Dr. Rajesh Balkrishnan, Professor of Public Health Sciences, (second from right) recently visited the University of West Indies Faculty of Medical Sciences, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago where he delivered the School of Pharmacy Annual Symposium. His talk entitled “Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety: An overview and recent research” was attended by over 100 students and faculty. In addition, Dr. Balkrishnan conducted oral examinations of the graduating pharmacy class and discussed research collaborations with faculty members at the university.

The Help Happens Here Campaign is a public awareness and stigma reduction campaign spearheaded by the Community Mental Health and Wellness Coalition.  UVA MPH Program students and faculty helped inform the design of the campaign by conducting literature reviews and conducting a focus group.

Jamie Zoellner, PhD, RD, Associate Professor of Public Health Sciences and Associate Director, Cancer Center without Walls at the UVA Cancer Center, has been recognized by the American Journal of Health Promotion with the journal’s prestigious annual Paper of the Year Award for her publication entitled “The Influence of Health Literacy on Reach, Retention, and Success in a Worksite Weight Loss Program.” Jamie recently came to the Department of Public Health Sciences from the Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise at Virginia Tech.

Jamie’s award-winning publication arose from research conducted at Virginia Tech, research which she and her team will continue in southwest and southside Virginia. To read more about the award, click on the link above.

Congratulations, Jamie!

Research presented in two recent papers published by Assistant Professor Aaron Yao has gotten attention both locally and nationally. The publications in the journals Health Affairs and The Journal of Rural health bring attention to the increase in colon cancer screenings brought about by the Affordable Care Act and a lack of in-home care for the home-bound and elderly patient populations, as well as a significant disparity in cancer rates in rural Appalachia.

• The Daily Progress: Through scholarship, UVa helps expand pool of potential nurses
• UVA Today: New Study Finds Homebound, Elderly Patients Missing Out on In-Home Care

• NBC News: Obamacare Saved Thousands From Colon Cancer Death, Report Finds
• UVA Today: Affordable Care Act Made Some Cancer Screenings More Accessible

• fivethirtyeight.com:  Cancer rates are dropping but not in rural Appalachia

Our resident health care policy expert, Carolyn L. Engelhard, writes regularly for The Hill. Read her latest exploration of the intricacies of American health care policy here.

The Charlottesville Podcasting Network has just posted “Wake-Up Call: The Affordable Care Act: Repeal & Replace or Remain” featuring Carolyn Engelhard’s interview on 94.7 FM WPVC at:

http://www.cvillepodcast.com/2017/04/09/wake-up-call-the-affordable-care-act-repeal-replace-or-remain