The University of Texas School of Public Health News
Begley Appointed to Epilepsy Task Force
Nov. 6, 2009 - Charles Begley, PhD, has been appointed as the North American representative on the Global Campaign Against Epilepsy Task Force. The Global Campaign is sponsored by the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE), the International Bureau for Epilepsy (IBE), and the World Health Organization (WHO). The Campaign was launched in 1997 and its mission is to improve the acceptability, treatment services, and prevention of epilepsy worldwide.
The Campaign Task Force is lead by the presidents of the ILAE and IBE and a representative of the WHO. There are five members representing different regions of the world. The Task Force is responsible for determining the future direction of the Campaign and identifying future activities designed to: increase public and professional awareness of epilepsy as a universal and treatable brain disorder; raise epilepsy to a new plane of acceptability in the public domain; promote public and professional education about epilepsy; identify the needs of people with epilepsy at both national and regional levels; encourage governments and departments of health, to address the needs of people with epilepsy including awareness, education, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. Members of the Task Force serve for a minimum of four years. The first charge of the Task Force is to develop a new strategic plan for the Campaign.
Begley became involved with the ILAE about 15 years ago as a result of a research collaboration with the late Fred Annegers, PhD, who was a leading epilepsy epidemiologist. He has stayed active in the ILAE serving on several commissions dealing with the economic aspects of epilepsy and epilepsy care throughout the world. Begley said, “My ILAE service complements my research in epilepsy health care which over the years included a number of projects on the direct and indirect costs of epilepsy, disparities in health care use and outcomes, and self-management in epilepsy.”
Begley is currently analyzing data on disparities in epilepsy care collected by our research team (David Lairson, PhD, Ritu Basu, and Tom Reynolds) as part of the Houston/New York City Healthcare Use and Outcomes Study. He is also working with Ross Shegog, PhD, on two CDC-funded projects on the socio-economic and behavioral determinants of self-management in epilepsy.
Hoelscher and Kelder Receive 2010 Translating Research to Policy Award
Oct. 30, 2009 - Drs. Deanna Hoelscher and Steven Kelder based at the Austin Regional Campus will receive the 2010 Translating Research to Policy Award from Active Living Research (ALR), a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. This is the third year of the award which recognizes outstanding examples of innovators in research, policy or advocacy who have achieved success in catalyzing policy or environmental change in communities across the nation.
Hoelscher and Kelder were selected for this award for the substantial impact of the CATCH program across such a large state as Texas and the role they played as researchers in the development and implementation of Texas Senate Bill (SB) 19.
Passed in 2001, Texas Senate Bill 19 requires elementary school children to participate in 30 minutes of physical activity daily. In addition, the bill required the state to recommend comprehensive coordinated health programs and for schools to adopt and receive implementation training in these "approved" programs by 2007.
The bill's requirements were unfunded and no monitoring or accountability mechanisms were created. Hoelscher and Kelder completed a study analyzing the effects of the legislation and looked at levels of compliance in elementary schools. They concluded passing school health policy legislation is not enough. Continued refinements, monitoring and accountability measures, as well as supportive communitywide health efforts, are necessary to achieve the legislation's goals.
The 2010 award includes a $1,000 cash prize and an opportunity to present the experience of translating research into policy at the Active Living Research annual conference.
Schecter Appointed to EPA Advisory Panel
Oct. 30, 2009 - Dr. Arnold Schecter of the Dallas Regional Campus has recently been appointed to a prestigious federal government advisory panel - the EPA's Science Advisory Board Dioxin Review Panel. He is part of a group of top level scientists that will advise the US EPA Board of Scientific Advisors on the EPS Draft Dioxin Reassessment Document which will be under preparation and review for over 15 years. This should be the final review before it is finalized and released to the public.
Dr. Schecter is a dioxin expert. He has studied US Vietnam veterans and people from Vietnam who were potentially exposed to Agent Orange and dioxin exposed workers in Japan, Russia, England and Germany. He began his work on dioxins in 1982.
