News
MPH’s Aliyu: Study seeks to ease pediatric HIV infection rates in Africa
Mar. 4, 2016—Mother-to-child transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS, is still a major problem in resource-limited, rural areas of the world where health care providers are scarce. "We show that packaging individually effective interventions can have positive and measurable impacts on progress toward eliminating pediatric HIV infections in Africa,” said first author Muktar...
MPH Program alum Acra part of team to treat boy’s rare disorder
Mar. 3, 2016—Sari Acra, M.D., MPH was involved in the the team to help treat Denny Majano when he was admitted to the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital in 2011. After spending almost two and a half years in the hospital, at many times struggling to survive, Denny spent his first Christmas home this past December with...
MPH graduate finds chemo better option following pancreatic cancer surgery
Feb. 25, 2016—The study, led by Vanderbilt MPH Program graduate Alexander Parikh, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor of Surgery and director of the Vanderbilt Pancreas Center, was published online Feb. 16 in advance of print publication in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.
Zika virus: Mosquito-borne transmission still the most likely in U.S. says MPH’s Schaffner
Feb. 24, 2016—Dr. William Schaffner of Vanderbilt University, past president of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, says its not likely that sexual transmission is anywhere close to the frequency of mosquito-borne transmission as the CDC reports 14 new cases of sexually transmitted Zika in U.S.
Nashville Health Care Council selects MPH graduate Neal Patel, MD, MPH
Feb. 18, 2016—Vanderbilt MPH Program alumnus Neal Patel, M.D., M.P.H., has been named to the Nashville Health Care Council's 2016 Council Fellows class. The Council Fellows initiative was launched in 2013 to engage industry leaders in clearly defining health care’s greatest challenges while exploring business strategies to navigate complex issues facing the nation’s health care system.
MPH alumna Morgans: Heart disease most common cause of death among prostate cancer survivors
Feb. 12, 2016—Prostate cancer survivors are most likely to die from something other than cancer, with cardiovascular disease as the most common cause, according to a new study led by Dr. Alicia Morgans, an assistant professor of medicine
ABC News talks to MPH’s Creech about Zika virus and ocular birth defects
Feb. 9, 2016—The Zika virus may be associated with another birth defect in infants, according to a new study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association Ophthalmology. Buddy Creech, M.D., M.P.H., an associate professor of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said other viruses, including herpes and rubella, are known to cause ocular...
MPH Alum Talbot: Travelers should be not quarantined because of Zika Virus
Feb. 8, 2016—There is no evidence that individuals who have acquired Zika abroad are causing transmission of the virus within the U.S., and isolating people with Zika symptoms in the U.S. would be impractical and unnecessary, according to a number of infectious disease experts contacted by Scientific American. “I think with this being the first emerging infection...
Prostate cancer survivors’ risk of heart disease studied by MPH alumna Morgans
Feb. 5, 2016—The 3 million prostate cancer survivors in the United States are likely to die from something other than cancer, thanks to early detection, effective treatment and the disease’s slow progression.What survivors need to be more concerned with is heart disease, the most common non-cancer cause of death for men with prostate cancer, according to a...
NYT: W.H.O. Zika Virus announcement is a wake-up call says MPH’s Schaffner
Feb. 2, 2016—The World Health Organization declared the Zika virus and its suspected link to birth defects an international public health emergency on Monday, a rare move that signals the seriousness of the outbreak and gives countries new tools to fight it. “This makes it formal,” said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University....
NYT: MPH’s Schaffner puzzled by new C.D.C. Zika guidelines
Jan. 21, 2016—Pregnant women who feel sick and have visited countries in which the Zika virus is spreading should see a doctor soon and be tested for infection even though the tests are imperfect, federal health officials said on Tuesday. “That had me scratching my head,” Dr. William Schaffner,the chairman of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University, said....
Graduate Student Epidemiology Program–HRSA Maternal & Child Health Bureau
Jan. 15, 2016—The Graduate Student Epidemiology Program (GSEP) provides opportunities to gain professional experience in a real-world situation while providing help and fresh perspectives to a public health agency during a 3-month summer project. Participate in a project with a special focus area: Data Analysis and Monitoring Needs Assessment Program Evaluation Help an MCH department or tribal epidemiology center...
MPH faculty member featured as part of Global Health & Innovation Conference
Jan. 12, 2016—Vanderbilt MPH Program faculty member Brian Heuser, Ed.D., M.T.S., Assistant Professor of Leadership, Policy & Organizations, has been a presenter at Unite for Sight's Global Health & Innovation Conference for several years and he is featured in their latest video. The Global Health & Innovation Conference is the world's leading and largest global health conference as well as the...
MPH alum-led study shows veteran, civilian patients at risk of ICU-related PTSD
Jan. 12, 2016—Led by Mayur Patel, M.D., M.P.H., assistant professor of Surgery and Neurosurgery at VUMC and staff surgeon and surgical intensivist at the Nashville VA Medical Center, the first-of-its-kind study of veterans and civilians, researchers found that one in 10 patients is at risk of having a new post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following their time in...
Chipotle’s E. Coli Outbreak: contaminated food source not likely found says Schaffner
Jan. 8, 2016—The first reports of E. coli sickening Chipotle customers were revealed in October. Three months and thousands of tests later, health investigators still can't find the source of the outbreak, which has since sickened 53 people in nine states. Dr. William Schaffner, infectious-diseases specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center explained that most people who dine at Chipotle eat some combination...