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Colorado School of Public Health News and Stories

Community & Practice

Community    Funding    Community and Practice    Health Policy

Judson Family Completes $1 Million Philanthropic Commitment to the Colorado School of Public Health

The Colorado School of Public Health (ColoradoSPH) is pleased to announce the completion of the Franklyn N. Judson, MD, Endowed Fund for Impact on Public Health Policy, a visionary initiative made possible by more than $1 million in philanthropic gifts from Drs. Frank and Marti Judson. The fund aims to provide flexible support for the school up to and including research, education, policy formation, and various community outreach initiatives.


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Firearm Injury Prevention    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Gun Violence Prevention    Injury & Violence Prevention

CDPHE Partners with the Colorado School of Public Health to Launch the State’s First Gun Violence Prevention Resource Bank

REMOTE (FEB 22):   The Office of Gun Violence Prevention within the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has partnered with the Injury and Violence Prevention Center in the Colorado School of Public Health to publish the state’s first-ever resource bank regarding gun violence in Colorado.


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Community    Epidemiology    Community and Practice    Student and Alumni    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Global Health

ColoradoSPH Faculty Empowers Grad Students to Gamify Lessons for Local High School Public Health Practicum

When Madiha Abdel-Maksoud, MD, PhD, MSPH, a physician and researcher, saw the latest data about high school students in Colorado and risky behavior, she knew she had to do something, not only as a public health professional but as a mother of a daughter who graduated from the Denver Public School (DPS) system.


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Community    Epidemiology    Community and Practice    Equity Diversity and Inclusion    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    ColoradoSPH at CSU    Community Health    Health Advocacy

Colorado School of Public Health Reaffirms its Commitment to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion; Implements Innovative Search Advocate Program

Sixteen words sum up the mission of the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (OEDI) at the Colorado School of Public Health (ColoradoSPH). It is to “shape policies, practices, and programs that support a fair, diverse, and respectful environment for all individuals.”


Author Tyler Smith | Publish Date January 23, 2024
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Research    Community    Students    Mental Health    Epidemiology    Firearm Injury Prevention    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    Student and Alumni    Cannabis    Environment    Gun Violence Prevention    Injury & Violence Prevention    Maternal & Child Health    Worker Health

ColoradoSPH's Top Stories of 2023

In 2023, some of the nation’s top public health researchers at the Colorado School of Public Health tackled a variety of the largest public health questions facing us today.


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Community    Community and Practice    Equity Diversity and Inclusion    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Workforce Development    Community Health

Barbershops and Salons Prove Fruitful Grounds for Addressing Hypertension Rates in the Black Community

If one goes in search of a stark public health problem, it’s difficult to avoid rates of hypertension in the Black community. The disease threatens all groups, but the percentage of Black adults with high blood pressure (at 59%) is by far the highest. In the relatively healthier state of Colorado, the incidence of high blood pressure among Blacks is much lower (at 34%), but it is still the highest by far among all groups in the state.


Author Tyler Smith | Publish Date December 19, 2023
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Community    Giving    Community and Practice    Equity Diversity and Inclusion    Workforce Development

Colorado Health Foundation Supports Rural-Colorado's Queer Youth with Donation to ColoradoSPH

The Colorado School of Public Health’s Center for Public Health Practice recently received a generous donation from The Colorado Health Foundation to bolster the Center's efforts to engage and support queer youth throughout rural Colorado.


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Community    mHealth    Community and Practice    Equity Diversity and Inclusion    Artificial Intelligence (AI)    AI/AN health    Community Health    Latino Health

ColoradoSPH Takes Lead Role in Advancing Equity and Diversity in Artificial Intelligence (AI) Innovation

The Executive Order on the development and use of artificial intelligence (AI) issued by President Biden on October 30 is a directive that contains no fewer than 13 sections. But two words in the opening line strike at the challenge presented by AI: “promise” and “peril.”

As the document’s statement of purpose puts it, AI can help to make the world “more prosperous, productive, innovative, and secure” at the same that it increases the risk of “fraud, discrimination, bias, and disinformation,” and other threats.


Author Tyler Smith | Publish Date November 30, 2023
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Child & Adolescent    Community and Practice    Equity Diversity and Inclusion   

Ambassadors for Literacy and Resilience Guide Young Students Along a Path to Success

Sonya Palafox was a freshman at North High School in Denver 25 years ago when she got a message kids don’t want to hear: come to the principal’s office. She had no way of knowing it at the time, but the call would represent a turning point in her life.


Author Tyler Smith | Publish Date November 30, 2023
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Community    COVID-19    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Environment

Lessons Learned from Three Pandemic Years as the 2023 Holiday Travel Season Kicks Off

This holiday season, more than 55 million Americans are expected to travel for Thanksgiving alone, with nearly 5 million taking to the skies next week. US air travel has returned to pre-pandemic levels, and US airports are anticipating the highest number of Thanksgiving travelers since 2005. Masks are a rare sight not only in airports and on airplanes, but virtually everywhere else. But due, in part, to scientific advances and the structural, cultural, and societal changes that followed the emergence of COVID-19, we have a number of tools available to protect people from respiratory viruses. The outlook on respiratory disease this holiday season may be brighter than it has been in recent years.


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Community    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz

A New Era: Removing Social Barriers in the Sphere of Public Health

Behind every exceptional leader lies a firm and ardent conviction. For Cathy Bradley, PhD, the newly minted, first permanent woman dean of the Colorado School of Public Health, it is a fundamental belief that health drives success. This belief is the compass by which she has built and steered a career dedicated to solving problems and removing social barriers in the sphere of public health, and that shall continue to guide her in this new venture as dean. For Bradley, there is no higher calling than the mission to fight the disparities that render our communities unequal.


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Community    Students    Community and Practice    Student and Alumni    Equity Diversity and Inclusion    Community Health

Community-Based Programs Work with Local Refugees to Improve Health

Across Colorado, a diverse community of some 60,000 often unseen and overlooked people dots the state. They are refugees who have fled drought, poverty, persecution, violence and other threats from countries around the globe. But their challenges do not cease once they arrive in Colorado. Their plight frequently contributes to chronic medical problems.


Author Tyler Smith | Publish Date October 05, 2023
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Women's Health    Epidemiology    Community and Practice    Equity Diversity and Inclusion   

National Academies Committee Probes the Outcomes of Supreme Court Ruling on Abortion Rights

On its face, the June 2022 Supreme Court ruling on the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case was straightforward. It removed the constitutional right to an abortion that had been established in 1973 by the court in Roe v. Wade. Decisions about access to abortion would now be left up to the states, many of whom quickly imposed tight restrictions, while a handful of other states, including Colorado, acted quickly to ensure a woman’s right to determine what is best for her health.


Author Tyler Smith | Publish Date October 02, 2023
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Awards    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    ColoradoSPH at CSU    ColoradoSPH at UNC

Celebrating ColoradoSPH Awardees at Public Health in the Rockies

Each year, Colorado Public Health Association and ColoradoSPH honors exceptional individuals in the field of public health at the Public Health in the Rockies (PHiR) conference. The purpose of PHiR is to provide an opportunity for education, networking, and skill development of professionals in Colorado, Wyoming, and neighboring regions. As in past years, many ColoradoSPH students, faculty, and alumni received awards from CPHA and ColoradoSPH at the conference awards luncheon. We celebrate all who received these awards for their hard work in public health.  


Author Colorado School of Public Health | Publish Date September 28, 2023
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Community    Community and Practice    Equity Diversity and Inclusion    AI/AN health

Online Certificate Program is One of Three in the Nation Focused on American Indian/Alaska Native Health

There are 574 “Tribal entities” recognized by the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs. The members of these tribes live in most of the contiguous 48 states in the nation, from Washington to Florida and Maine to Arizona. The Bureau of Indian Affairs also recognizes the 228 tribes of Alaska Native people who live across Alaska’s yawning expanses, yet public health education that centers on investigating and addressing the needs of these diverse communities and cultures is still a “niche market,” says Jerreed Ivanich, PhD, assistant professor of community and behavioral health and in the Centers for American Indian & Alaska Native Health at the Colorado School of Public Health. But Ivanich is leading an effort to change that. He directs the Certificate in American Indian & Alaska Native Health program, an online offering that is directed toward helping students develop the skills necessary to meet the most important healthcare challenges for Native people.


Author Tyler Smith | Publish Date September 05, 2023
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Community    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Climate Health    Environment    Worker Health

ColoradoSPH Takes On Climate Threats to Human Health with First-of-its-Kind PhD Program

The Colorado School of Public Health on the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus is preparing to play a lead role in investigating and responding to the rapidly intensifying effects of global climate change.

The school is launching the nation’s first PhD program that focuses specifically on climate change and its multiple impacts on people’s health and the communities where they live. The inaugural class of the PhD in Climate & Human Health program is set for the Fall 2024 semester, said program director Katherine James, PhD, MSPH, MSCE, associate professor of environmental and occupational health and in the Center for Health, Work & Environment at ColoradoSPH.


Author Tyler Smith | Publish Date August 28, 2023
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Community and Practice    Climate Health    Community Health    Environment    Worker Health

New NIH-Funded Project Brings Public Health Faculty and Community Leaders Together to Seek Climate Justice

Record-breaking heat and drought. Thick blankets of wildfire smoke. Walls of wind-driven flames. Pelting hail. Swath-cutting tornadoes. The summer of 2023 has been a constant reminder of the powerful effects of climate change. But the trying season is only one dramatic recent reminder of the changes and the toll they have taken on neighborhoods, communities, and economies in the form of air quality, water resources, food production and other factors that affect the quality of people’s lives.


Author Tyler Smith | Publish Date August 22, 2023
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Public Health    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CSU    Community Health

In Memory of Henry “Hank” Gardner

Father, husband, brother, son, grandfather, uncle, friend, colleague, academic leader, visionary, mentor, and soldier, Henry S. (Hank) Gardner, Jr., DrPH, MSPH, 71, died peacefully on August 9, with his family at his side.


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Community    COVID-19    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Environment

ColoradoSPH Launches a Rocky Mountain COVID Data Dashboard to Help Public Health Officials Across the Rocky Mountain West

In May 2023, a public health emergency response spurred by the 3-year COVID-19 pandemic, came to an end in the United States. With that ending, many data feeds and indicators critical to COVID-19 planning and response also came to a halt. Many questions remain as communities across the nation settle into a longer-term relationship with the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the disease it causes. As the COVID pandemic made clear, public health officials need to be equipped with the best available information to optimize public health operations both now and in the future. To answer this call, researchers at the Colorado School of Public Health created and launched the Rocky Mountain COVID Data dashboard.


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Community    Epidemiology    Community and Practice    Workforce Development

Calonge's Second Stint as CDPHE’s Chief Medical Officer Solidifies Relationships and Public Health Infrastructure for Colorado

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) recently named a new chief medical officer who is also a familiar face.


Author Tyler Smith | Publish Date July 25, 2023
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Community    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Climate Health    Environment    Worker Health

A First-of-its-Kind Training Program for Doctoral Students Focused on Climate and Worker Safety & Health

The Center for Health, Work & Environment at the Colorado School of Public Health (ColoradoSPH) will soon be training researchers to address the impact of climate change on the health of workers. It’s newly established training program for doctoral students, Targeted Research Training Program in Climate and Worker Safety and Health, is the first of its kind in the United States.  


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Community    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Workforce Development    Community Health    Latino Health

ColoradoSPH Faculty Play Key Role in Passage of Bipartisan Bill Supporting Community Healthcare Workers

A well-established pillar of Colorado’s healthcare system received powerful additional support in late April with bipartisan passage of Colorado SB23-002. The bill will allow Medicaid reimbursement for some services provided by community health workers (CHWs), who help to connect patients to vital healthcare and community services, provide education, and decrease barriers to care, among other tasks. CHWs often go by a variety titles, including health navigators and lay health workers.


Author Tyler Smith | Publish Date June 13, 2023
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Community    Epidemiology    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Global Health

Hundreds Come Together for Campus Tribute in Memory of Dr. Stephen Berman

Dr. Stephen Berman, long-time director of the Center for Global Health in the Colorado School of Public Health, passed away from lymphoma earlier this year. His loss was felt deeply across the campus and his many friends and colleagues gathered at a tribute event held on the CU Anschutz Medical Campus on May 11, 2023. Six presenters covered the many dimensions of Dr. Berman’s career, offering colorful stories that captured his commitment to improving the health of children everywhere.  


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Community    Students    Community and Practice    Student and Alumni    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    RMPHTC    Community Health    Training

Student Awardee's Initiative Leads to Unique Practicum and Capstone Experience at ColoradoSPH's Public Health Training Center

As an undergraduate at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, Lexie King intended to study to be a nurse. Three years in, however, she changed her mind. She earned her degree in communications, with a minor in public health.


Author Tyler Smith | Publish Date May 24, 2023
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Community    Epidemiology    Awards    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    ColoradoSPH at CSU    ColoradoSPH at UNC    Biostatistics    Community Health    Environment    Health Advocacy

Recognizing Our ColoradoSPH 2023 Award Winners

Each year, the Colorado School of Public Health honors exceptional students, faculty, and staff at an annual awards ceremony coinciding with graduation.