Publications report that dioxins are in all Americans; dioxin levels are still elevated in some Vietnam veterans and some Vietnamese from Agent Orange last used in 1971; dioxins can be measured in blood to determine exposure and in some cases sources of the dioxins; food of animal origin but not vegetables or fruit contaminated with dioxins; vegans have low levels of dioxins; dioxin from Agent Orange can still be detected in Vietnamese people in Vietnam, and in their food and soil decades after Agent Orange; dioxin blood elevation can be found at least up to 35 years after exposures. Dioxin from Agent Orange is associated in American Vietnam veterans with an increase in skin cancers, prostate cancers and 'all cancers combined".
UTSPH Student Selected for Prestigious Army Position
Oct. 30, 2009 - Sean Friendly, MAJ, MS, an Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Student at The Universityof Texas School of Public Health, has been selected for Division Chief of the Department of the Army Military Operations - Stability and Support Operations. He will be part of a think tank of leaders who look at military operations as it applies to stability and support to foreign nations. This is the phase of operations after combat (offensive, defensive) that is concerned with rebuilding and supporting the reestablishment or in some cases, initial establishment of governance, security, infrastructure, economic development, etc. As a UTSPH student, Maj. Friendly brings a "Public Health" spin to the nation building/nation supporting policy development. The team analyzes the cultural, religious, regional, and historical environment in which they present support, and analyze and develop policy to identify the best way to provide that support to a sovereign (although struggling) nation.
UTSPH Holds Human Trafficking Awareness Week
Houston is considered a major hub of human trafficking in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. In a call to action, The University of Texas School of Public Health and the Houston Rescue & Restore Coalition (HRRC) will host Look Beneath the Surface, an exhibit of original artwork portraying human trafficking and a panel discussion on the public health impact of human trafficking.
The discussion held Monday, September 21, 2009, focused on identifying victims of human trafficking and how to improve prosecution rates for traffickers. Dr. Linda Lloyd, associate professor of community health and director of the Texas Public Health Training Center at the UT School of Public Health, addressed the public health impact of human trafficking on the City of Houston. Maria Trujillo, executive director of HRRC, moderated the panel discussion. Panelists included Lloyd, students from the UT School of Public Health who completed their practicum at HRRC, Alyssandra Granado, coalition manager of HRRC; Darrell MacLearn, anti-trafficking project manager of the Texas Sex Trafficking Obliteration Project; and Kathryn Griffin, outreach director for City Councilman Peter Brown.
Most people think of human trafficking in the form of sex or labor trafficking. Human trafficking also falls into the categories of baby, child, bride, organ and general human trafficking. Many victims are held under physical or verbal threats to their own persons or families. The ‘debts’ they try to pay off will never be repaid until the trafficker decides it so.
Prosecuting traffickers takes time, monetary resources and willing victims to speak against the traffickers. Fear of retribution, language barriers, not knowing who to trust and lack of knowledge of legal rights are all reasons victims are afraid to talk.
The art exhibit, which will be shown at The UT School of Public Health for 2 weeks, details all types of human trafficking through the eyes of professional artists and children in the Houston area.
For more information on human trafficking, contact the Houston Rescue and Restore Coalition – www.houstonrr.org.
UTSPH Sponsors Obesity Lecture Series
The Second Annual Texas Obesity Awareness Week Lecture Series was held in Austin, Texas on September 15, 2009 at the Texas State Capitol. The Michael & Susan Dell Center for Advancement of Healthy Living at The University of Texas School of Public Health Austin Regional Campus hosted the lecture series on child obesity with a focus on policy solutions to the widespread obesity epidemic.
A lecture was given by William J. Klish, MD, Professor of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. His talk focused on the obesity epidemic and solutions for the problem ranging from community, policy and practitioner perspectives. Dr. Klish believes obesity prevention should be fun, transparent, reinforced, and inexpensive. He strongly feels this generation will have shorter life expectancies than their parents and society as we know it will change.
