News
05/29/09
A Bike Trail That Traces the Way to Freedom
The New York Times
AMID the farmland just north of the Ohio River, thickets of sumac and maple trees hem the edge of a one-lane road, just as they might have lined the way to freedom two centuries ago.
05/14/09
Root of the Problem
Pittsburgh City Paper
Yejide Kmt was tired of seeing her daughter hospitalized for asthma and eczema. And three years ago, she decided on an unorthodox treatment: The 26-year-old mother of five decided after some research that the problem was her family's diet, and she began serving them vegan fare at home.
03/21/09
Does race of doctors matter?
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Highmark Inc. is asking customers if they want doctors' race or ethnicity included in the health insurer's physician directory.
3/11/09
Working out is working, say health coach's clients
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Arguably the best fitness deal in Pittsburgh is the body toning class Chris Howard teaches four times a week at the Kingsley Center, 6435 Frankstown Ave. in East Liberty. The price is certainly right. The cost to blacks of all ages and both genders is free, the tab picked up by the Center for Minority Health of the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh as part of its Healthy Black Family Project.
Telling our stories . . .
Visiting scholars enhance curriculum on health disparities, equity
University of Colorado Denver
During February, Drs. Sandra Quinn and Stephen Thomas, from the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh, were Visiting Scholars-in-Residence at the Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Denver. Funded by HRSA through a grant to the Preventive Medicine Residency Training Program, the purpose of the visiting scholars program is to enhance the training of preventive medicine physicians and public health students in education, consultation and research on health disparities.
02/05/09
Chancellor staff awards announced
University Times
Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg has named the recipients of the 2009 chancellor’s awards for staff excellence in service to the University and the community.
02/03/09
Children’s Hospital Study Finds African-American Parents Are More Distrusting of Medical Research Than White Parents
Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pa. - February 3, 2009 - Distrust toward medicine and research plays a significant role in African-Americans’ lack of participation in clinical trials, according to a study by researchers at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health.
01/25/09
Kidney disease rampant in region
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Three days a week, Annie Johnson loses an entire morning confined to a chair in an Oakland clinic filled with other black patients. Her blood cycles through a dialysis machine that does what her kidneys can't: maintain a balance of water and minerals.
01/07/09
For Pittsburgh, There’s Life After Steel
The New York Times
PITTSBURGH — This is what life in one American city looks like after an industrial collapse: Unemployment is 5.5 percent, far below the national average. While housing prices sank nearly everywhere in the last year, they rose here. Wages are also up. Foreclosures are comparatively uncommon.
12/09
Health Disparities In America: Challenge and Opportunity
University of Pittsburgh Institute of Politics
Question: What do health insurance costs, tobacco billboards, golden arches, unsafe neighborhoods, grocery store locations, and low numbers of minority doctors have in common? Answer: All of these factors contribute to the disturbing health disparities that prevail in the United States along racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic lines.
12/29/08
The Costs of Cancer: Part Two
Black Enterprise.com
Awareness and prevention key to addressing costly epidemic. When it comes to cancer, blacks are diagnosed at later stages and bear a greater burden in the rate of cancer deaths than whites, reports the National Cancer Institute.
12/16/08
Finally, a summit about minorities' health disparities
USA Today
It's become widely known that major health disparities exist among the nation's minority communities, including higher rates of certain cancers, high blood pressure and diabetes, and poorer access to medical insurance and disease screenings.
10/29/08
Obituary: Peter Cai / Ambitious, talented Harvard pre-med student
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Peter Cai, a Harvard University junior from McCandless known for his brilliance, kindness and common sense, died Saturday of a heart attack after running in a footrace. Mr. Cai, 20, a pre-med major in molecular and cellular biology who graduated from North Allegheny High School in 2006, collapsed after completing the race along the Charles River. Despite immediate attention from two nearby anesthesiologists, he was pronounced dead at Mount Auburn Hospital. He was a championship swimmer in high school and friends knew of no history of heart trouble.