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Community    Epidemiology    Awards    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Biostatistics    Community Health    Environment    Health Advocacy

ColoradoSPH Continues to Rank in the Top 20 Public Health Schools and Programs in the Nation

U.S. News and World Report has named the Colorado School of Public Health among the top 20 schools and programs of public health in the nation in its 2023-2024 rankings. ColoradoSPH is now ranked 17th out of 206 Master of Public Health (MPH) programs accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH).


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Community    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Cannabis    Health Advocacy    Health Policy

Colorado School of Public Health Delivers Comprehensive Review on Physical and Mental effects of High THC Concentration Cannabis to Colorado Capitol

Today, a research team assembled by the Colorado School of Public Health (ColoradoSPH) in response to the 2021 Colorado House Bill HB21-1317, “Regulating Marijuana Concentrates,” delivered its mandated review to Colorado legislators on the scientific evidence related to the physical and mental health effects of high-concentration THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the main psychoactive compound in cannabis products). This review was requested as the marketplace shifted towards high-concentration products. The health implications of this change are not well understood. In a comprehensive scoping review, the team screened approximately 66,000 studies and ultimately identified 452 published through late 2022 that are relevant to understanding the health effects of high-concentration cannabis products. The ColoradoSPH team also created a first-of-its-kind interactive and publicly available evidence map of the 452 cannabis studies, which makes the studies searchable and accessible.   


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Community    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CSU    Environment

New Treatments for an Aging Population

A novel hypothesis is taking shape in the world of aging research: the idea that if everyone gets older, aging is inevitable, and chronic diseases multiply with age, then why not view aging as the problem to be investigated, rather than each disease or condition that develops


Author Hannah Halusker | Publish Date April 18, 2023
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Community    Epidemiology    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz   

Aurora Ninth Graders Get an Inside Look at Clinical Trial Design During First “Epidemiology Day”

How is a randomized, controlled clinical trial designed, executed and analyzed? It’s probably not a stretch to assume that the question would stump most people stopped on the street.


Author Tyler Smith | Publish Date April 11, 2023
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Community    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Health Advocacy    Health Policy

Advocacy Day at the Capitol

Walking into the Colorado State Capitol building feels like entering the living center of the state. The feeling is electric and exciting. I first experienced this while attending the Colorado Public Health Association’s 2023 annual Public Health Advocacy Day there. The CPHA Policy Committee organized the event to give public health professionals, students, and community members the chance to meet local legislators and learn about policy and advocacy.


Author Brenna Combs | Publish Date April 03, 2023
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Community    Veteran and Military Health    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz

National Security and Public Health Find Common Ground in Panel Discussion

Two worlds that are not always directly linked were recently brought together in a panel discussion hosted by the Colorado School of Public Health. The presentation, “National Security and the Impact on Public Health,” explored the often subtle ways that efforts to protect society from diseases, such as COVID-19, intersect with strategies to guard against political and ideological contagions that threaten the social fabric. 


Author Tyler Smith | Publish Date March 07, 2023
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Community    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Workforce Development    Training    Worker Health

Convening Colorado Business Leaders to Create Recovery Friendly Workplaces

On January 12, 2023, the Center for Health, Work & Environment (CHWE) at the Colorado School of Public Health (ColoradoSPH), along with the Colorado Consortium for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention, concluded the first phase of its Recovery Friendly Workplace (RFW) peer learning series – a four-part virtual workshop for Colorado business leaders. Nominated participants represented a range of industries including healthcare, restaurants, hospitality, construction/utilities, local government, and education.


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Community    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Global Health

Remembering Dr. Steve Berman

Our deepest condolences to the family, friends, patients and colleagues of Dr. Stephen Berman, who passed away on January 17. Steve was a true champion for children, and this loss will be felt deeply by all who knew him. Services were held Sunday, January 22, at the Hebrew Educational Alliance, in Denver.


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Community    Epidemiology    Firearm Injury Prevention    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Gun Violence Prevention    Injury & Violence Prevention

CDPHE Partners with the Colorado School of Public Health to Create Gun Violence Prevention Resource Bank

The Office of Gun Violence Prevention within the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is partnering with researchers from the Injury and Violence Prevention Center in the Colorado School of Public Health to create and maintain a resource bank of regularly updated and accurate materials regarding gun violence in Colorado.


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Community    COVID-19    Mental Health    Scholarship    Awards    Community and Practice

Top 10 Stories of 2022

In the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, Colorado School of Public Health (ColoradoSPH) faculty, staff, students, and alumni helped shape the conversation. And while the pandemic occupied much of our focus as a nation and a global community, our research and community engagement continued in other important areas of public health as well.


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Awards    Community and Practice    Student and Alumni    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz

Community Preceptor Award Highlights MPH Student’s Work to Support Older HIV Patients at Risk for Cognitive Impairment

Erin Burk-Leaver has spent more than a decade advocating for and serving older adults. She is also committed to spurring that interest in others — and the Colorado School of Public Health has taken note.


Author Tyler Smith | Publish Date December 16, 2022
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Press Coverage    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz   

Structural Stigma In Law: Implications And Opportunities For Health And Health Equity

Because laws are powerful mediators for structural stigma, they are critical levers for antistigma work, according to a new Health Affairs brief co-authored by Daniel Goldberg, associate professor of epidemiology.


Author Health Affairs | Publish Date December 08, 2022
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Community    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Health Policy

Remembering Dr. Phoebe Lindsey Barton

Condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of Phoebe Lindsey Barton, PhD, professor of health policy and the MSPH program director at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center from 1990 until her retirement in 2008. Phoebe passed away on November 9, 2022.


Author Jennifer Myers | Publish Date December 05, 2022
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Community    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Climate Health    Environment

ASPPH Webinar Highlights Public Health Response to Climate Change

Colorado School of Public Health Dean Dr. Jon Samet didn’t mince words as he spoke during a webinar sponsored by the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH) October 26 about climate change and the health risks it poses.


Author Tyler Smith | Publish Date November 07, 2022
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Community    COVID-19    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Data and Health

New COVID-19 Modeling Report Shows Uncertainty for Remainder of 2022

Colorado School of Public Health Dean Dr. Jon Samet didn’t mince words as he spoke during a webinar sponsored by the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH) October 26 about climate change and the health risks it poses.


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Community    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz

Inaugural ColoradoSPH Research Exchange Highlights Public Health Issues, Experts

The gleaming new Anschutz Health Sciences Building was an appropriate locale for a gathering of professionals and students intent on sharing and exploring the latest ideas and issues animating public health. 


Author Tyler Smith | Publish Date October 05, 2022
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Community    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Environment    Training    Worker Health

Leaders in Occupational Safety and Health Launch the Society for Total Worker Health

Leaders in occupational health and safety from across the U.S. have launched the new Society for Total Worker Health™. The Society for Total Worker Health is a non-profit member organization made up of individuals and partners dedicated to the advancement of worker health, safety, well-being, and productivity through Total Worker Health®.


Author Laura Veith | Publish Date September 19, 2022
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Community    Alumni    Community and Practice    Student and Alumni    ColoradoSPH at UNC

Alum Rudy Vargas Announced as New Director of UNC's César Chávez Cultural Center

Rodolfo (Rudy) Vargas ’13, ‘22, was born in Matamoros Coahuila, Mexico, and moved to the U.S. at the age of 12. He graduated from Greeley Central High School, then enrolled at UNC with plans to become a teacher. Those plans followed a different path, though, as he realized he wanted to help other students transition from high school to college – and from college to a successful career. Here’s how his UNC experience shaped him – and how he’s helping the students who’ve come after him.


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Community    Mental Health    Addiction    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Environment    Worker Health

Responding to Colorado’s Mental Health and Substance Use Epidemic

The Center for Health, Work & Environment (CHWE) at the Colorado School of Public Health (ColoradoSPH) is responding to the national mental health crisis and substance use epidemic that has only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This emergency requires a strong joint effort between public health organizations and employers. 


Author Laura Veith | Publish Date July 09, 2022
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Epidemiology    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CSU

CSU Professor Recognized by International Society for Agricultural Safety and Health

Colorado State University Professor Lorann Stallones has been recognized for her outstanding contribution to agricultural health and safety research by the International Society for Agricultural Safety and Health.


Author Jane Barber | Publish Date June 30, 2022
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Community    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    ColoradoSPH at CSU    ColoradoSPH at UNC

Recognizing Our 2022 Award Winners

Each year, the Colorado School of Public Health honors exceptional students, faculty, and staff at an awards ceremony coinciding with graduation. The following individuals have made outstanding contributions to public health and our school. Congratulations to this year's award winners!


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Community    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Workforce Development    Community Health

Patricia Valverde Leads in the Development of National Community Guidelines to Battle Human Trafficking

In the abstract, the term “human trafficking” may conjure shadowy images of vulnerable individuals forced into sex work or people enduring long, dangerous journeys on the promise of steady jobs, only to be consigned to low-paying, abusive work. The reality is far more complex, as Patricia Valverde discovered three years ago. 


Author Tyler Smith | Publish Date April 06, 2022
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Community    COVID-19    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    Equity Diversity and Inclusion    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    ColoradoSPH at CSU    Environment

ColoradoSPH Dean Chair of National Academies Report on Protecting All US Workers and the Public from Inhalation Hazards

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recommends two frameworks for providing respiratory protection for the nation — one for workers and one for the public — a need made clear by the COVID-19 pandemic and increasingly frequent wildfires. The report makes the case that all types of workers, including essential and gig economy workers, should be covered by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) or equivalent respiratory protection requirements when exposed to inhalation hazards in the workplace. It also calls for a coordinated system to ensure all members of the public, including children, have access to appropriate respiratory protective devices and guidance on their effective use. 


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Press Coverage    Epidemiology    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz   

Omicron Has Peaked. Will the COVID-19 Pandemic Ever End?

In the wake of the peak of the omicron variant, many are questioning if the recent decline in cases is signaling the end of COVID. Jon Samet, ColoradoSPH Dean warns the pandemic is far from over, with SARS-CoV-2 now present in animal reservoirs.


Author UCHealth | Publish Date February 04, 2022
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Press Coverage    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz   

Colorado Passes ‘Grim Milestone’ with Over 1 Million COVID Cases

Despite the introduction of vaccines and better treatment for those with COVID-19, new cases continue to rise exponentially in Colorado. Beth Carlton, associate professor of epidemiology, warns of soon overwhelmed hospitals.


Author CPR | Publish Date January 10, 2022
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Community    Diabetes    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz   

Dabelea Earns Distinguished Professor Title, University of Colorado Board of Regents Highest Honor

For more than 25 years, Dr. Dana Dabelea has devoted herself to studying a disease that has steadily solidified a foothold in the United States.


Author Tyler Smith | Publish Date December 30, 2021
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Community    Alumni    Awards    Community and Practice    Student and Alumni    Equity Diversity and Inclusion    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz

MPH Grad Takes on Timely Issues With Inaugural Public Health Fellowship

As an undergraduate at the University of Oregon, Justice Onwordi learned the intricacies of human physiology. After earning her degree in 2018, she applied her skills as an exercise physiologist in the Denver metro area. She contemplated moving on to medical school or to a nurse practitioner program, but ultimately Onwordi determined that her professional path must go through public health.


Author Tyler Smith | Publish Date December 28, 2021
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Community    COVID-19    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Environment

SARS-CoV-2 Indoor Air Transmission is a Threat that can be Addressed with Science

A November 2021 PNAS perspective reports the results of a 2020 workshop at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), convened by the Environmental Health Matters Initiative. The NASEM committee, chaired by Jon Samet, MD, MS, dean of the Colorado School of Public Health, also included ColoradoSPH at CSU faculty and professor of mechanical engineering, John Volckens, PhD. The committee and workshop convened in the fall of 2020 to rapidly inform urgent issues and address the potential for airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2. The committee concluded that the virus is transmitted by aerosols, that transmission mitigation measures such as masks, social distancing, air filtration, and air ventilation are effective, and that layered transmission interventions should reflect the heterogeneity of factors driving inequitable social burdens of the pandemic.


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Community    Awards    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Environment    Worker Health

Center for Health, Work & Environment Receives Award to Continue National Center of Excellence for Total Worker Health®

The Center for Health, Work & Environment (CHWE) at the Colorado School of Public Health has been awarded a five-year, approximately $6 million dollar, cooperative agreement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to operate a Center of Excellence for Total Worker Health. Support of this program from the CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) will further advance Total Worker Health (TWH) as an emerging field of science and practice and address the needs of the 21st century of workforce through research, intervention, and outreach activities. 


Author Colorado School of Public Health | Publish Date September 22, 2021
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Community    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    ColoradoSPH at CSU    Climate Health    Environment

ColoradoSPH Epidemiologists Advise WHO on Air Quality Guidelines

The World Health Organization updated its Global Air Quality Guidelines on Sept. 22 for the first time in 16 years. The new guidelines reflect research that shows the considerable impact that air pollution has on global health, said Dr. David Rojas, assistant professor of epidemiology at Colorado State University and the Colorado School of Public Health (ColoradoSPH).