This year’s event also honored Dr. Klish, the Partnership for a Healthy Texas, and the Texas Health Institute. Dr. Klish received the 2009 Leadership Award in Obesity Prevention to honor him for his significant contributions and work in child obesity promotion, prevention, and treatment in Texas. He has been instrumental in promoting child obesity prevention and has played a significant role in legislation. Dr. Klish was Chief of Nutrition, Hepatology and Gastroenterology at Baylor and Texas Children’s Hospital and then developed an Obesity Center at Texas Children’s Hospital. He chaired the Texas Department of Health Obesity Task Force and was appointed by the Governor of Texas to the Joint Interim Study Committee on Nutrition and Health in Public Schools. Dr. Klish was also co-chair of the obesity task force for the Texas Pediatric Society.
The Partnership for a Healthy Texas received the 2009 Texas Health Champion Award to recognize its leadership and ongoing efforts to conquer obesity through policy development in Texas. In addition, Texas Health Institute received the 2009 Texas Health Champion Award for their ongoing support of the Partnership for a Healthy Texas and their outstanding leadership in improving the health of Texas.
Several key legislators and state offices attended this year’s event, including State Representative Carol Alvarado, Heidi McConnell from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, members of legislative offices, and several key community members.
A legislative press conference was also held at the State Capitol on September 15, 2009 to discuss House Bill 3 related to the state physical education and health curriculum changes about eliminating health education from graduation requirements and decreasing the physical education requirements by .5 credit. This press conference was hosted by the Partnership for a Healthy Texas and included members from Texas Health Institute, the Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living, and Dr. William J. Klish as a keynote member.
UTSPH celebrates 40th anniversary
For 40 years, The University of Texas School of Public Health has been transforming public health in Texas, the nation and world through education, research and community service.
“The UT School of Public Health is truly an asset to the state of Texas and our researchers have developed breakthrough research that affects the lives of everyone living today,” said Roberta B. Ness, M.D., M.P.H., dean of the UT School of Public Health. “Our researchers are working daily to find new methods of prevention for chronic diseases such as obesity and heart disease.”
In celebration of the 40th anniversary, the school will host a gala dinner on Sept. 17 with guest speakers Kenneth Shine, M.D., executive vice chancellor for health affairs of The University of Texas System, and Charles LeMaistre, M.D., former vice chancellor for health affairs of the UT System and president emeritus of The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. LeMaistre is credited with helping to establish the UT School of Public Health during his role with UT System. Shine and LeMaistre will address healthcare reform and chronic disease prevention, respectively.
On Sept. 18, alumni, researchers from the UT School of Public Health and keynote speaker Maj. Gen. Charles Bolden will give presentations during a symposium.. Researchers will address how public health has transformed over the years in areas of policy and guidelines, genetics, cancer, obesity and other health disparities. Bolden, administrator of NASA, will discuss public health’s global impact, including how it has affected NASA’s space station.
Over the last four decades the UT School of Public Health has been at the forefront in research, education and prevention of local, state and global public health issues. The school’s first dean Reuel A. Stallones, M.D., M.P.H., a renowned epidemiologist, is credited with setting the course for the creative and original education philosophy that allowed students to create their own course work and research projects. Ness believes Stallones’ philosophy helped the school become a leading institution of public health education.
In 1988, as a way to address the state’s public health concerns, the Texas Legislature created the UT School of Public Health’s first center - the Center for Infectious Disease. Today the UT School of Public Health has 14 research centers including the Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research, which is recognized as a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Research Center and World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center.
Eric Boerwinkle, Ph.D., professor and director of the UT School of Public Health Human Genetics Center, helped discover a major gene for heart disease in 2007. The Human Genetics Center was established in 1994 for the investigation of the genetics of common disease. The center also opened the Starr County Health Studies office in 1981 to study the burden and causes of chronic disease, especially type 2 diabetes, among Mexican-Americans. Research led by Craig Hanis, Ph.D., professor at the UT School of Public Health, and participation by Starr County residents over the last two decades have led to a greater understanding of the risk factors associated with type 2 diabetes and the discovery of the first susceptibility gene for this chronic disease.
