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Department of Public Health Sciences
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
DEPARTMENT NEWS
Department of Public Health Sciences Welcomes New Graduate Students On August 15, 2019, the Department of Public Health Sciences hosted an orientation for new incoming graduate students. This week, they began their journey in masters, doctoral and joint degree programs in public health, biostatistics, epidemiology, and prevention science and community health, as well as in public administration and Latin American studies.
Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center Earns Prestigious National Cancer Institute Designation InventUM: One of the public health programs that helped propel Sylvester to National Cancer Institute designation is the Firefighter Cancer Initiative, a long-term study of exposures to carcinogens and ways to reduce and prevent cancer risks for Florida firefighters. The FCI is led by a team of scientists, healthcare practitioners and occupational health and safety experts, including Alberto J. Caban-Martinez, DO, Ph.D., MPH, David J. Lee, Ph.D., and Tulay Koru-Sengul, MHS, MA, Ph.D., faculty from the Department of Public Health Sciences.
Dean Henri R. Ford and Dr. Scott H. Rivkees Welcome the M.D./M.P.H. Class of 2023 Henri R. Ford, M.D., M.H.A., dean and chief academic officer of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and Scott Rivkees, M.D., the Florida State Surgeon General, welcomed and spoke to first-year M.D./M.P.H. candidates during one of their epidemiology courses this summer. The candidates began their medical education journey this week.
RESEARCH AND INITIATIVES Tire Shops in Miami-Dade County Produce Vector Mosquitoes, Researchers Find A study published in Plos One found that tire shops in Miami-Dade County are highly favorable breeding environments for the production of vector mosquitoes. This study used a cross-sectional design to survey the production of vector mosquitoes in 12 tire shops, where mosquitoes were found in all but one of the shops. Researchers collected 1,110 mosquitoes at the sites.
Hispanics in South Florida Have Higher Mortality Rates for Most Cancers Than Their National Counterparts A study published in Preventing Chronic Disease, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention journal, showed that Hispanics in South Florida – mostly driven by Cubans – have higher cancer death rates than their national counterparts. Given the results of this study, surveillance, minority participation in clinical trials and community-based, culturally-specific cancer prevention and control efforts are needed.
Waterpipe Smoking Is Increasing Globally, but Health Warning Labels Reduces Interest in Users, Researchers Find Globally, waterpipe smoking (WP) – also known as Hookah – has become one of the leading tobacco-use methods among youth. Researchers have found that placing health warning labels on WP-smoking devices may reduce positive experiences and exposures to harmful chemicals, such as carbon monoxide and nicotine.
Dr. Naresh Kumar Awarded Grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences The Guánica Bay in Puerto Rico has the second-highest levels of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) – chemicals that can cause cancer and can have negative effects on the immune, nervous, and endocrine system. Currently, Naresh Kumar, Ph.D., professor of public health sciences at the Miller School of Medicine, and his research team are analyzing the change in environmental PCBs, including in the air, fish and sediment and its impact on community exposure after Hurricane Maria.
FACULTY AND STAFF SPOTLIGHTS
Dr. Adam Carrico Presents at the 10th International AIDS Society Conference
National Institute of Health Selects Dr. Alberto Caban-Martinez as an LRP Awardee
STUDENT AND ALUMNI SPOTLIGHTS BreAnne "Bre" Young, MSPH, Ph.D. in Prevention Science and Community Health candidate In 2016, Young, a double University of Miami alumna, began working at the Community-Based HIV Awareness for Minority Populations program, a street-based, rapidHIV testing initiative that employs community health workers to administer HIV tests in any location. In the fall of 2019, she will begin the Ph.D. in Prevention Science and Community Health program and will base her dissertation on the efficacy of the program.
Daniel Beckerman, MD/MPH candidate For his MPH capstone field experience, Beckerman traveled to San Cristobal, Dominican Republic with Medical Students in Action. He joined the Public Health Team within the organization and addressed the social determinants of health in San Cristobal, as well as provided medical follow up to patients without access to care.
PUBLIC HEALTH NEWS Miami Herald: Florida just declared a public health emergency over its ballooning Hepatitis A cases Business Insider: 5 countries that have taken radical steps to eliminate firearm deaths — and what the US can learn from them The New York Times: Climate Change Threatens the World’s Food Supply, United Nations Warns The Weather Channel: More Flesh-Eating Bacteria Cases in the Gulf of Mexico and Elsewhere Are Likely Because of Climate Change Miami Herald: Second case of local dengue fever confirmed in Florida this year — both in Miami-Dade
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SCENE AT DPHS
Including all the programs, 54 percent of new students have a bachelor’s degree, 24 have a master’s degree and 22 have a doctoral degree. Around 27 percent are also first-generation college students. Their educational backgrounds range from degrees in health science, public health, psychology, to biochemistry, epidemiology, and medicine.
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