Rojas and ColoradoSPH Dean and Professor Jonathan Samet, MD, MS, served as advisors to the WHO and helped develop the new guidelines.

"These updated WHO Air Quality Guidelines are used throughout the world, offering global benchmarks and targets for those countries that still have high levels of air pollution. Reflecting advances in understanding of the risks of air pollution since the 2005 update, the new guidelines values are lower for most pollutants," said Samet.


Author Mary Guiden | Publish Date September 22, 2021
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Community    COVID-19    Epidemiology    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz   

Approximately 1 in 99 People in Colorado are Infectious; 70% of Coloradans Estimated to be Immune

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) and the Colorado School of Public Health released an updated statewide modeling report showing Colorado is currently in its fifth wave of infections. The estimated effective reproductive number in Colorado is 1.1, indicating increasing infections, but that value is lower than it has been over the last month. One in 99 Coloradans are estimated to be currently infected—and 70% of Coloradans are estimated to be immune, by vaccination or by prior infection.


Author Colorado School of Public Health | Publish Date September 17, 2021
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Community    Community and Practice    Equity Diversity and Inclusion    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    AI/AN health    Community Health

Manson Receives National Academy of Medicine's Sarnat Prize for Improving Mental Health Services for American Indian, Alaska Native Communities

The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) has named Spero M. Manson as the recipient of the 2021 Rhoda and Bernard Sarnat International Prize in Mental Health for his 43-year career dedicated to improving the mental health of American Indians and Alaska Natives — and bringing a culturally informed lens to the assessment, epidemiology, treatment, and prevention of mental health conditions. The award, which recognizes Manson’s achievements with a medal and $20,000, will be presented at the NAM’s virtual annual meeting on October 17, 2021. Manson, Pembina Chippewa, is a distinguished professor of public health and psychiatry at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and The Colorado Trust Chair in American Indian Health at the Colorado School of Public Health.


Author Colorado School of Public Health | Publish Date September 15, 2021
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Latest Modeling: Vaccinations Can Still Prevent a Large Burden of Disease if Coloradans Get at least One Shot Before Labor Day

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) and the Colorado School of Public Health released an updated statewide modeling report showing the projected impact of increased vaccine uptake in Colorado by Labor Day weekend. The models show that Colorado could still experience thousands more cases of severe, but avoidable, COVID-19 over the months ahead. Vaccination is the key to preventing these cases.


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Epidemiology    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CSU    Climate Health    Environment

ColoradoSPH Dean Selected for EPA's Science Advisory Board

On August 2, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael S. Regan announced his selections for membership of the Science Advisory Board (SAB). The committee will be comprised of 22 women and 25 men, including 16 people of color, making it the most diverse SAB since the committee was established. The Administrator’s selections are well-qualified experts with a cross-section of scientific disciplines and experience needed to provide advice to EPA leadership to help advance the agency’s mission.

Among those selected is Dr. Jonathan Samet, dean and professor of epidemiology, and environmental and occupational health for the Colorado School of Public Health.

"I am honored to have been selected as a charter member of EPA’s Science Advisory Board, which has a critical role in providing peer review and guidance for the agency," said Samet. "With these new appointments, Administrator Regan has achieved a high level of diversity and added important expertise on environmental justice. I look forward to helping with the challenges ahead as the Administration moves ahead to improve the environment and reduce the substantial burden of disease due to pollution."


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Community    COVID-19    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Community Health

Opinion: Medical Science Alone Can’t Stop Pandemics. The Missing Link is Leadership.

In Colorado and around the world, the coronavirus pandemic has been a test of leadership. From mask mandates to vaccine distribution, governors, local officials and world leaders have struggled to achieve the necessary levels of cooperation and build public trust.


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Celebrating Dr. John Adgate’s 12 Years as Chair of the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health

After 12 years, Dr. John Adgate is stepping down as Chair of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health (EOH) at the Colorado School of Public Health (ColoradoSPH). He will remain a faculty member for the department and focus on research, teaching and mentoring students.


Author Laura Veith | Publish Date June 07, 2021
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Should You Wear a Mask Indoors? 7 Vaccinated Epidemiologists Share What They’re Doing

May Chu, PhD, clinical professor of epidemiology, explains that she will keep wearing her mask in certain situations because there isn't a reliable way to know who is vaccinated and because she has high-risk family members.


Author Today | Publish Date June 03, 2021
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Community    Students    Scholarship    Community and Practice    Equity Diversity and Inclusion    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz

Inaugural Group of Students Receive ColoradoSPH Diversity and Inclusive Excellence Scholarships

The more than year-long COVID-19 pandemic brought racism and social and economic disparities into the spotlight in the United States, highlighting the long-overdue work that needs to be done to build a more equitable, diverse and inclusive society. With a first-ever scholarship fund created last fall, the Colorado School of Public Health took a step toward making that goal a reality.


Author Tyler Smith | Publish Date May 25, 2021
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Recognizing Our 2021 Award Winners

Each year, the Colorado School of Public Health honors exceptional students, faculty, and staff at an awards ceremony coinciding with graduation. The following individuals have made outstanding contributions to public health and our school. Congratulations to this year's award winners!


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Community    COVID-19    Mental Health    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Worker Health

Supporting Employee Mental Health: A New Module for Employers to Make Real Change

The Center for Health, Work & Environment (CHWE) at the Colorado School of Public Health has partnered with the University of Colorado Helen and Arthur E. Johnson Depression Center to develop and launch the Workplace Mental Health Module, an online toolkit designed for employers wanting to raise awareness and improve the mental health of their employees.

COVID-19 has significantly impacted workers and the business community. Employees and business owners have experienced tremendous stress due to shutdowns, school closures, financial losses and family illness. Almost half of Americans are suffering from mental health issues due to the pandemic.


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Community    COVID-19    Epidemiology    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CSU    One Health

CSU Veterinarians Provide COVID-19 Vaccinations in Northern Colorado

In veterinary school I learned to put needles in a banana. Instructors now have access to a variety of human and animal models designed to reproduce the experience of medical procedures. Some models even bleed. But back in the early 2000s, bananas had their place.


Author Colleen Duncan | Publish Date April 20, 2021
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Community    Epidemiology    Firearm Injury Prevention    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Gun Violence Prevention    Injury & Violence Prevention

Data on Gun Violence Would Save Lives—Just Like It Has for Car Crashes

In 2010, total U.S. traffic deaths fell to their lowest level since the 1950s – due in part to more motorists buying into “buckling up and embracing safety innovations.” Motor vehicle death rates have remained roughly steady since that time despite more people driving

Over the same decades, however, firearm death rates have remained steady and now started to rise. Why? 

Let’s start by unpacking what led to the decrease in traffic deaths. Spoiler alert: It wasn’t a single “magic bullet.” Rather, it was a combination of approaches under the “three E’s of injury prevention” — education, engineering and enactment.

Education includes teaching the public about safe driving (basic driving rules; “don’t drink and drive”; the #justdrive campaign to end distracted driving), and about safe behaviors (like using appropriate car seats for kids). Remember the crash test dummies from the 1980s in television spots about using seat belts? Traffic safety campaigns also involve community or cultural change, like the “friends don’t let friends drive drunk” slogan that also began in the 1980s. 

Engineering means making a product or environment safer — and sometimes this approach can work well because it doesn’t rely on changing behavior (which we know can be hard). For traffic safety, engineering advances over the past decades have had a major impact on crash fatality rates. Car occupants are far more likely to survive a crash now thanks to innovations like air bags (invented in 1951), seat belts and crumple zones (the parts of the car designed to absorb impact and crumple in a crash). Newer technologies like automatic braking systems and blind spot detection may even reduce the likelihood of a crash even happening. 

Engineering of the environment outside cars also helped reduce deaths, through things like rumble strips, highway guard rails, traffic lights (introduced in 1930) and urban design to reduce motor vehicle – pedestrian collisions. Social engineering has included the development of alternative transportation options, like Uber and Lyft, that may reduce drunk driving

Enactment of laws was a third key component to reducing traffic deaths. In 1970, the Highway Safety Act established the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), a national organization responsible for reducing deaths, injuries and economic losses from motor vehicle crashes. NHTSA oversees large educational campaigns as well as vehicle safety testing, ratings and recalls. 

Federal and state laws set speed limits and policies around driver licensing and driving while impaired. A key component of enactment is enforcement — that is, how are laws actually implemented and enforced, such as through heightened patrolling for drunk driving during holiday periods.

So, what does all this mean for reducing firearm-related injuries and fatalities? 

Well, the first takeaway should be that there’s not a single “magic bullet” here, either. It’s going to take a combination of approaches, as well as the research to understand which ones work and why

We need educational efforts to reduce firearm injuries and deaths — things like campaigns about secure home firearm storage (to keep guns out of the hands of kids) and reducing firearm access in times of suicide risk, and violence interruption programs with trusted community messengers. Maybe “have a brave conversation” will become the new “friends don’t let friends drive drunk,” as we encourage friends and family to look out for those with suicide risk. And we need engineering approaches like biometric “smart guns” (which can only be fired by an authorized user) and storage devices like safes, quick-access lock boxes and trigger locks. 

Yes, we will also need enactment of policies if we want to significantly reduce firearm injuries and deaths in the United States. But we need thoughtful conversations about those policies — and then research to evaluate their effect on a range of outcomes — rather than knee-jerk reactions (either pro or con). Beyond the policies most often debated, we should also be thinking about policies to encourage secure home firearm storage, facilitate temporary firearm transfers in times of suicide risk, reduce liability for firearm outlets that offer temporary storage to prevent suicide, or even establish a NHTSA-like entity for firearm injury.

Enacting firearm-related legislation alone won’t solve the problem of firearm-related injuries and deaths — nor will education, nor will engineering. We need them all — and we need the research to inform them all. We need to engage varied voices in these discussions. We need to move away from vilifying the “other side” and instead embrace the fact that all of us want to keep our friends and loved ones safe from harm. 

We’ve been down this road before, with a comprehensive approach to traffic safety and reducing motor vehicle deaths. We can do it again, this time with firearm injury.   

Emmy Betz, MD, MPH, is a practicing emergency physician and researcher at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, where she directs the Firearm Injury Prevention Initiative. She also co-founded the Colorado Firearm Safety Coalition and gave a TEDx talk on firearm suicide prevention. This piece reflects her views, not those of her employers.

This article originally appeared in The Hill.


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Awards    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    AI/AN health    Community Health

Spero Manson Earns Prestigious Fries Award for Excellence in Health Education


Returning from a fly-fishing trip to Bristol Bay, Alaska, last July, Dr. Spero Manson stood at a baggage claim carousel at Denver International Airport. His phone rang. The caller, Dr. Jonathan Samet, dean of the Colorado School of Public Health, had good news. Manson was the recipient of a prestigious award for his work in health education.


Author Tyler Smith | Publish Date April 08, 2021
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Community    Firearm Injury Prevention    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Environment    Gun Violence Prevention

Open Letter to CO Lawmakers: Fix Our Broken Relationship With Guns

An open letter to: City of Louisville City Council; State Representative Tracey Barnett; State Senator Sonja Jacquez Lewis; Representative Joe Neguse; Representative Jason Crow; Representative Dianne DeGuette; Representative Ed Perlmutter; Representative Lauren Bohbert; Representative Ken Buck; Representative Doug Lamborn; Senator Michael Bennet; Senator John Hickenlooper; and Governor Jared Polis. Dr. Katie Dickinson is a Boulder native, a current Louisville resident, and an Assistant Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health at the Colorado School of Public Health.


Author Katie Dickinson | Publish Date March 24, 2021
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Community    COVID-19    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz

Latest Statewide SARS-CoV-2 Model: 1 in 194 Coloradans Currently Infected

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) and the Colorado School of Public Health released an updated statewide modeling report showing that the effective reproduction number for SARS-CoV-2 statewide is just below one, and transmission control dropped from 83% to 76% over the last week. Currently 1 in 194 Coloradans are estimated to be infected. 


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ColoradoSPH at CSU Faculty Help Fight the Pandemic with Groundbreaking Research

The ColoradoSPH at CSU faculty have stepped up during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide important research and essential work in understanding the virus, how to slow the spread, and how to help end the pandemic. This work has had local, national and international impact. 


Author Megan Jansson | Publish Date February 03, 2021
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ColoradoSPH Launches Online Data Dashboard to Assist LPHAs and Local Leaders

The Colorado School of Public Health launched a new website that provides detailed, county-level data tied to the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic. The Colorado Population Data Dashboard is designed to help local public health agencies (LPHAs), county commissioners, community leaders, and the general public make more informed short- and long-term decisions about protecting public health. 


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Community    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Community Health    Environment    Health Advocacy    Health Policy

Shaping National Public Health Policies with Science

Professors and faculty members at most research universities spend the bulk of their professional time in well-known academic pursuits: teaching, researching, collaborating with colleagues, and leading the next generation of experts in their respective fields. Less apparent are hundreds of hours some volunteer to present at conferences, provide testimony for policies, and collaborate on scientific committee work, publish papers, and review others’ work for publication. 