In 1993, the school received the contract for the world’s largest hypertension trial, the Antihypertensive and Lipid-Lowering treatment to prevent Heart Attack Trial (ALLHAT), which changed national guidelines for the treatment of high blood pressure. “More than 70 million Americans have hypertension and controlling it prevents strokes, heart attacks, heart failure, and premature mortality. ALLHAT demonstrated that, for most people, diuretics work as well as or better than other drugs in preventing these cardiovascular events,” said Barry Davis, M.D., Ph.D., professor of biostatistics and director of the UT School of Public Health Coordinating Center for Clinical Trials.
Other achievements for the school included the creation of the CATCH (Coordinated Approach to Child Health) program, which is designed to promote physical activity and healthy food choices and prevent tobacco use in elementary and middle school students. Currently CATCH is in over 7,000 schools in 22 states in the United States, Washington, D.C. and Canada.
In an effort to increase the access to public health education in Texas, the UT School of Public Health established regional campuses. The first regional campus was established in 1979 in San Antonio. Since then, four more regional campuses have opened in El Paso, Dallas, Brownsville and Austin. “We have a unique and highly effective network of regional campuses that allow us to provide top ranked public health education to a large, diverse population. The establishment of the regional campuses is very valuable to executing the school’s mission,” said Sharon Cooper, Ph.D., professor and regional dean at the UT School of Public Health San Antonio Regional Campus. Cooper is an alumna of the UT School of Public Health.
Since 1969, more than 5,000 students have graduated with masters or doctorate degrees from the UT School of Public Health. Students have gone on to work in research, education and prevention at universities, hospitals, the CDC and WHO, public health departments around the world and for various positions with the U.S. government. Recently, students and faculty from the UT School of Public Health worked for several weeks during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina alongside city and county health departments on in-place surveys of infectious disease symptoms of evacuees. Students have also assisted local health departments in the surveillance of the H1N1 flu virus.
“As we celebrate our 40th anniversary, we continue to educate the future leaders of public health, our faculty researchers continue to do outstanding research in areas that affect millions and we will continue to be a leading institution of public health education,” said Ness.
UTSPH Alum Returns to Lead Biostatistics Division
The University of Texas School of Public Health is proud to announce the return of an accomplished alumna, Barbara Tilley, PhD, to lead the Division of Biostatistics. She assumed this role as of July 1, 2009.
Dr. Tilley specializes in the design and analysis of clinical trials and is currently principal investigator of the statistical coordinating center for a multi-center trial of a new treatment for Parkinson’s disease. She also uses clinical trials methodology to study approaches to reducing disparities in healthcare. She serves on several data and safety board monitoring boards for NIH-funded clinical trials. She plans on continuing her research and using her expertise in neurological, health disparity, and aging related research to mentor junior faculty and students.
Prior to returning to UTSPH, Dr. Tilley was the Department Chair of Biostatistics, Bioinformatics and Epidemiology at the Medical University of South Carolina. Dr. Tilley earned her PhD in Biometry from The UT School of Public Health, MS in Biomathematics from the University of Washington and BA degree in Mathematics from California State University – Northridge.
Institute for Health Policy Launches Web Portal
By Shannon Rasp
Research Into Action (RIA), an initiative housed within The University of Texas School of Public Health’s Institute for Health Policy, has launched KTExchange.org, a Web portal dedicated to the field of knowledge translation (KT), the process of translating research findings into usable advice for decision makers and practical recommendations for improving public health.
“KTExchange.org offers anyone interested in KT – researchers, students, media, communicators, faculty, etc. – access to a variety of materials, including databases of published and unpublished literature, funding sources, upcoming events, opportunities to network with colleagues and find new ways to collaborate, case studies and podcast material,” said Nickalos Rocha, the RIA program manager. “The combination of searchable databases, social networking, and an extensive worldwide events calendar to stay informed is unique.”
The site offers free memberships to the portal, which enables those who join not only access to the extensive searchable databases and other features, but also the ability to load information about their work on the site. Colleagues down the hall or around the world have the opportunity to see what the latest trends in KT are through viewing these examples, and, if they wish, “friending” other members, a function based on the popular FaceBook site.
