News

Mailman School of Public Health faculty are renowned scientists and teachers working on the cutting-edge of critical, newsworthy public health issues. They have significant expertise in many areas and are called upon by journalists around the world to offer their expert opinions on a range of public health issues. Below are just a few examples of topics and publications where our faculty experts have been cited for their research findings and commentary.

10/27
Newsweek
The Future of Abstinence
In the beginning, although nestled in the heart of the Bible-Belt, the public-health community of McLennan County, Texas was open to programs. The United States did, after all, have the highest teen pregnancy rate in the developed world. "There was open-mindedness then, that it might work" says John Santelli of Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.
 
10/24
Associated Press and ABC News
Tips to have a flu-free party this holiday season
Is it safe to party when swine flu threatens to crash your bash? Dr. Stephen Morse, professor of epidemiology at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health says, "Probably the greater danger is people getting together when they talk to each other. If someone has the flu, they will undoubtedly through close contact give it to others far more than food. Though you obviously want to be careful."

10/23
CNN
Got A Swine Flu Question? The doctor’s in.
Professor Irwin Redlener of Columbia University answers FAQs on twitter of the H1N1.

10/15
Newsweek
Katrina’s Kids
Dr. Irwin Redlener estimates that 20,000 Louisiana children "remain at some serious level of uncertainty with respect to stable housing and access to essential services." Researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, where he teaches, have been tracking thousands of people displaced or otherwise affected by the storm, and they've found that constantly shifting policies over the past four years—particularly with regard to housing—have left the storm's victims emotionally and financially adrift.

10/13
United Press International
Home healthcare poses risks to nurses 
Researchers say the fastest growing U.S. healthcare sector -- home care -- may pose greater risks for nurses. "Although professionally and personally rewarding for many, home care nursing can be both physically and emotionally demanding," study leader Dr. Robyn Gershon of the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University says. "These types of injuries are serious as they can result in infection with bloodborne pathogens, such as hepatitis."

10/1
Reuters
Mandatory tests cut alcohol-related truck crashes 
The risk of alcohol-associated crashes involving truck drivers has declined about 23 percent since the U.S. implemented mandatory alcohol testing for commercial truck drivers, researchers estimate.  Since 1995, when mandatory alcohol testing began in the US, "the number of fatal crashes per mile of travel for motor carriers has also decreased significantly," Dr. Guohua Li, of Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health noted. 

9/17
New York Daily News
Senate's new health insurance proposal is step forward, but babysteps, NY experts say
New York-based health experts say the Senate's new health insurance proposal is an imperfect step toward expanding access to care. "It's not a perfect bill, but I think there's no question that it would help large numbers of Americans, and that would be a good thing," said Dr. Michael Sparer of Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health.  Dr. Irwin Redlener described it as a "huge step forward" but didn't anticipate an end to the debate just yet.

9/13
Bloomberg
Deadly Bleeding Virus, Previously Unknown, Identified in Study
The Lujo virus that killed four of the five people it struck in an outbreak in South Africa last year has been identified as part of a family of viruses humans can catch from rats.  It was genetically identified as an entirely new arenavirus with the help of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases in South Africa and disease sleuth W. Ian Lipkin, a professor of epidemiology at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health in New York. Lipkin was first to identify West Nile Virus in the U.S.

9/1
PBS
Dr. Linda Fried on frailty and how to fight it
Dr. Linda Fried, dean of Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and a professor of geriatric medicine, tells Robert Lipsyte about why frailty is a part of aging-and what we need to know to preserve our body's resilience and slow down the aging process.

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