Author Tyler Smith | Publish Date January 26, 2021
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Community    COVID-19    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Data and Health

Latest Model Indicates Infections are Decreasing

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) and the Colorado School of Public Health released an updated statewide modeling report and updated regional modelsshowing that public health protocols before the Thanksgiving holiday have helped to slow the spread of the SARS-CoV-2. 


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Community    COVID-19    Epidemiology    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Environment    Food Safety

Guest Commentary: Science Supports Closing Indoor Dining. The Restaurant Industry will be Devastated Without Rapid, Robust Economic Support

The science is clear. The riskiest places for the spread of the coronavirus are indoor spaces where people are not wearing masks. Indoor restaurants are, alas, ideal locations for the spread of infections. 


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Community    COVID-19    Vaccinations    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Environment

How Promising is the Vaccine News if People Won’t Take It?

The last few weeks have brought a key tool in the fight against coronavirus: Moderna recently announced that a vaccine in Phase 3 trials was nearly 95 percent effective, exceeding even the most optimistic projections. Pfizer and BioNTech have also made similar announcements. 


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State and ColoradoSPH Release Latest Modeling Report

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) and the Colorado School of Public Health (ColoradoSPH) have released an updated modeling report.


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Newest COVID-19 Model Estimates 1 in 49 Coloradans are Currently Infectious

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) and the Colorado School of Public Health released an updated modeling reportthat shows infections and hospitalizations are continuing to increase across the state. The model estimates that currently one out of every 49 residents in the state is infected with SARS-CoV-2, by far the highest prevalence since the virus arrived in Colorado.

Earlier this week, many counties in Colorado moved to stricter levels on the state’s COVID-19 dial, and more are moving up over the weekend.


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Community    COVID-19    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Data and Health

Newest COVID-19 Model Indicates Colorado Hospitalizations are Increasing More Sharply than Previous Predictions

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) and the Colorado School of Public Health released an updated modeling report showing hospitalizations from SARS-CoV-2 are increasing more sharply than last week’s projections. Keeping hospitals at or below demand capacity will require substantial and rapid action to prevent transmission. People should only interact with members of their own household, avoid gatherings, stay home when they are sick, wash their hands, physical distance, and wear a mask.


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Community    COVID-19    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    Data and Health

Newest COVID-19 Model Indicates Colorado Will Hit a Record Number of Hospitalizations from the Pandemic Within Two Weeks

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) and the Colorado School of Public Health released an updated modeling reportshowing that hospitalizations from SARS-CoV-2 continue to increase rapidly across the state. 


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Community    COVID-19    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    Data and Health

Declining Transmission Control in Colorado SARS-CoV-2 Model, Rapidly Increasing Hospitalizations Signal State is at a Critical Moment in the Pandemic

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the Colorado School of Public Health released a new modeling report based on recent data showing hospitalizations from SARS-CoV-2 are increasing rapidly across the state. To avoid increasing infections and strain on hospitals over the next three months, a substantial increase in transmission control will be needed. 


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Community    COVID-19    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    Data and Health

New Modeling Data from the Colorado School of Public Health Shows Increased Hospitalizations, Potential Holiday Bump in Cases

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) and the Colorado School of Public Health (ColoradoSPH) today released a new modeling report indicating an increase in hospitalizations and in the estimated number of Coloradans who currently are infectious. If Colorado remains on the current trajectory of its epidemic curve, state epidemiologists predict continued growth in cases and increased demand on hospitals.


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How You Can Prevent ‘Superspreader’ Events This Fall and Winter

Superspreader events — where a person with COVID-19 inadvertently infects multiple other people at the same time and place — are likely to increase as we head into fall and winter.


Author Katie Kerwin McCrimmon | Publish Date September 16, 2020
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Community    COVID-19    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    Data and Health

New Modeling Data from the Colorado School of Public Health Shows Plateauing Hospitalizations and a Slight Upward Trend in Colorado’s Infection Rate

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and Colorado School of Public Health released a new modeling report that indicates the spread of SARS-CoV-2 was reduced for much of July and August, leading to declines in hospitalizations and infections. However, in recent weeks, the estimated effective reproductive number has increased while hospitalizations have plateaued.


Author Colorado School of Public Health | Publish Date September 16, 2020
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State of the State with Dr. Rachel Herlihy, State Epidemiologist, Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment

On September 14, Dr. Rachel Herlihy joined the Colorado School of Public Health and its Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine Residency Program to deliver the annual "State of the State" update from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.


Author Colorado School of Public Health | Publish Date September 14, 2020
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Community    Cancer    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Community Health

Funding for Cancer Prevention and Control in Colorado Approved for One More Year

July 1, 2020 marked the start of another year of funding for the Colorado Cancer Screening Program (CCSP) for Patient Navigation but just like most things in 2020…it’s not just another year for the decade long program. 

CCSP is a Program of the University of Colorado Cancer Center with faculty and staff leadership from the Colorado School of Public Health. CCSP supports the safety net clinics in Colorado to increase colorectal cancer screening and also expanded to lung cancer and hereditary cancer screening.   

Keeping the funding for cancer prevention and control in Colorado was was harder this year amidst a pandemic. CCSP is funded through the Cancer Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Grants Disease Program (CCPD). In the 2019/2020 legislative session, as a state of fiscal emergency was declared, the program budget could have been dramatically reduced or completed defunded. For several years, CCSP has had to educate the public and legislature on the importance of cancer screening and advocate for funding as the CCPD funding source expanded to a broader portfolio of diseases or focus areas than when the grants program was established. 


Author Andrea Dwyer | Publish Date August 21, 2020
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COVID-19    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CSU    Environment

National Academies Workshop Will Address Airborne Transmission of COVID-19

Much is still unknown about the transmission of SARS-CoV-2. That includes the extent to which the virus spreads through tiny particles called aerosols dispersed via speech or breath, in addition to the more widely accepted view of transmission through respiratory droplets. A national panel of experts will convene Aug. 26-27 to discuss this topic of pressing concern for public health.

The Environmental Health Matters Initiative, part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, will host the two-day virtual workshop to delve into the rapidly evolving science around the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19. It will serve as a forum for interdisciplinary discussion, explanations of basic foundational sciences, and clarification of terminology across different fields.

 


Author Anne Manning | Publish Date August 11, 2020
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Community    Students    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    Workforce Development    Training

Contact Tracing Efforts Connect Groups Across Colorado

As the Colorado School of Public Health-led modeling team considers potential trajectories of the COVID-19 pandemic, they base their forecasts on the levels of success of a few different containment strategies. Many cities and counties in Colorado have now implemented mask orders, businesses are required to maintain certain levels of social distancing as they reopen, and older adults are continuing to stay home. The state moved into the Safer-At-Home and Protect-Our-Neighbors phases while strengthening the fourth piece: aggressive case detection and containment through contact tracing.


Author Tori Forsheim | Publish Date July 17, 2020
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Community    COVID-19    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    Data and Health

New Modeling Data from the Colorado School of Public Health Shows Decline in Social Distancing and Increasing Hospitalizations

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment received additional modeling results from an expert group of public health scientists. The current projection based on recent hospitalization trends is a stark contrast to previous reports, showing a sharp curve upward as cases and hospitalizations have increased over the last few weeks. The modeling team estimates that this is due to a decline in social distancing in Colorado in May and June. 


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Governor Announces New Interactive Modeling App from Colorado School of Public Health Scientists

The Colorado School of Public Health’s COVID-19 modeling team has developed and launched an interactive online application that shows a variety of data that affect epidemic modeling. The new interactive app lets people see the possible course of COVID-19 under a variety of scenarios, and project the COVID-19 epidemic curve from the comfort of their homes.

Using interactive sliders on a website, users are able to see how the four key interventions to control the spread of COVID-19 can impact the future course of the virus in Colorado. Users can alter the percent of the population wearing masks, introduce contact tracing, improve case detection and isolation, and see how changes in social distancing can impact the future course of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. 


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Community    COVID-19    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz

State Provides Latest Modeling Data on Pandemic

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) today released additional modeling results from an expert group of public health scientists led by the Colorado School of Public Health (ColoradoSPH). The state is also seeking feedback on draft guidance for places of worship, personal recreation, and outdoor industries by Wednesday at noon. Updated guidance for short-term rentals goes into effect today. 

The latest Colorado modeling report is available to the public, as are the presentation slides from today’s media briefing. All modeling reports are available on the Colorado School of Public Health’s COVID-19 website. 

The report provides an estimate of the degree of distancing that Coloradans have achieved so far. It also provides projections based on various policy scenarios around physical distancing, mask-wearing, and improved case detection and containment. The models are based on Colorado data and assumptions. 

Key findings from today’s report:


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Politico: The Blue State that Gambled on an Early Reopening

On April 20, Colorado’s coronavirus curve was still on an upward trajectory, with some 10,000 cumulative cases reported and nearly 450 deaths. That day, the state’s Democratic first-term governor, Jared Polis, stepped in front of American and Colorado flags in the ornate Palm Room of the governor’s mansion and announced his state would be among the first to reopen its economy. 


Author Politico | Publish Date May 28, 2020
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State Releases New Modeling Data from Colorado School of Public Health Scientists

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) released additional modeling results from an expert group of public health scientists today. 


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Awards    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz

Celebrating Our Annual Award Winners!

Each year, the Colorado School of Public Health honors outstanding students, faculty, and staff at an awards brunch coinciding with graduation. We may be working from home this year, but we won’t let that stop us from celebrating all of the people who have contributed to making ColoradoSPH an amazing place to learn, research, and work. “I am incredibly proud of the work we are all doing to extend our reach, strengthen public health partnerships, and expand our education and training activities,” said Dean Jonathan Samet. “We could not do this work without the commitment and dedication of our outstanding faculty, staff, students, and community partners.”


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Community    COVID-19    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Environment    Worker Health

The Verge: Elon Musk's Battle to Reopen Tesla's Fremont Plant May Shape His Legacy

Last week, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that some manufacturing in the state would be allowed to resume on May 8; but if the state and the county disagree, the more restrictive order is the one that matters. And although some counties may go slower than the state in reopening business, no one may go faster, according to Sonia Angell, the head of the state’s department of public health. 


Author The Verge | Publish Date May 15, 2020
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Community    COVID-19    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    ColoradoSPH at CSU    Biostatistics

Cell Phone Data Helps Track Mobility Patterns During Social Distancing

A new modeling report released today by Colorado public health scientists estimates just how much Coloradans have changed their behaviors since the start of the pandemic – and how those behaviors may now be shifting with the state’s new Safer at Home orders. 


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Fodor's Travel: Will I Need an "Immunity Passport" to Travel?

As the world begins to open once again after the COVID-19 pandemic, we have to consider how to do so safely in order to minimize further spread of the virus. One possible idea—being considered by countries including Chile, Germany, Italy, the UK, and the United States—is to have an immunity passport: a physical or digital document confirming that a person has become immune to SARS-CoV-2. While immunity certifications are typically discussed in the context of allowing a person to return to work or school, they are also being considered in the context of travel as a way to help stop the spread of the novel coronavirus from regions with high infection rates to those that have not been as severely impacted by the global pandemic. And while this does make sense in theory, the idea of immunity passports raises several ethical questions, including who will have access to the passports and antibody testing, what privileges the passport would provide, and what happens when you effectively create two different classes of people based on immunity to a virus. Here’s what travelers should know and consider.


Author Fodor's Travel | Publish Date May 12, 2020
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The Atlantic: A Guide to Staying Safe as States Reopen

May marks a new phase of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States. Across the country, retail stores, restaurants, and other businesses are beginning to reopen. According to the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation, just over half of states had eased their public-health restrictions in one way or another as of the start of this week, with more states to follow soon. 


Author The Atlantic | Publish Date May 07, 2020
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Modeling the Impact of COVID-19: Colorado School of Public Health Leads the Charge

When Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) needed to respond to the rapidly worsening COVID-19 pandemic, they needed data and projections of the pandemic’s course based upon Colorado data. A team was quickly assembled by the Colorado School of Public Health (ColoradoSPH) to collaborate with CDPHE on epidemic modeling—the basic approach for generating the needed information for decision-making. In March, CDPHE asked ColoradoSPH Dean Jonathan Samet, MD, MS, four questions: when will infections peak in Colorado, how soon will we reach ICU bed capacity, how many hospital beds will be needed when we do peak, and how will social distancing policies impact those numbers? 


Author Tori Forsheim | Publish Date May 06, 2020
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CSU Engineers Will Design Medical-Grade, Mass-Producible Masks for COVID-19 Response

In the state of Colorado’s response to COVID-19, among its first priorities is protecting frontline medical workers by providing them with enough personal protective equipment – face shields, gowns, and masks that filter out viral particles.


Author Anne Manning | Publish Date May 05, 2020
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Live Science: Did You Already Have Coronavirus in January or February?

With the recent news that two Californians died of COVID-19 in February, three weeks earlier than the United States' first known death from the disease, it has become clear that the coronavirus was spreading in the United States long before it was detected by testing. 