“KTExchange.org was created to support the development of an active community of KT scholars and practitioners with social networking tools for building collaboration and for sharing best practices,” said Dr. Stephen Linder, associate director of the Institute for Health Policy. “Researchers writing about knowledge translation or practitioners involved in actually doing translation will find the databases we’ve developed invaluable, and they can also use the site to build new connections with those who share their interests and experiences. We’re very proud to be the first organization to offer these tools to people, and will continue to strive to be on the cutting edge of KT in the future.”
UTSPH’s Healthy Passages Study Receives Honor
An article written for the Healthy Passages research study by Luisa Franzini, associate professor at The University of Texas School of Public Health (UTSPH), was voted the second most influential research paper during the past year in a survey conducted by The Robert Woods Johnson Foundation website.
The website, www.rjwf.org, recently asked more than 900 web visitors and subscribers to vote on the most influential childhood obesity research conducted in the past year. The second-place paper titled, Influences of Physical and Social Neighborhood Environments on Children’s Physical Activity and Obesity, examined how the physical and social neighborhood environments where fifth graders live and play affect their levels of physical activity and obesity rates.
In the Healthy Passages study, researchers at each site will follow a group of fifth-grade students until they are 20 years old to gain a better understanding of the factors that keep children healthy.
Healthy Passages is a multi-site longitudinal study on adolescent health conducted at UTSPH, the University of California at Los Angeles/RAND, Center for Adolescent Health Promotion, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health. At UTSPH, the program is housed in The University of Texas Prevention Research Center (UTPRC) and led by Dr. Susan Tortolero, associate professor at UTSPH and director of the UTPRC and Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research.
You can read Dr. Franzini’s paper and the full results from the survey at http://www.rwjf.org/pr/product.jsp?id=46432&c.
Post-Doc Fellowships Available in Cancer Education
Interdisciplinary post-doctoral fellowships in cancer education with career development are available at The University of Texas School of Public Health (UTSPH). The school is accepting applications from individuals showing outstanding promise for scholarly achievement contributing to cancer prevention and control, as well as a commitment to a research career assessing public health needs.
Individuals with a PhD, DrPH, MD or other doctoral degree in public health, health promotion/health education, one of the behavioral or social sciences, epidemiology or medicine who are US citizens or permanent residents may apply.
These fellowships are funded by the National Cancer Institute and provide support for 2 to 3 years. Annual salaries are $50,000 and higher and also include many benefits. This fellowship is currently in its 16th year of funding.
Advantages of this fellowship are:
It is located in the world’s largest medical center.
It is a thriving interdisciplinary research environment among diverse populations.
Fellows have weekly contact with faculty, pre-doctoral fellows and other post-doctoral fellows through an ongoing seminar focusing on proposal writing, publication and career development.
Faculty mentors are associated with the following UTSPH centers.
- Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research
- Dell Center for Healthy Living
- The Institute for Health Policy
For more information on these fellowships, contact Patricia Dolan Mullen, DrPH, at ncifellowships@uth.tmc.edu.
UTSPH Program HEADS UP Receives Accolade Award of Merit
Heads Up scientists of today! Dr. Nancy G. Murray and Nathalie Sessions at The University of Texas School of Public Health (UTSPH) are preparing the next generation for career success in science and health.
Dr. Murray and Ms. Sessions were recently awarded an Accolade Award of Merit for the video HEADS UP: The Immune System & Infectious Diseases. As part of the Michael & Susan Dell Center for Advancement of Healthy Living at UTSPH, the HEADS UP program educates and excites middle school and high school students about science and health science careers through implementation of multimedia science curricula.
“The purpose of HEADS UP is to pique student interest in science and health science careers,” says Murray, an assistant professor of behavioral sciences at the Michael & Susan Dell Center for Advancement of Healthy Living. “We want students to watch the videos and say, “I can do that!” Our main message is that students can become scientists like the ones they see in the videos. Please note that we made every effort to recruit scientists like our students – female, Hispanic, African-American, from farm families, from the city, from Central America, and just people! We also recruited scientists at many levels of education and expertise, from the people who maintain the equipment, the people who manages the research animal lab, to the M.D.s and Ph.D.s.”