10/14/08
WPXI
Doctors Recommend Doubling Dose Of Vitamin D
WPXI - Video
09/19/08
The Costs of Cancer
Black Enterprise.com
Insurance coverage disparity linked to heightened mortality. There aren't any studies that prove that African Americans, when diagnosed with cancer, carry a larger percentage of the economic burden compared with white cancer patients. However, anecdotal evidence shows that they may pay higher out-of-pocket costs due to gaps in insurance coverage
09/18/08
Barbershops become urban community health center
Reuters
TORONTO (Reuters) - African-American communities in the shadows of the University of Pittsburgh's buildings are getting sick and dying sooner than their white counterparts, of preventable diseases -- and Dr. Stephen Thomas wants to change it. An outreach initiative involving local barbershops and beauty salons is a step in that direction.
09/16/08
Mayo Clinic Team Takes on the Health Disparities Challenge
Mayo Clinic
As part of its mission to train the next generation of physicians and scientists, the Mayo Clinic Center for Translational Science Activities (CTSA) offers the Health Disparities Field Experience, a unique course through Mayo Graduate School. For this year's fieldwork, course scholars and faculty are joining with the Center for Minority Health (CMH) at the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public Health in its innovative program called 'Take a Health Professional to the People Day' on Sept. 18, 2008.
09/12/08
More Than a Haircut - Health Care Providers to Give Screenings at Local Barbershops, Beauty Salons
UPMC Media
Seventh Annual ‘Take a Health Professional to the People Day’ organized by Pitt’s Center for Minority Health. Regular visits to the doctor’s office are an important part of staying healthy, yet many people do not have a primary care physician with whom they can schedule routine checkups.
09/12/08
NCMHD’s Center of Excellence at the University of Pittsburgh: Using Social Norms to Attack Prostate Cancer among African Americans
NCMHD
Every ethnic group has safe zones; community empowered centers where they can gather, share cultural secrets, connect with their ethnicity’s historical narrative and engage in writing new chapters of that story.
08/15/08
Pittsburgh GSPH STEER Program Encourages Young Environmental Scientists
ASPH Friday Letter
The department of environmental and occupational health (EOH) and Center Minority Health (CMH) at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health have completed the first year of a five-year grant for Short Term Educational Experiences for Research (STEER) in the Environmental Health Sciences.
08/05/08
Program floats science, research careers for students
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
High schoolers spend their summers experimenting. When a two-inch damselfly buzzed the upper deck of RiverQuest's Discovery research and education vessel on the Ohio River yesterday, Alexis Carter and William Tolliver jumped out of the way.
08/04/08
AIDS workers aim to lift black community's shroud of silence
Star-Telegram.com
The effort to stop HIV’s spread among blacks is a battle against racism and poverty, distrust and homophobia.
06/25/08
First Annual Academy for Health Equity Meeting to Address Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities
University of Pittsburgh
Eliminating racial and ethnic health disparities is one of the goals of Healthy People 2010, the nation’s roadmap to improving the health of all Americans.
06/17/08
Free screening for prostate cancer tomorrow
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Free prostate cancer screenings will be offered from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. tomorrow at Willie Tee's Barbershop, 7205 Frankstown Ave., Homewood.
05/15/08
Underground Railroad Bicycle Route Contender in National Geographic and Ashoka’s Changemakers’ Geotourism Challenge
Adventure Cycling
Adventure Cycling Association today announced that its newest heritage route, the Underground Railroad Bicycle Route (UGRR), is a featured entrant in the National Geographic and Ashoka's Changemakers’ Geotourism Challenge. The Challenge is a global competition that seeks to uncover innovative tourism projects around the world that sustain, enhance, and preserve local culture and place.
05/05/08
A big leap for minority health
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
In three years, a Pitt program has grown from its East Liberty start to 12 neighborhoods and beyond. At the end of Felicia Savage's yoga classes, her students form a circle and hold hands. They recite a pledge to honor their unity in wellbeing and finish with a group hug.
04/26/08
Obituary: Deborah J. Aaron / Pitt professor and researcher in health and physical activity
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Deborah J. Aaron, a University of Pittsburgh professor and researcher died after a battle with cancer Wednesday at her Churchill home. She was 51. Dr. Aaron came to Pitt in 1994 and was an associate professor of health and physical activity in the school of education, university officials said.
04/07/08
Pitt’s Center for Minority Health Honors National Minority Health Month With Day-Long Community Celebration on April 12
UPMC Media
Improving the health status of racial and ethnic minorities who experience premature illness and death from cancer, diabetes and heart disease, and a number of other diseases is a major concern in today’s public health and medical care environment.