Author Live Science | Publish Date May 05, 2020
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Community    Community and Practice    Sustainability    Environment    Worker Health

Top Tips for How Academia Can Be More Sustainable

As global climate change continues to threaten the health of the planet and impact our lives, sustainable business practices are becoming increasingly important. As part of earning my Master’s in Public Health at the Colorado School of Public Health, I created and performed a sustainability audit of the Center for Health, Work & Environment. I specifically studied the travel practices of the Center, as travel is a significant producer of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, one of the major contributing factors to climate change. As part of the Center’s mission to help organizations create sustainable workforces, it aims to promote the sustainability of the planet by lowering its own carbon footprint. 

Based on the results of my project, I’ve created the following tips for ways academic organizations can decrease their carbon footprint, specifically regarding travel practices. 

1. Perform an office carbon audit to measure your organization’s carbon footprint All types of organizations contribute to GHG emissions in a variety of ways. By identifying the various sources of carbon emissions and energy usage in the workplace, you can effectively create strategies for reduction. 

2. Conduct and promote travel in an eco-friendly manner Air travel is one of the fastest-growing sources of GHG emissions, resulting in a large environmental impact, and globally contributes to 2.8% of the world’s total CO2 emissions. Car travel also has a negative environmental impact. Flying direct and to the closest airport to your destination, taking public transportation or ride shares on trips, and incentivizing carpooling and public transportation are achievable ways to decrease the environmental impact of individual travel.   

3. Host virtual events Holding events is an integral part of conducting business, specifically in academic settings, and allows people to form and build relationships, network, and share knowledge. However, in-person events also leave behind a considerably large carbon footprint. Hosting virtual conferences and events can cater to a broader audience while lowering the carbon footprint associated with travel. Going virtual also offers a more time-and cost-efficient alternative for both hosts and attendees. Zoom's webinar function and Zoom breakout rooms are engaging ways to hold meetings in a virtual format, enabling more realistic and personable interactions between attendees. 

4. Redesign meetingsBy consolidating meeting days and allowing them to be hosted virtually, fewer employees are required to be present in the office throughout the week. Decreasing the number of days employees need to travel to the office decreases their commuter-related carbon emissions. Holding offsite meetings in a central location with close proximity to public transportation enables employees to travel via public transportation instead of driving. 

The American Public Transportation Association estimates that public transit saves roughly 1.4 billion gallons of gas annually, which translates to about 14 million tons of CO2. Traveling by bus is about 30% more emission-efficient than traveling by single-occupancy vehicle and traveling by rail is about 75% more emission-efficient than traveling by single-occupancy vehicle. 

5. Encourage remote work and telecommuting 
At the Center for Health, Work & Environment, employees commute roughly 2,000 miles per week, emitting an estimate of 1800 pounds of CO2. Encouraging employees in flexible roles to work from home a few days a week can greatly reduce the amount of CO2 emitted in commuting. Consider using online applications as a way to foster connectedness and communication while employees are not physically working together. Slack or Microsoft Teams are popular solutions that allow employees to continue inter-office communication in real-time while working remotely.   

6. Create a healthy meeting and event catering policy
A vegetarian diet greatly reduces an individual and organization’s carbon footprint. A meat-based diet contributes to over 50% of GHG contribution, while a vegetarian diet contributes to only about 9%. Consider offering only vegetarian meal options at employee gatherings or meetings of all sizes. Also consider ordering from local restaurants, which not only reduces travel time for food delivery (reducing GHG emissions) but is also an opportunity to support the local economy. Don’t forget to tell caterers when you do and don’t need items like plastic or compostable utensils, cups and plates to cut down on waste.


Author Laura Veith | Publish Date May 04, 2020
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Community    COVID-19    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Latino Health

Denver Post: Colorado Latinos Grapple With Increased Risk of Coronavirus Infections

Latino residents, who make up about 20% of Colorado’s population, are becoming sick with the coronavirus at a disproportionately high rate, accounting for almost one-third of the state’s cases. And at least in Denver, they are hospitalized more than any other racial or ethnic group, according to data from the state and city public health departments. The numbers point to a pattern that people of color — including black Coloradans who are dying at a higher rate than their share of the population — are seeing elevated infection rates.  

Advocates worry about increased risks to people of color, but it’s difficult to analyze all contributing factors without widespread testing, tracing and more data on individual cases, said Dr. Lisa DeCamp of the Latino Research and Policy Center at the Colorado School of Public Health.  

“We are concerned about the number of people infected in Colorado and across the country,” she said. “We don’t have much information on the baseline.”  

Read the full article at The Denver Post.


Author The Denver Post | Publish Date April 25, 2020
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Community    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz

National Public Health Week 2020 Provides Virtual Opportunities to Learn and Connect

This year’s National Public Health Week was different for many reasons. For one, we’re in a time when public health is actually on the forefront of everyone’s minds. For another, it’s not hard to make the argument that we’re experiencing public health year, and shouldn’t limit our celebration to only one week. And finally, this year we were forced to celebrate from the safety of our computer screens—NPHW 2020 went digital. 


Author Tori Forsheim | Publish Date April 24, 2020
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Community    COVID-19    Mental Health    Epidemiology    Firearm Injury Prevention    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Suicide Prevention    Gun Violence Prevention    Injury & Violence Prevention

COVID-19 and Suicide: An Uncertain Connection

I live and work in Colorado, a beautiful state that can look to an outsider like a year-round playground of sunshine and skiing. But my state has a big problem: suicide rates that are among the highest in the country. 


Author Emmy Betz | Publish Date April 22, 2020
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Community    COVID-19    Epidemiology    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Ethics

Rolling Stone: Could COVID-19 Immunity Certificates Help Reopen America — Or Create More Class Divide?

As we appear to be reaching the peak of the coronavirus outbreak in some parts of the U.S., public health officials have started thinking about what happens next. Having widespread, accurate testing for COVID-19 is necessary in order to make it possible for essential workers to return to their jobs, and eventually, reopen society. But how will we keep track of who has developed antibodies after surviving a case of COVID-19 and should be permitted to go out in public? One option — which has already been implemented by researchers in Germany, and is being considered by the United Kingdom and Italy — is to have some form of documentation verifying a person’s immunity to the virus. 


Author Rolling Stone Magazine | Publish Date April 21, 2020
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Community    COVID-19    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz

Associated Press: Conspiracy Theorists Burns 5G Towers Claiming Link to Virus

The CCTV footage from a Dutch business park shows a man in a black cap pouring the contents of a white container at the base of a cellular radio tower. Flames burst out as the man jogs back to his Toyota to flee into the evening. 


Author Associated Press | Publish Date April 21, 2020
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COVID-19    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Data and Health

State Releases New Modeling Data Developed by ColoradoSPH-Led team

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) received additional modeling information from an expert group of public health scientists today. 


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Community    COVID-19    Epidemiology    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Health Systems    Health Advocacy

When Will the Coronavirus Distancing End? It Depends.

Perhaps by the time you read these words, Colorado’s count of COVID-19 cases will, one hopes, have plateaued or even be falling. There will be mounting political pressure to open Colorado and the country back up. With the exceptions of the intrepid health care workers, farm and grocery workers, warehouse workers, delivery people, municipal employees, and staff deemed essential, we will have been cooped up for more than a month.


Author Todd Neff | Publish Date April 20, 2020
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Community    COVID-19    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Climate Health    Environment

Undark: Air Pollution Could Make People More Vulnerable to COVID-19

In major cities around the globe, the sky often bears a brown haze. While air quality in the United States has improved in recent decades, industrial pollution remains a persistent public health hazard, stemming from any number of sources — vehicles, boilers, power plants, construction equipment, boats, and commercial cooking facilities, to name just a few. The people who live nearby are chronically exposed to contaminated air, and this exposure can compromise their lungs and hearts. Under these conditions, the rate of chronic illnesses increases, and so does the likelihood of developing a serious respiratory disease like Covid-19.  


Author Undark | Publish Date April 16, 2020
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Community    COVID-19    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Health Systems    Health Advocacy

Popular Science: Natural Disasters Will Push the US Further Into Crisis Mode

Tornadoes in Atlanta, flooding in Detroit, dire hurricane predictions for the Gulf Coast, and wildfires in the country’s interior: 2020’s extreme weather season has already begun. Agencies around the country are rushing to prepare for these potential disasters, despite already being in disaster mode. 


Author Popular Science | Publish Date April 13, 2020
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Community    COVID-19    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    Environment    Worker Health

Research Day Reflections

A wave of emotions swept over me as I read the University’s notice that we would no longer be able to hold in-person events larger than 75 people due to COVID-19. This news would inevitably threaten the long-anticipated 12th annual Research Day Symposium, an event that the Center for Health, Work & Environment had been planning for an entire year. Although disappointment swept the office, Center Director Lee Newman remained positive. Knowing the importance of this event to students, instructors, and environmental and occupational health professionals, Lee encouraged us to hold the event in an online format. Our team huddled together every day for two weeks to figure out how to make the event happen, using it as an opportunity to hold the first virtual Research Day which turned out to be a great success!   

Dr. John Howard, the director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) began the day with a keynote presentation on the future of work and technology, an apt subject for a virtual conference. Students from each of the five Mountain and Plains Education & Research Center (MAP ERC) programs presented platform presentations, posters, and 5-minute ignite sessions. The 100 virtual attendees were highly engaged, listening and participating in interactive Q&A discussions.   

The following students were awarded by a panel of judges made up of academics and professionals for the best poster presentation in each of the five MAP ERC program categories and environmental and occupational health, as well as an award for the best platform presentation:   


Author Sarah Levine | Publish Date April 08, 2020
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Community    Community and Practice    Cannabis    Environment    Training    Worker Health

Health and Safety Training for Cannabis Cultivation Workers

The commercial cannabis industry continues to grow in Colorado and nationwide, demanding the need for a new workforce to be trained in occupational safety and health (OSH). In 2016, educators at the Center for Health, Work & Environment designed and delivered a full-day, in-person workshop for cannabis cultivation workers—one of the first learning experiences in the country of this kind. The course was an overview of OSH hazards and topics critical to the industry including chemical exposures, repetitive motion disorders, lockout/tagout, machine guarding, and personal protective equipment. A total of 208 people attended the two full-day trainings. 

To ensure we continue to provide high-quality educational offerings, our center evaluates all of its continuing education activities. Our recent paper, published in the Annals of Work Exposure and Health, describes how we evaluated this specific training. We wanted to know what attendees thought about the training, whether their knowledge about OSH in the cannabis industry improved, and how their OSH concerns changed after the training. 

Our evaluation discovered that:

91% of attendees rated the training as “very good” or “excellent.”
76% of attendees reported increased knowledge.
Attendees planned to implement changes in the workplace such as conducting more safety trainings, changing safety programs and policies, improving hazards, increasing OSH communications, and performing ergonomic and hazard assessments. 

Our evaluation demonstrates that OSH concerns of attendees shifted before and after the training, reflecting a better understanding of the musculoskeletal and respiratory hazards that exist in cannabis cultivation work. The training increased workers’ awareness of OSH issues that are more concerning and hazardous in their work than issues they previously thought were the most pressing. 

A significant takeaway from this training and its evaluation is that cannabis cultivation workers are highly interested in OSH training specific to their industry. Based on the rapidly expanding legalized cannabis landscape, the industry will continue to need updated information to keep its workforce safe and healthy on the job. Our center offers an online version of this training through its continuing education platform and is in the process of developing a more extensive training in the next year.   

If you are interested in occupational safety and health training for your cannabis cultivation employees, please reach out


Author Carol Brown | Publish Date April 06, 2020
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Community    COVID-19    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz

Denver Post: Colorado Health Team Projects 33,277 Deaths by June 1 in Worst Case, 379 in Best Case

The COVID-19 crisis in Colorado could lead to 941,312 infections by May 7, peak hospitalization of 57,086 on May 14, and 33,277 deaths by June 1 — depending on collective physical distancing, according to projections presented to Gov. Jared Polis that state health officials made public Sunday afternoon.  


Author The Denver Post | Publish Date April 06, 2020
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Community    COVID-19    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Data and Health

State Releases New Modeling Findings Led by ColoradoSPH Experts

This press release was issued by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.. 


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COVID-19    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CSU    Environment

Engineering Lab at CSU Transformed Into Testing Site for COVID-19 medical Protective Gear

Professor John Volckens’ 2,000-square-foot lab on the campus of Colorado State University is normally a place for experiments on air quality, pollution sensors, and how breathable particles can trigger disease.


Author Mike Hooker | Publish Date April 06, 2020
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Community    COVID-19    Epidemiology    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Data and Health    Biostatistics

ColoradoSPH and State of Colorado Release COVID-19 Modeling Data

The state today released additional COVID-19 modeling data to the public. Governor Jared Polis first provided an in-depth analysis of the data during a press conference on March 27. The state will continue to review data as it evolves to inform future policy decisions. 


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Community    COVID-19    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Data and Health

Gov. Polis Shares COVID-19 Data From ColoradoSPH Team

Gov. Jared Polis provided an update on Colorado’s response to COVID-19 and discussed the predictive modeling that is guiding the public health decisions the state is making as well as the updated public health order that corresponds with the stay-at-home executive order.  


