RESEARCH EXPERTISE

LOVE CANAL Alongside NYSDOH, School faculty and students conducted numerous studies to address potential health risks from the first Superfund site in the U.S., located in Western New York.

PCB CONTAMINATION From 1998 to 2010, faculty and students led research into the health risks from PCB contamination of the Hudson River and Mohawk tribal areas.

WEST NILE VIRUS First introduced to New York in 1999, the state responded with pioneering “one health” approaches, using animal surveillance to forecast human risk and researching the influence of climate change. School experts played a large part in this work.

WORLD TRADE CENTER Wadsworth Center researchers certified the clinical labs that conducted DNA-based identification at Ground Zero. Faculty also researched the risks of occupational and volunteer exposures after the terrorist attack.

HEALTH COMMUNICATION In 2013, a School study found that a majority of food advertisements in magazines targeting parents emphasize products of poor nutritional quality that may contribute to unhealthy weight gain.

POMEGRANATE & CANCER Researchers from the Cancer Research Center found evidence suggesting that the same antioxidant that gives pomegranate fruit their vibrant red color can alter the characteristics of breast cancer stem cells, showing the superfood’s potential for aiding in much more than diabetes or heart disease as previously thought.

CARDIAC SURGERY Cardiac surgery research from the School has helped to establish New York as a nationwide leader in outcomes assessment and public reporting, and has successfully integrated rigorous data validation and analyses into broader quality improvement activities.

CHILD DEVELOPMENT From 2008 to 2010, 5,000+ mothers and their 6,000+ children born in New York joined the Upstate KIDS Study (pictured left), which tracked the growth, motor and social development of children to examine associations with parental medical conditions and characteristics, including infertility treatments, environmental exposures and more.

CLIMATE CHANGE Research from the School of Public Health in early 2019 found that climate change could increase the number of U.S. infants born with congenital heart defects from 2025-2035.

EVALUATING HEALTHCARE From 2016-2021, School researchers have been conducting an independent evaluation of the New York State Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment Program. The research assesses program effectiveness on a statewide level, with respect to improving health care, improving health and reducing costs.

HEALTH WORKFORCE For over a decade, Center for Health Workforce Studies researchers have systematically studied dental hygiene scope of practice and discovered substantial state-tostate variation. Researchers also found in 2018 that pay gaps between newly trained male and female physicians not only persist, but they are widening.

2020 UPDATE

2

NEW RESEARCH CENTERS CREATED IN 2020 TO ADVANCE SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE

83.2

MILLION DOLLARS IN TOTAL EXTRAMURAL FUNDING AWARDED TO FACULTY IN 2019

450+

UNIQUE FACULTY PUBLICATIONS IN THE 2019 CALENDAR YEAR

AREAS OF EXPERTISE:

Cancer epidemiology and cancer genomics COVID-19 and emerging diseases Evidence-based healthcare Food systems and childhood obesity Health disparities and health equity Health effects of climate change and the environment HIV policy and prevention Infectious disease epidemiology Maternal and child health Social epidemiology and social determinants of health Violence and addiction