03/21/08
PBS explores 'Causes'
WQED
PBS's "Unnatural Causes" (10 p.m. Thursdays on WQED starting next week and running through April 17)
03/17/08
Tales From the Scales: Thomas's Promises
University Times
“I don’t suspect we lost much,” said Thomas’s Promises team captain Mario Browne of the Center for Minority Health as he anticipated this week’s midpoint weigh-in.
03/12/08
Adventure Cyclist
Adventure Cyclist
The Big Rides: 2008 Events
Ragbrai's Riders of the Corn, and Pittsburgh Youngsters tackle a ride to Washington DC.
03/07/08
The State of Black America 2008
Since 1976, the National Urban League has released its annual State of Black America (SOBA) report, a barometer of conditions of the African-American community in the United States.
03/02/08
Waiting to exhale - Why black America is afraid to hope for a President Obama
The Boston Globe
WASHINGTON - A few days ago, after she cleaned my teeth, my dentist turned her small talk to politics. What was said - and what wasn't - was a microcosm of how African-Americans are talking about Barack Obama's presidential campaign.
02/21/08
Commission Seeks Ways to Foster Better Health Outcomes and Improve the Health of All Americans
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Foundation issues new report which finds poor, minority and middle-class Americans with less education live sicker and die younger.
02/21/08
Center for Minority Health to be Featured During WPXI-TV Special
WPXI
The Center for Minority Health (CMH) at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH), will be featured in a WPXI-TV half-hour special entitled, “Here’s to Life.” The Black History Month special will air on WPXI-TV at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 23 and will be rebroadcast on PCNC at 3:00 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 24 and again at 7:30 p.m., Monday, Feb. 25. The special will focus on the Healthy Class of 2010 project, a seven-year campaign designed to promote the health and well-being of students in the Pittsburgh Public Schools.
02/18/08
Closing the Gap: An OnQ Special Report
WQED
Medical information is complicated enough, but some patients must also deal with language barriers or disabilities. In this report, OnQ explores how hospitals, providers and other organizations are addressing this health care disparities problem.
02/18/08
Closing the Gap: Health Disparities Overview
WQED
OnQ kicks off our week-long series focusing on disparities in health care and medical access for various groups based on their race, sexual orientation, gender, economic status, among other categories.
02/18/08
Closing the Gap: Health Disparities: Racial and Ethnic
WQED
Through the Center for Minority Health, minister Rev. Vaughn teaches African dance classes for the CMH's Healthy Black Family Project TM at the Kingsley Center's newly-renovated exercise studios. Class participants talk with OnQ's Chris Moore about getting a handle on health, as well as spiritual issues
02/14/08
WPXI’s Here’s To Life explores the health of Pittsburgh’s Class of 2010
WPXI
Channel 11 continues its annual celebration of African American History Month with a look to the future. “Here’s To Life” examines the new wellness philosophy of inner city students by focusing on their immediate goals for long range success. The half-hour special, which will air on WPXI-TV, Saturday, February 23rd at 7:30 and be rebroadcast on PCNC, Sunday, Feb. 24th at 3:00 and Monday, Feb. 25th at 7:30 pm, will highlight a seven-year campaign designed to promote the health and well being of students in the Pittsburgh Public Schools.
02/14/08
Obituary: BARBARA G. HALE
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Barbarba Gandy, 80, a resident of Pgh. for more than 50 yrs. died peacefully on Sun. Jan. 27, 2008. Surrounded by her daughters Pamela Danielle Chavarria, Deborah Hale Schexnydre, & Barbara Hale Bey. .
01/07/08
Obituary: Evelyn Page Parker / Trailblazing nurse, busy volunteer
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Evelyn Page Parker faced down a racist society to become a nurse during World War II, then devoted the rest of her life to making sure other African Americans got the support she did not.
01/03/08
Neighborhoods: Local nonprofit will focus on making outdoor activities accessible to a more diverse population.
Pittsburgh City Paper
In the blog account of her June day kayaking at North Park, Donna Baxter wondered "Why don't WE come out here?" Baxter, who is CEO and Webmistress of www.thesoulpitt.com, Pittsburgh's premier black community Web site, noted that she and her companion were the only people of color out enjoying the beautiful afternoon on the lake sponsored by Venture Outdoors, a local nonprofit that facilitates outdoor recreation including events, outings and classes.