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Community    COVID-19    Epidemiology    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Ethics

#COVIDchat: Daniel Goldberg on the Ethics of Public Health Response to Coronavirus

"There are, I think, some pretty good reasons you could muster why massive collective action that overwhelms individual rights and liberties in the name of public health can be harmful. All we have to do is think historically about that. It's not too difficult to come up with examples where running roughshod over individual rights and liberties, especially more disadvantaged people's rights and liberties, in the name of public health, in the name of social good, has actually turned out to be disasterous, and Buck v. Bell is a nice example of that. The history of eugenics and public health in the US is another good example of that.   

So specifically returning to your specific question about coronavirus, the things that we are requiring for extreme physical distancing, this is harmful, and I think it's really important for everybody to understand that. I'm not saying that this isn't legally or ethically justified or warranted right now; I think given the situation we're in I'll go on record and say I think it's probably worth it and a good idea. But I think we have to have a counter in our head. Every day that this goes on, the harm is building. And it's not so much harm for people like me who are privileged and mostly able-bodied, although there are harms for me as well, but these harms are unequally distributed, and people who are more vulnerable, whether they're chronically ill people, whether they're people who live with certain kinds of disabilities. For example, we know that elderly people struggle mightily with social isolation in this country, and we know that social isolation is a major killer. It's a huge of mortality and morbidity. You're going to ask people in the US to socially isolate themselves for 12 to 18 months, you better be prepared for some serious public health consequences of that. Those consequences and harms build as time goes on, and so we have to think about those things."   

Watch the interview.


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Community    COVID-19    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Ethics    Health Systems    Health Advocacy

Los Angeles Times: Ethical Dilemmas in the Age of Coronavirus: Whose Lives Should We Save?

Three patients — a 16-year-old boy with diabetes, a 25-year-old mother and a 75-year-old grandfather — are crammed into a hospital triage tent and struggling to breathe. Only one ventilator is left. Who gets it? 


Author Los Angeles Times | Publish Date March 20, 2020
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Community    COVID-19    Vaccinations    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Health Systems    Health Advocacy

Colorado Matters: Developing a Coronavirus Vaccine; A Relief Fund to Help Coloradans Get By

A CU Boulder senior reflects on the news of no spring commencement. Plus, how one Aurora lab is working on a COVID-19 vaccine. And, the role state public health agencies play in emergency preparedness. Later, the organization HelpColoradoNow is raising money and finding volunteers to help in the fight against COVID-19. 

Interview starts at 15:44.


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Community    Community and Practice    Environment    Worker Health

Faces of CHWE: Jaime Butler-Dawson

Jamie Butler-Dawson, a research instructor at the Center for Health, Work & Environment, grew up thinking she was going to be the next Dian Fossey. Environmental studies, not occupational health, was it as far as she was concerned. Instead of living in the jungle with gorillas, Jaime’s journey began with catching lizards with a fishing pole in the Idaho desert. She went on to pursue environmental studies, graduating with a wealth of options to contemplate. Jaime thought, “I don’t want to become a doctor, nor an expert lizard hunter, but I do have a strong interest in global environmental health.” She decided to obtain a Master’s in Global Health at Boston University where she began studying metal exposures in veterans through an internship with the Veterans Health Administration. The project was Jaime's first introduction to occupational health by way of her passion for environmental health. 

While at Boston University, she spent a semester abroad studying Malaria in the Philippines. Two important aspects of Jaime’s life began here; her love for karaoke (her go-to song is “Killing Me Softly” by The Fugees); and her continued exposure to occupational health. She studied Malaria risks and exposures among farmers in a place where the majority of the population work in subsistence agriculture. According to Jaime, “People going to work in the fields impacted anything I did as a researcher, such as diagnostic testing, data gathering, providing educational messaging on prevention. Everything I tried to do revolved around their work and when they could be reached outside of it.” 

After graduating with her Master’s, Jaime decided to join the U.S. Peace Corps and moved to Burkina Faso in Africa to work as a Health Extension Agent. During her time as a volunteer, Jaime focused on understanding the barriers keeping rural populations from accessing the local health clinic for early treatment, prenatal check-ups, and community health education talks. The answer was simple: work. “Even though these communities are exposed to environmental hazards, they still have to work every day,” said Jaime. “I recognized that there is a huge intersection between environmental and occupational health. You cannot understand the effects of people’s environment if you’re not also considering how work impacts their health.” 

As this reality sunk in for Jaime, she used it as a key strategy for future public health projects. “Before coming to this understanding, I felt like I was spinning my wheels. I started determining what days to hold community talks based on the days workers had off,” she said. “I began adding an economic spin to my community health talks, tying environmental exposures and health risks back to people’s jobs and livelihood.” After two years of bucket showers in a mud hut, Jaime returned to the United States and began working for the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) Division of Global HIV/AIDS. Part of her work was implementing worker health programs to reduce needlestick injuries. After three years with the CDC, Jaime was looking to return to environmental health. She moved to Iowa and received her PhD in Occupational and Environmental Health from the University of Iowa conducting research on agriculture workers and their families. 

While studying in Iowa, Jaime took both environmental and occupational health classes. “Environmental health scientists don’t often realize the expertise they can get by studying occupational health,” she said. “Environmental health scientists apply occupational health exposure science, risk assessments, and analytical methods. The field is so intertwined, it’s so interdisciplinary.”

Jaime started applying her new skills in the field by exploring environmental exposures in agricultural workers in the Gambia. She made sure that her research surveys included questions about people’s work to assess how environmental exposures were associated with the pesticides they were exposed to on the job.  Jamie’s journey illustrates how closely environmental health intertwines with both occupational health and community health. “In an agricultural community, parents are working in the fields and bringing pesticide residues home to their children,” said Jaime. “If you are working in a community, you need to be aware of the household occupations and consider how people bring their work home to that community—they’re connected.” 

After completing her PhD, Jaime landed at the Colorado School of Public Health where she now works as a research instructor at the Center for Health, Work & Environment. Her experiences have come full circle at the Center where she runs field studies in agriculture studying chronic kidney disease of unknown origin (CKDu). “I had been thinking so much about public health practice,” said Jaime. “I wanted to make sure the research I would be conducting would be applied, which is what the Center prioritizes in all it does.” 

Jaime helps lead the Center’s team in Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Mexico, using environmental health practices and a Total Worker Health® approach to develop and implement evidence-based, practical solutions to improve the health and well-being of the workers. "I tried to separate environmental and occupational health my whole life,” Jaime said, “but work is just too important.” 


Author Laura Veith | Publish Date March 17, 2020
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Community    COVID-19    Epidemiology    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz   

5280: You Had Questions About Coronavirus in Colorado—Public Health Experts Have Answers

Confused and anxious about the new coronavirus (COVID-19)? We feel you. It’s been a strange and surreal couple of weeks as the pandemic continues to spread—in Colorado, across the country, and around the world.   


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Community    COVID-19    Epidemiology    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    COE    Food Safety

Denver Post: What You Need to Know About Ordering Food Delivery in Denver During the Coronavirus Outbreak

Restaurants around the country are bracing for the impacts of COVID-19, and consumers are wondering whether they can dine out, pick up food or order in during the coronavirus outbreak. As of now, restaurants are still offering multiple options in an effort to stay in business — including dine-in, in some cases, as well as carryout, curbside pickup and delivery. 


Author The Denver Post | Publish Date March 16, 2020
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Community    COVID-19    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Health Systems    Health Advocacy

New York Times: Efforts to Control the Coronavirus in the U.S. Could Get Even More Extreme

First came handwashing instructions and social distancing. Then came the prohibitions on large events and the shuttering of schools. 


Author The New York Times | Publish Date March 13, 2020
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Community    COVID-19    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Health Systems    Health Advocacy

USA Today: Rarely Used in Modern Times, Quarantine Laws Give Public Officials Wide-Ranging Powers

Inside a shining new medical quarantine unit in Omaha, Nebraska, eight evacuees from the Diamond Princess cruise ship remain under armed guard as they recover from coronavirus infections. 


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Community    COVID-19    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Health Systems

Public Health Is Invisible—Until Things Go Wrong

Weaknesses in our public health system driven by chronic underfunding are being exposed as the coronavirus spreads in our communities. Glen Mays, professor of health systems, management and policy at the Colorado School of Public Health, joins us to examine the shocks being sent through our communities during this outbreak, what we can do now to support Coloradans, and what needs to be done to support and rebuild these critical public health functions. Dr. Mays also helps us understand the virus, the response and where to go for reliable information (hint: your local public health agency). 


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Community    Community and Practice    Environment    Worker Health

Safety Professional Organizations Adopting Total Worker Health®

Intrinsic to the effectiveness of Total Worker Health® (TWH) is its adoption and adaptation by working professionals across disciplines. From universities training professionals in health and safety; to organizations like Health Links™ mentoring employers and workplace champions; to professional organizations adopting principles and marketing them to their members; the interest in TWH is growing. The American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) and the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) are two professional associations working to apply TWH to their professions and see it grow. And what better place to start with the adoption of TWH than with safety and industrial hygiene professional organizations? 

With help from our Center’s faculty and students, both ASSP and AIHA are building convening TWH task forces. These groups will strategize how to best deliver and communicate TWH to their members. Dr. Natalie Schwatka, an assistant professor for the TWH Program at the Colorado School of Public Health, sits on ASSP’s TWH task force. Intrinsic to her role as a professor, Natalie has a passion for education and cares about helping her professional community. In wondering how to bring those interests together, she thought, “’How can I combine them in the context of what I already do?’ When ASSP sent out the call for members, I was happy to join the task force. It came at the perfect time since our Center was expanding its work in the field as a NIOSH-funded Center of Excellence for TWH.”

In 2018-2019, ASSP’s TWH task force embarked on a journey to understand how ASSP could pursue TWH as a major topic area. The task force’s strategy included a national needs assessment of members to gauge their current knowledge of and engagement with TWH. A major finding from the survey was that members want and need resources to help apply TWH to their day-to-day work. Natalie has been a member of the organization’s tools and resources group which has begun to curate TWH resources for the safety professional. The group created a new section on the ASSP website devoted to listing existing TWH resources and tools for professionals with basic, intermediate, and advanced levels of TWH understanding. According to Natalie, “We’re trying to choose the best resources to keep on ASSP’s site, while developing tools the safety professional can use to assess their own work.” Natalie will continue to work with the ASSP TWH task force to create and curate more member resources for implementing evidence-based TWH practices. 

Deborah Nelson and Penny Pietrowski are members of AIHA’s TWH task force. Deborah, a retired tenured professor in environmental science from the University of Oklahoma, graduated with her Certificate in Total Worker Health® from the Colorado School of Public Health this winter and shares a passion for integrating disciplines, a core value of TWH. Penny, who enrolled in the Certificate in Total Worker Health® program this spring, works in occupational health for the US Army in the Command Surgeon’s Office of her organization. Penny is a part of the Army’s efforts to improve the workplace safety, health and well-being of its employees, soldiers and their families. “We’re trying to tie it all together and understand how TWH principles have an impact on the worker and on soldiers,” said Penny. After hearing Dr. Schwatka speak at the annual American Industrial Hygiene Conference & Expo last year, Penny said she realized that “we’re all trying to do a lot of the same things and take a more holistic approach to improve employee well-being, but we’re using different language to describe our efforts. I wanted to study TWH to understand how our paths can overlap and how we can bring come together.” 

AIHA’s committee is working on strengthening their relationships with the six NIOSH Centers of Excellence for TWH as a guide for their path forward. Similar to ASSP, AIHA hopes to see industrial hygienists understand the applicability of TWH and adopt its principles in their work. According to Deborah, AIHA’s TWH task force is working on collecting and tailoring existing TWH resources “so they are understandable and relevant for all industrial hygienists specifically.” 

We are thrilled that both former and current students, as well as our Center faculty, are participating in these TWH task forces. We look forward to the continued collaboration with ASSP and AIHA and adoption of TWH for safety and health professionals nationwide.   


Author Laura Veith | Publish Date March 11, 2020
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Community    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Environment    Health Advocacy    Health Policy

Advocates and Lawmakers Gather at the Capitol to Talk Public Health

On February 12, students, faculty, and staff from the Colorado School of Public Health joined members of the general public and representatives from the Colorado Public Health Association (CPHA) under the rotunda for Public Health Day at the Capitol. The annual event, co-sponsored by ColoradoSPH and CPHA, provides opportunities for public health supporters to learn how to advocate for bills, meet their legislators, and see the law-making process in action. 


Author Tori Forsheim | Publish Date February 20, 2020
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Community    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Environment    Worker Health

Outdoor Recreation Industry Office Launches Get Outdoors Employer Toolkit- Employers Encouraged to Take the Get Outdoors Survey

The Outdoor Recreation Industry Office at the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade launched the Get Outdoors Employer Toolkit, designed for Colorado companies interested in improving the health and well-being of their employees. 


