, recent study suggests (Links to an external site)
A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine & co-authored by Ziyad Al-Aly, MD, assistant professor & Public Health Faculty Scholar, found that vaccines have reduced the risk of developing long COVID.
‘Jamaica to the world’ (Links to an external site)
Steven Fazzari, PhD, professor of economics and sociology, and Public Health Faculty Scholar, talks about Kamala Harris’ father, Don Harris, his doctoral thesis adviser at Stanford, in a CNN article.
For Your Health – Finding Cancer Sooner with a Simple Blood Test (Links to an external site)
Graham Colditz, MD, DrPH, Deputy Dir, Institute for Public Health, & Aimee James, PhD, professor, & Public Health Faculty Scholars, discuss multi-cancer detection tests – blood tests which may provide easier and more accessible early cancer detection.
Ssewamala awarded $3.3 millions in grant fund research for adolescent girls transitioning into young adulthood in Uganda (Links to an external site)
The research team of Fred Ssewamala, PhD, Proscovia Nabunya, PhD, Ozge Sensoy Bahar, PhD, & Derek Brown, PhD, Brown School, & Public Health Faculty Scholars, has been awarded a grant from the NIMH for a study focused on Ugandan adolescent girls
Washington University professor says Medicaid drug price reductions are overdue (Links to an external site)
Center for Advancing Health Services, Policy & Economics Research Co-Director, Timothy McBride, PhD, weighs in on the Biden Administration’s price cuts for 10 of Medicare’s costliest and most taken prescription drugs.
White House says prescription drug deals will produce billions in savings for taxpayers, seniors (Links to an external site)
Rachel Sachs, JD, MPH, professor of law, School of Law, & Public Health Faculty Scholar, advised the Biden Administration on implementation of a law reducing prices of 10 of Medicare’s priciest drugs.
Ugandan Women’s Autonomy Key to Safer Sex (Links to an external site)
Fred Ssewamala, PhD, professor, Brown School, & Public Health Faculty Scholar, co-authored a correspondence in The Lancet on how empowering Ugandan women to develop autonomy can reduce their exposure to HIV, creating a safer environment.
Ugandan women’s autonomy key to safer sex (Links to an external site)
Fred Ssewamala, PhD, professor, Brown School, & Public Health Faculty Scholar, co-authored a correspondence in The Lancet on how empowering Ugandan women to develop autonomy can reduce their exposure to HIV, creating a safer environment.
Sachs appointed to Illinois governor’s advisory council (Links to an external site)
Rachel Sachs, JD,MPH, professor of law, School of Law, & Public Health Faculty Scholar, has been appointed to the Illinois Advisory Council on Financing & Access to Sickle Cell Disease Treatment & Other High-Cost Drugs and Treatments.
California’s Park Fire is spawning its own smoke thunderclouds (Links to an external site)
“PyroCbs are such massive, almost volcanic-like eruptions,” said Rajan Chakrabarty, PhD, professor, McKelvey Engineering, & Public Health Faculty Scholar, in an article about the pyrocumulonimbus cloud created by Northern California’s Park Fire.
Long COVID continues to evade diagnosis through lab tests (Links to an external site)
Ziyad Al-Aly, MD, assistant professor, Division of General Medicine & Geriatrics, & Public Health Faculty Scholar, weighs in on a recent large study looking at abnormal findings in standardized laboratory tests to help diagnose long COVID.
How to not get divorced (Links to an external site)
Liberty Vittert, PhD, professor of the practice of data Science at Olin and Public Health Faculty Scholar, explains how to not get divorced in an opinion piece she wrote for “The Hill.”
Untargeted lipidomics reveals racial differences in lipid species among women (Links to an external site)
Jingqin Luo, PhD, associate professor of Surgery & Adetunji Toriola, MD, PhD, professor of surgery, & public health faculty scholars, published “Untargeted lipidomics reveals racial differences in lipid species among women” in Biomarker Research
DNA fragments help detect kidney organ rejection (Links to an external site)
Tarek Alhamad, MD, professor of medicine, medical director of transplant nephrology, Division of Nephrology, and Public Health Faculty Scholar, is part of a team that identified a new way of detecting organ rejection.
Instagram now has AI boyfriends and girlfriends. Here’s what it’s like chatting with them. (Links to an external site)
AI romantic partners? Liberty Vittert, PhD, professor of the practice of data science, Olin Business School, & Public Health Faculty Scholar, weighs in on Meta’s new AI Studio, which lets you create and DM custom chatbots.
Overcoming Systemic Barriers to Make Patient-Partnered Research a Reality (Links to an external site)
Bettina Drake, PhD, professor of surgery, Division of Public Health Sciences, & Public Health Faculty Scholar, co-authored “Overcoming systemic barriers to make patient-partnered research a reality,” published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Expanding a Behavioral View on Digital Health Access: Drivers and Strategies to Promote Equity (Links to an external site)
Maura Kepper, PhD, assistant professor, Brown School, & Public Health Faculty Scholar, is lead author of a paper that explores how digital health tools can improve health equity, published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.
Nasal COVID Vaccine Stops Infection in Animal Trials (Links to an external site)
“To prevent transmission, you need to keep the amount of virus in the upper airways low,” says senior researcher Jacco Boon, PhD, associate professor of medicine, Molecular Microbiology, Pathology & Immunology, & Public Health Faculty Scholar, about a next-generation nasal vaccine for COVID-19.
Nasal COVID-19 vaccine halts transmission (Links to an external site)
Jacco Boon, PhD, associate professor of medicine, Molecular Microbiology, Pathology & Immunology, & Public Health Faculty Scholar, was senior author of a study finding that next-generation mucosal vaccines sprayed into the nose or dropped into the mouth may prevent the spread of respiratory infections.
Nasal COVID-19 vaccine halts transmission (Links to an external site)
Jacco Boon, PhD, associate professor of medicine, Molecular Microbiology, Pathology & Immunology, & Public Health Faculty Scholar, was senior author of a study finding that mucosal vaccines sprayed into the nose or dropped into the mouth may prevent the spread of respiratory infections.
California’s Park Fire is spawning its own smoke thunderclouds (Links to an external site)
Rajan Chakrabarty, PhD, professor, McKelvey Engineering, & Public Health Faculty Scholar, is quoted in an article about the pyrocumulonimbus cloud, or pyroCb, a smoke thundercloud created by Northern California’s Park Fire.
Heritage Foundation, not Project 2025, proposes Social Security cuts (Links to an external site)
Timothy McBride, PhD, co-director, Center for Advancing Health Services, Policy & Economics Research and Public Health Faculty Scholar, weighs in on the Heritage Foundation’s plan to reform Social Security.
How tea can soothe and energize (Links to an external site)
Are you thinking of making the switch from coffee to tea? Adetunji Toriola, MD, PhD, professor of surgery & Public Health Faculty Scholar, explains why that could be a good idea.