The DVD vignettes use a real-life cast of students interacting with actual scientists and other health science professionals, and are supported with attention-grabbing graphics. DVDs also include short video biographies highlighting a number of different science-related careers. For more about the award and a Q&A with Dr. Murray, click here. http://www.accoladecompetition.org/Video/Jud.aspx?art=_57
A. David Mangelsdorff, Ph.D., M.P.H., Donates to Endow New Professorship in Community Preparedness and Public Health
A generous donation made by local philanthropist Dr. A David Mangelsdorff has led to the establishment of a trust to endow the new A. David Mangelsdorff Professorship in Community Preparedness and Public Health at The University of Texas School of Public Health (UTSPH) San Antonio Regional Campus (SARC). The professorship – the first for San Antonio’s Regional Campus - will allow SARC to focus on new and critical areas of public health and disaster preparedness that have particular relevance to the San Antonio area.
Dr. Mangelsdorff’s name is familiar to many of those at The University of Texas System having recently endowed a professorship in Public Health Preparedness and Biomedical Research at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio in March 2006. The new professorship at The UTSPH San Antonio Regional Campus is the latest in several endowed professorships that represent this philanthropist’s desire to support multidisciplinary scholarship, higher education, national security and homeland defense.
Dr. Mangelsdorff, a former MPH graduate of the UTSPH SARC, has served as adjunct professor at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio School of Allied Health, the UTSPH SARC, as well as at several other universities in Texas and Maryland. The Fulbright Scholar is a graduate of Dartmouth College and holds advanced degrees from the University of Delaware, St. Mary’s University and UTSPH SARC. Dr. Mangelsdorff is currently a professor and health psychologist with the Army-Baylor University Graduate Program in Health and Business Administration at the Academy of Health Sciences at Fort Sam Houston. His areas of expertise are military psychology, occupational health, stress, terrorism, substance use, patient attitudes and professional retention factors.
Sources: Doc Mangelsdorff’s website - http://users.idworld.net/dmangels/default.htm
Robert Emery, DrPH, is Awarded Medal of Achievement by the Office of the Surgeon General
Robert Emery, DrPH, associate professor of occupational health and lieutenant commander in the US Public Health Service, was awarded a medal of achievement by the Office of the Surgeon General at the USPHS Scientific and Training Symposium in Atlanta, GA on June 3, 2009. The medal was in recognition of Emery’s efforts to increase awareness among UTSPH students about career opportunities in the USPHS. Dr. Emery is pictured with RADM Carol Romano, Assistant Surgeon General, Director, Office of Reserve Affairs.
Herbert L. DuPont, MD, MACP, Receives President's Scholar Award for Excellence in Research at UTHSC-H
Congratulations to our own Herbert L. DuPont, MD, MACP, Professor in Epidemiology and Director, Center for Infectious Diseases at UTSPH for being awarded the prestigious President’s Scholar Award for Excellence in Research at The University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston (UTHSC-H). Each year, two or three full-time faculty members at UTHSC-H are presented this honor for excellence in research and teaching. Honorees are nominated and selected by their peers at UTHSC-H. Selection criteria for the research honorees include research quality and importance, productivity and peer recognition. Dr. DuPont received this award for his groundbreaking research on enteric infectious diseases – particularly his work with Travelers’ diarrhea. His major research goals are to define the epidemiology, immunology, genetic resistance, clinical features, control, prevention and therapy of enteric infectious diseases. Dr. DuPont is only the fourth UTSPH faculty member to receive this award since its inception in 1993.
2009 John P. McGovern Award in Health Promotion Handed Out
Meryl Slipakoff Cohen, Vice-President of Education and Counseling at Planned Parenthood of Houston and Southeast Texas, is this year’s recipient of John P. McGovern Award in Health Promotion given by The University of Texas School of Public Health.