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Leadership Matters, Regardless of Business Size

Almost half of all American workers are employed by a small business. Working hard to stay afloat, these small businesses often have fewer resources for employee health and safety. They typically cannot afford robust benefits like employee assistance programs (EAPs), wellness vendors, or other health and safety programs to offer their employees. They also often lack the time, personnel, and expertise to prioritize health and safety. For this reason, researchers at the Center for Health, Work & Environment launched the Small+Safe+Well (SSWell) Study in 2017. 

The SSWell Study is an ongoing Total Worker Health® intervention study of small businesses (fewer than 500 employees) in the state of Colorado with the purpose of understanding how small businesses support the safety and health of their employees and how these businesses can improve their culture of safety and health. 

After earning my master’s in public health, I began working at the Center for Health, Work & Environment and quickly developed a passion for occupational safety and health. Workers spend so much of their lives on the job and give so much to their employers. Their safety and health should not suffer for the sake of their job. Rather, the workplace should be used as a space to promote worker health, safety, and well-being. I take this perspective and understanding in my role as study coordinator for the SSWell Study. 

Our research team recently published a paper, "Small Business Employees’ Perceptions of Leadership Are Associated With Safety and Health Climates and Their Own Behaviors," in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Leading the study, I used data from the SSWell Study consisting of 53 small businesses representing 1,271 employees. We found that employee perceptions of how much their leaders care about safety and health are significantly related to the safety and health climate of their organization. Safety and health climates refer to shared employee perceptions of how their organization values safety or health. According to our study, employee perceptions of how much their leaders care about safety and health not only informs the safety and health climates, but is also associated with employee behavior. Those individuals that expressed more positive perceptions of leadership were more likely to participate in both health and safety activities, such as attending worksite wellness meetings or becoming a member of the safety committee. To date, this is the first study addressing the impact of leadership on safety and health climates among small businesses. 


Author Erin Shore | Publish Date January 14, 2020
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Community    Mental Health    Community and Practice    Suicide Prevention

2020 Suicide Prevention Day at the Capitol

Mental Health Colorado and American Foundation for Suicide Prevention - Colorado Chapter are once again hosting Suicide Prevention Day in February. Registration isn't open just yet, but you can check out the event page on Facebook for more information and updates as the event gets closer.


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Community    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at UNC    Community Health

Latinx Outreach Event Spawns Conversation About Community Engagement

Faculty at the Colorado School of Public Health are adamant when it comes to best practices in working alongside with and in service to the community. “We need to ask what the health needs of the community actually are before embarking on any project,” says professor Evelinn Borrayo. “It’s easy to make assumptions about concerns that may not be the primary concerns for a community, or may not even exist.” 


Author Tori Forsheim | Publish Date December 13, 2019
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Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    AI/AN health    Community Health

Spero Manson Receives Lifetime Mental Health Contribution Award

ColoradoSPH Distinguished Professor and Director of the Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health Spero Manson, PhD, was awarded the 2019 Carl Taube Award for Lifetime Contribution to the Field of Mental Health. Manson gave a lecture at the 2019 APHA conference in Philadelphia entitled “A Professional and Personal Journey: Exploring the Cultural Landscape of Mental Health Services”.


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Community    Mental Health    Community and Practice    Suicide Prevention

Holiday Blues?

The holiday season can be a difficult time for many people, especially students. If you think you might need someone to talk to, the AMC campus has resources to help students, residents, and fellows. The Department of Psychiatry offers mental health appointments that can often be scheduled within a week. For more information, call (303) 724-4716 or go to the Student and Resident Mental Health website.


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Community    Epidemiology    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Biostatistics    Community Health    Environment    Health Advocacy

Colorado School of Public Health Drops GRE Requirement

Beginning with the current 2019-2020 application cycle, the Colorado School of Public Health is eliminating the GRE as an admission requirement for its Master of Public Health (MPH) and Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) graduate programs. Immediately, applicants to the school will have the option to submit GRE scores if they feel their scores strengthen their application. Those not submitting GRE scores will not be penalized. 


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Epidemiology    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Ethics

Ask The Ethicist: Whistleblower Inquires About Consulting on a Lawsuit

Dear Ask the Ethicist:

Some time ago I discovered a major wrongdoing in the financial industry and reported it to the federal regulators as a whistleblower. I learned that under the US Whistleblower Protection Act, a whistleblower is entitled to a percentage of the funds the government collects in fines and damages. The federal regulators have so far brought no legal action in this case and my hopes are not high.
 
Simultaneously, I approached a team of lawyers for a possible class action lawsuit on behalf of the victims. The lawyers think of using me as a paid consultant for the class action and I would like to know if this would be ethical, considering that I'm also a whistleblower to the federal regulators. Should I publicly disclose my whistleblower status? Would I be ethically unfit to consult in a class action on behalf of victims while also being a whistleblower to the government?


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Community    Students    Community and Practice    Student and Alumni    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Community Health

Five Questions with Heather Kennedy: Engaging Young People in Social Action

Heather Kennedy is the Youth Movement Project Manager in the Center for Public Health Practice. An MPH alum (Community and Behavioral Health, ‘10) and recent PhD in Social Work, she oversees two grants that engage young people in social action programs. The first, UpRISE, focuses on tobacco control. The other involves adolescents in rural areas of Colorado in an arts-based conversation about mental health. From the time she applied for her first public health grant at the age of 17, Heather has been passionate about developing platforms where young people feel empowered to speak up and change their worlds.  


Author Colorado School of Public Health | Publish Date September 30, 2019
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Community    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Environment    Worker Health

Healthcare Professionals Apply New Skills from the Certificate in Total Worker Health® Program to Their Daily Practice

For Dr. Kathryn Buikema, MPH, DO, getting to the root cause of a patient’s injury or illness is only the beginning of her journey in providing comprehensive care. Her practice extends outside the walls of the clinic to the patient’s working environment by identifying and addressing workplace hazards and advocating for prevention first and foremost—skills she gained through the Certificate in Total Worker Health® program. 


Author Dee Akers | Publish Date September 27, 2019
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Community    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Environment    Worker Health

Lee Newman's Career in Beryllium Exposure Illustrates the Elements of Public Health

Lee Newman’s career has been a series of “aha!” moments that have guided him across every stage of the public health spectrum. These individual moments have built upon each other to scaffold a career that led Newman to being named a Distinguished Professor by the University of Colorado Board of Regents this year—the university’s highest honor. 


Author Tori Forsheim | Publish Date September 19, 2019
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Community    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CSU    Biostatistics

CSU Empowers Community With New Health Education Initiative in Fort Morgan

Colorado State University has developed a special partnership with the small eastern plains town of Fort Morgan in recent years, and the next step in that relationship is improving health awareness in immigrant communities there.


Author Jeff Dodge | Publish Date September 11, 2019
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Community    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Environment    Worker Health

Colorado's Healthiest and Safest Workplaces Recognized at Health Links Event

Yesterday marked the sixth annual Health Links™  event, Celebrating Colorado’s Healthiest Places to Work. In a demonstration of the state’s commitment to worker health, safety, and well-being, Governor Jared Polis proclaimed August 15th Total Worker Health® Day. Seven organizations and one individual were honored with awards for their dedication to workplace health, safety, and well-being. Poudre School District was presented with the Governor’s Award for Worksite Wellness by the Governor’s Council for Healthy and Active Lifestyles in partnership with Health Links, a program based at the Center for Health, Work & Environment at the Colorado School of Public Health.   


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Community    Epidemiology    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Ethics

Ask The Ethicist: Connecting Students with Community Agencies

Dear Ask the Ethicist:

I am a public health faculty member working with a community agency in a consulting capacity. In that role, I have been asked to help the agency expand one of their action committees. I have a student who has the skills to contribute to this committee and who could help me fulfill my role with the agency. As the student’s advisor, I can envision this being a good learning experience for the student but also know how busy the student is between school work and a job outside of school. By suggesting that the student take on this role, would I be unfairly coercive in using my influence as professor? 


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Epidemiology    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Ethics

Ask The Ethicist: Naming Specific Manufacturers in Food-Borne Illness Outbreaks

Dear Ask the Ethicist:

I am teaching a course in which students are doing course papers focused on addressing selected public health practice challenges. Recently, a student brought the following issue to the class, posing it as an ethical challenge. I wasn’t sure how to respond. What would you advise?


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Epidemiology    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Ethics

Ask The Ethicist: Are Student Learning Experiences "Voluntourism"?

Dear Ask the Ethicist:

I regularly advise students who are working on field-based projects (practica and Capstones) in a high need community. Their work has involved engaging with community health leaders in conducting needs assessments and generating ideas among community members about how to address public health problems within the community. However, the students almost always leave the program before they can help the community develop viable solutions to the problems. I worry that the communities we work with may feel that they are giving more than they are getting in providing learning opportunities for students with little or no help in addressing the challenges uncovered by the students’ field work. At some point, they may decide to stop engaging with the school in this way – a loss for future students and also creating a bad name for the institution within the state. Is it ethical for us, as a school, to continue to send our students into these communities without a clear plan for how we, as a school, will help the communities once the students have moved on?


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Community    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Community Health    Maternal & Child Health

Helping Colorado Kids Live Healthier Lives

It takes four hours and 20 minutes for Jenn Leiferman, PhD, and Jini Puma, PhD, to drive to the San Luis Valley from central Denver. When faculty and staff from the Colorado School of Public Health get to this rural community in Southern Colorado, they’re often greeted by their first name and a hug. They know the school well here. 


Author Kathleen Bohland | Publish Date June 03, 2019
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Community    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Health Systems    Health Advocacy

Glen Mays Named Chair of the Department of Health Systems, Management and Policy

Glen Mays, PhD, who specializes in preparedness and health systems, policy and economics, has been named Chair of the Department of Health Systems, Management and Policy in the Colorado School of Public Health following a national search. He begins his position on June 1, 2019. 


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Community    Epidemiology    Infectious disease    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Global Health

Flu Strain Sparks International Alliance

Influenza pandemics have shaped history. In 1918, the Spanish flu pandemic infected approximately 500 million people worldwide and claimed the lives of 50 million. The first cases were recorded at the U.S. Army’s Camp Funston, Kansas. It quickly swept through the barracks and the, aided by the transportation of soldiers, spread to the fronts of World War I. The death toll from the pandemic surpassed all the military deaths in the two world wars. New research suggests that Spanish flu virus originated from birds. Influenza virus infecting birds rapidly mutated, leaping to humans. Wild, aquatic birds are natural hosts to influenza viruses and they usually show no symptoms of illness. These avian flu viruses do not normally infect humans, except when a mutation occurs. If a mutation enables the influenza virus to infect humans the results can be deadly. 


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Epidemiology    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz   

Epidemiology and 5G Wireless

WNYC radio host Ira Flatow had Dean Samet on the air with several other experts to discuss concerns about cellular radiation ahead of 5G wireless technology implementation. The station summarized the story as follows: 


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Community    Mental Health    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Community Health

Colorado Leaders Call For Action to Address Urgent Statewide Mental Health Needs

In a statement called Colorado Course Corrections, The Equitas Project has called for an urgent and immediate shift in awareness, and rebalancing of effort and investment across multiple stakeholders who share accountability for the health and safety of all Coloradans.


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Community    Community and Practice    Maternal & Child Health

A Creative and Fun Way for Kids to Learn About Healthy Eating

The Integrated Nutrition Education Program (INEP) is a creative and fun way for kids to learn about healthy eating in their classroom and to share what they learn with their families. Each lesson includes a hands-on cooking activity that teaches students how to prepare and taste new fruits and vegetables. INEP is funded by SNAP-Ed and conducted through partnerships with the University of Colorado and various school districts and schools from around the state. INEP’s goal is to instill life-long nutrition behaviors to prevent obesity, type 2 diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. To accomplish this goal, INEP targets increased fruit and vegetable consumption, overall healthy eating, children’s willingness to try new foods and increased physical activity.

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Community    Community and Practice    Maternal & Child Health

The Collaborative STANCE (Linking Systems To Address ACEs In Childhood Early On)

Building on our long history of partnerships in the rural San Luis Valley, state partnerships and the need for expansion to other states in HHS Region 8, the Center's public health practice-based core research project is designed to reduce the intergenerational transmission of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in the San Luis Valley (SLV) of Colorado. ACEs are modifiable risk factors that have a profound and lasting effect on a person’s health. To accomplish this, a community-engaged, stakeholder-driven, multi-level intervention, called STANCE (Linking Systems To address ACEs iN Childhood Early on) has been funded by the CDC.

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Community    Community and Practice    Community Health

Meet Our Community Advisory Board Partners

Because we value participatory research, we engage in a collaborative process involving community, state, and national partners to inform decisions on the overall direction and scope of the Center, as well as on the project level. Representing the community of the San Luis Valley, the Community Advisory Board (CAB) partners in leadership with the Rocky Mountain Prevention Research Center by identifying community needs and concerns; providing input on research design and implementation; providing input on communication and dissemination activities; recommending project specific team members; and acting as a liaison with our partner community.

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Community    Obesity    Community and Practice    Maternal & Child Health

Promoting a Culture of Wellness in Preschools

The Culture of Wellness in Preschools (COWP) is a comprehensive and collaborative early childhood obesity program, which aims to promote a “culture of wellness” in preschool settings by increasing fruit and vegetable consumption and physical activity levels. This is accomplished by bringing the following to preschool sites throughout Colorado: 


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Community    Community and Practice    pregnancy    Maternal & Child Health

Utilizing Online Technology to Address Prenatal Mood Disorders

Prenatal depression is associated with numerous, deleterious maternal and child health outcomes. Pregnant women have expressed a need for help in identifying and treating their depressive symptoms.  Healthcare providers play a significant role in managing (i.e. identifying and treating/referring to care) prenatal depression as they are often the sole exposure to mental health resources for women. However, many providers may not be meeting these recommendations. Identifying women who are exhibiting depressive symptomatology and providing guidance based on evidence-based practices and/or utilizing linkages to mental health specialists are all integral to providing optimal patient-centered care. This study will conduct a pilot, randomized-controlled trial to test the preliminary effects of an online training with a diverse group of providers on the management of prenatal depression.   

The present study intends to test an evidence-based, online training for a diverse group of providers on how to manage prenatal depression. Providers will be recruited from two states, Colorado and Virginia.   

Our online training provides an overview of the harmful effects of prenatal depression on numerous maternal and child outcomes, as well as provides a framework that uses the 5As model (i.e. Assess, Advise, Agree, Assist and Arrange) to teach providers how to 1) assess for depression, 2) advise the patient on treatment options, 3) agree on a treatment plan, 4) assist patient in any problem solving related to obtaining treatment, and 5) arrange for supports for the patient (e.g. link patients to mental health resources in the community).

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Community    Epidemiology    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Food Safety

Improving the Safety of Our Food: Building Capacity to Investigate and Respond to Foodborne Outbreaks

It is sometimes difficult to find rays of hope in a public health crisis like a listeria outbreak in Colorado, until the outbreak is solved and contained through the joint efforts of local and national public health experts. In 2011, a bacterium contaminated cantaloupes grown on a farm in the southeastern part of the state and wreaked havoc, eventually killing 33 people and sickening about 150 others across the nation. It was the deadliest foodborne illness outbreak in the United States since 1924. The crisis helped to heighten awareness of the constant vigilance required to protect the food supply in the state and nation. 


Author Tyler Smith | Publish Date February 06, 2019
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Community    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Global Health

Extending Reach to Rural Guatemala: Promoting Health & Saving Lives

On a typical scorching hot day in the rural Trifinio region of Guatemala, you might find Saskia Bunge-Montes, MD, MPH, checking a child for malnutrition or monitoring a pregnant woman. Or she might be traveling dusty dirt roads in a motorized three-wheel tuk tuk to meet members of the community. Or she could be skyping with her colleagues at the Colorado School of Public Health at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.  

For Bunge-Montes, a 2016 graduate of ColoradoSPH, the best part of a typical day is that it’s not typical at all.  

“I can’t describe a typical day because no two days are the same,” she says. 


Author Kathleen Bohland | Publish Date February 01, 2019
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Community    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    ColoradoSPH at CSU    Community Health

Diehl Receives National Award for Mentorship in Gerontology

Diehl, an expert on the psychology of aging, is professor of physical activity & healthy lifestyles  at ColradoSPH at CSU. His award presentation took place in November at the GSA’s 2018 Annual Scientific Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts.


Author CSU External Relations Staff | Publish Date January 28, 2019
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Community    Community and Practice    Equity Diversity and Inclusion    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Workforce Development    Community Health    Maternal & Child Health

Healthy Babies, Strong Families: Joining Forces to Address African-American Infant Mortality

It’s a heartbreaking statistic: African-American/black infants in Colorado are two-and-a-half times more likely to die before their first birthday than white infants. The number frames two complicated questions: why the disparity and how to eliminate it?


Author Tyler Smith | Publish Date January 09, 2019
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Community    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    AI/AN health    Community Health

Department News Community & Behavioral Health Telemedicine Pioneers: Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health

After decades of pioneering work proving the efficacy of telehealth services for remote American Indian and Alaska Native communities, Spero Manson, PhD, can paint any number of illustrations to make a point about reaching those in need.  


Author Michael Booth | Publish Date December 14, 2018
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Community    Addiction    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CSU    Community Health

Tackling Addiction

Colorado has been feeling the effects of the national opioid crisis, particularly in rural areas. Now Colorado State University has received about $1.4 million in federal grants for a project in which community professionals — including CSU Extension agents — will work with youths age 10-14 and their families to prevent drug experimentation before it starts. 


Author Jeff Dodge | Publish Date December 13, 2018
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Community    Diabetes    Community and Practice    smoking    Data and Health    Maternal & Child Health

LEAD Mini-Summit: Lightning Strikes!

Organized by LEAD Assistant Directors Kate Sauder (Translation), Anne Starling (Environment), and Wei Perng (‘Omics), fifteen ‘lightning’ talks of three minutes each were presented. The topics ranged from molecular to community level exposures and outcomes. Small groups were formed at the end of the session to identify areas for collaboration and strategize on future directions.


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Community    Women's Health    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Environment    Worker Health

Breaking Down Gender Bias: The Business Case

On National Equal Pay Day, April 10, Dr. Stefanie Johnson from the CU Boulder Leeds School of Business shared her insights about gender bias in the workplace with a packed room of more than 40 people on the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. National Equal Pay Day is a holiday that raises awareness about the gap between women’s and men’s wages. While Johnson touched on this timely issue, she also discussed many other, often insidious, consequences of bias on worker wages, organizational hiring and promotion practices, and business goals.   


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Community    Firearm Injury Prevention    Community and Practice    Gun Violence Prevention    Injury & Violence Prevention

Isn’t Better Research into Gun Violence Something Everyone Can Get Behind?

The Dickey Amendment, named after former Arkansas Rep. Jay Dickey, created a de-facto ban on federal funding for gun research in the 1990s.


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Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Environment    Worker Health

Building Safety Culture: How Natalie Schwatka’s Research is Changing the Construction Industry

Six years ago, Dr. Natalie Schwatka stepped onto a construction site for the first time. It would not be the last. In fact, this would be the first of countless visits that would lead her to help develop a training program reaching thousands of construction workers across the country.   


Author Avery Artman | Publish Date February 01, 2018
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Community    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Environment    Worker Health

From the Clinic to the Hill: Lee Newman’s 30-Year Fight to Protect Workers from a Toxic Metal

In spring 1985, a man we’ll call Tom checked in for a seemingly routine medical appointment. In hindsight, Tom’s visit proved to be a pivotal moment in the lives of the patient, his doctor, U.S. industry, policymakers, and more than a million workers. 


Author Avery Artman | Publish Date February 01, 2018
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Community    Epidemiology    Community and Practice    Latino Health

ColoradoSPH Latino Health Center Director a Leading Asthma Specialist for UCHealth

Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Director of the Latino Research & Policy Center at the Colorado School of Public Health Fernando Holguin, MD, MPH, is also a top international asthma expert at the University of Colorado Hospital’s Center for Lungs and Breathing.


Author Todd Neff | Publish Date October 12, 2017
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Community    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    pregnancy    Global Health    Maternal & Child Health

Working to Address Teen Pregnancy in Rural Guatemala

I live in Guatemala, where almost 50% of all children under five suffer from malnutrition, and poverty, but I was fortunate to attend a private school in the capital city. Even at my school they only taught us four classes on sexual health from grades 6-8 and the rest was left to our parents and imagination. These lessons were not only short, but they lacked depth and were imparted by conservative volunteers that distanced themselves from the reality of modern teen messages and sexuality. Their teachings scared students away from sex, and did little to foster healthy relationships, values or skills. 


Author Javier Balsells | Publish Date October 11, 2017
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Community    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Environment    Worker Health

Lee Newman: Complex Problems and the Creative Brain

Creativity, entrepreneurialism, empathy. These were hallmarks of Lee Newman’s childhood in Bayonne, N.J. “It was a household where we were encouraged to do creative stuff… with a purpose,” said Newman, director of the Center for Health, Work & Environment at the Colorado School of Public Health. And he took his parents’ encouragement to heart. 


Author Trisha Kendall | Publish Date September 19, 2017
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Community    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Global Health    Maternal & Child Health

Helping Babies Breathe: Lessons Learned from 5 Years and 80 Countries

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that between 1990 and 2003, mortality of children under five years old fell from 12.7 million to 6.3 million. During the same time, the proportion of deaths that occurred in the neonatal period (the first 28 days) actually increased from 37 percent to about 44 percent. Global recognition of this gap has motivated many in the field of neonatal care to scale up effective and affordable interventions to address the primary causes of neonatal mortality: asphyxia, low birth weight, and infection. Among those leading the effort to improve newborn survival worldwide is Susan Niermeyer, MD, MPH, FAAP, professor of Pediatrics, Section of Neonatology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and professor of Epidemiology at the Colorado School of Public Health, both located on the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. 


Author Molly T. Moss | Publish Date April 03, 2017
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Community    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CU Anschutz    Global Health    Maternal & Child Health

Center for Global Health Leads Revision of Pediatrics in Disasters Training to Address Needs of Refugees and Children in High Conflict Areas

The Colorado School of Public Health's Center for Global Health announced today the rollout of a revised Pediatrics in Disasters (PEDs) training program, which trains healthcare and humanitarian workers to prioritize life-saving care for children in disasters. 


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Community    Women's Health    Community and Practice    Global Health    Maternal & Child Health

WHO Redesignates Center for Global Health as Int'l Collaborating Center

The maternal and child health program within the Colorado School of Public Health’s Center for Global Health has been re-designated by the World Health Organization as a WHO Collaborating Center for Promoting Family and Child Health. The program, which is a partnership between Children’s Hospital Colorado (Children’s Colorado) and the Colorado School of Public Health (ColoradoSPH), is the only maternal and child health collaborating center in North America.


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Community    Community and Practice    ColoradoSPH at CSU    Community Health    Latino Health

Borrayo Appointed to State Board of Health

Evelinn Borrayo, PhD, professor of Community and Behavioral Health at the Colorado School of Public Health at CSU, has been appointed to the State Board of Health by Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper.

Borrayo will represent District 2 for a three-year term. Of the state board's nine voting members, she is the only academic.

The State Board of Health performs such duties as promulgating public health rulings, approving grant funding, appointing members to department committees, and advising the executive director.

Of the appointment, Borrayo calls it "the most meaningful public service" she could perform. It will allow her a wide-reaching consideration of health issues facing Coloradans, as well as the ability to exercise a vote in improving citizen health. 

In addition to her appointments within ColoradoSPH, Borrayo is also a professor of counseling psychology and director of counseling training in CSU's College of Natural Sciences and its department of Psychology, and up until recently was the director of the Colorado School of Public Health's Latino Research & Policy Center.

Borrayo's voice will help represent three unique perspectives: that of a higher education academic; a mental health trained professional; and an ethnic minority woman of Latino descent.

"I believe that through my professional training, I can provide knowledge, skills, and experience related to the mental health needs of the people of Colorado. Moreover, through my affiliation with the Colorado School of Public Health, I am in the position to contribute added knowledge and skills related to public health matters that affect all citizens of Colorado."

"As part of my commitment to improve health inequities, I have developed expertise in best practices related to improving the pipeline of underrepresented providers in the healthcare professions, including mental health providers."

Read the full story in CSU Source.


Author Anne Manning | Publish Date June 26, 2016
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Colorado School of Public Health In the News

Colorado Public Radio

State launches first-ever firearm data dashboard meant to help Coloradans better understand gun violence, prevention

news outletColorado Public Radio
Publish DateFebruary 26, 2024

Beyond mass shootings, which generate a lot of media and public attention, gun deaths have steadily increased in Colorado for more than a decade, according to the state health department and reflected on the dashboard. During that time, state leaders and community advocates have worked to fight the trend. Now they’re turning to a new avenue — a public health approach to gun violence prevention. 

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The Denver Post

CDC chops $5 million in funding to Colorado research center working with local public health groups

news outletThe Denver Post
Publish DateFebruary 23, 2024

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans to end its funding for a Colorado center that helps local public health organizations get their programs off the ground and prove they work. Colorado’s Democratic members of Congress sent a letter to the director of the CDC this week asking that the agency reconsider cutting funding to the Rocky Mountain Prevention Research Center.

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Colorado Public Radio

Can Colorado teachers feel more prepared for school emergencies?

news outletColorado Public Radio
Publish DateFebruary 21, 2024

Between reading, writing, and arithmetic, there are also disease outbreaks, natural disasters, and acts of violence at schools. While school districts have security and drills for these events, educators often have unanswered questions and are left feeling anxious and overwhelmed. Two Anschutz researchers wanted to change that, starting with gathering school staff’s ideas and addressing their questions about safety.

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CSU Source

What do your blood test results mean? A toxicologist explains the basics of how to interpret them

news outletCSU Source
Publish DateFebruary 07, 2024

As a toxicologist, Brad Reisfeld, a ColoradoSPH professor at CSU, studies the effects of drugs and environmental contaminants on human health. As part of his work, he relies on various health-related biomarkers, many of which are measured using conventional blood tests. Understanding what common blood tests are intended to measure can help you better interpret the results.

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