Winter 2008
Tomorrow's Trail Leaders
Rails to Trails
Carter Collins is a Dallas fourth-grader who loves to ride his bike along-side his two brothers.
11/20/07
Genetic Differences Point to Ethnic and Racial Disparities in Colorectal Cancer Risk
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
Newswise — Risk of developing colorectal cancer is known to differ across ethnic and racial groups, and now an analysis of 26 studies, involving over 25,000 participants shows that some of these disparities might be explained by distinct patterns of genetic inheritance. A team of researchers, led by investigators at the University of Pittsburgh, present their findings today in Atlanta at the American Association for Cancer Research conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved, being held November 27-30.
11/07/07
Racial Differences in the Association between Clinical Measures and Self-Reported Health Status in Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation Type 2 Diabetes (BARI 2D)
Politics Policy & Public Health
Risk factors for Type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) are more prevalent in Black non-Hispanic (B) compared to White NH (W) subjects. We investigated self-reported health status in B and W patients with diabetes and CAD using selected clinical variables.
12/17/07
Taking Healthcare to the People: Mayo Clinic, Univ. of Pittsburgh Collaborate to Reach Patients Where They Live and Work
Mayo Clinic - Center for Transitional Science Activities
Despite the combined efforts of government agencies, healthcare providers and community leaders, there is still a large gap or "disparity" between populations when it comes to health outcomes and access to medical care. In some areas, the divide is between racial or ethnic groups; in others, there is a gap between people of different income levels, or between city-dwellers and rural populations.
12/11/07
Imprisoning of blacks for drugs out of proportion
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
African-Americans are 10 times more likely than whites to serve prison terms for drug offenses, even though the rate of drug use doesn't differ significantly between the two groups, a new national study says.
11/16/07
Clipping Away at Illness - Barbers and Salons Catering to Blacks Add Health Checks to List of Services
Washington Post Staff
In the annals of beauty, the pompadour, the beehive and the Afro all had their day. Now comes the lifesaving haircut.
11/08/07
$4.8 Million Awarded to Pitt’s Center for Minority Health to Fund Health Disparities Research
UPMC / Health Sciences Media Relations
The Center for Minority Health (CMH) in the Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH) at the University of Pittsburgh has been awarded a five-year, $4.8 million grant to establish a Research Center of Excellence in Minority Health Disparities by the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities, a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
10/23/07
University of Pittsburgh Center for Minority Health Launches Public Phase of $1 Million Fundraising Campaign
ASPH Friday Letter
CMH has been awarded a challenge grant from the DSF Charitable Foundation, which will provide a 150 percent match up to $1.5 million.
10/20/07
Another opening
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The opening of the Pittsburgh to Erie spur of the Underground Railroad Bike Trail will be at noon Oct. 27 at REI in the SouthSide Works.
The event, sponsored by the Adventure Cycling Association and the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Minority Health, will include a bike ride and tours of the Underground Railroad exhibit at the Heinz History Center. The deadline for registrations is Wednesday. Contact Beth Petersen at bpetersen@adventurecycling.org or call 1-800-755-2453, Ext. 211. For more information on Adventure Cycling Association, go to www.adventurecycling.org.
10/06/07
Launching Million Dollar Fundraising Campaign to Eliminate Health Disparities - An Evening of Casual Elegance
Center for Minority Health
To support the further development and sustainability of the Healthy Black Family Project TM, the University of Pittsburgh’s Center
for Minority Health (CMH) hosted, “An Evening of Casual Elegance” on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2007, from 7 to 10 p.m.
09/18/07
Obituary: Carol L. McAllister / Anthropologist and Pitt professor
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Carol L. McAllister was an anthropologist, social researcher and feminist who worked with the University of Pittsburgh and devoted herself to improving life for women, children and the disadvantaged.
09/17/07
A Life-Saving Haircut? Health Care Providers To Give Screenings At Local Barbershops, Beauty Salons
UPMC News Bureau
Sixth annual ‘Take a Health Professional to the People Day’ organized by University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Minority Health.
09/24/07
“Knocking on Health Care’s Door—Medical Equity and Social Justice”
National Council of Jewish Women
A coalition of leading community organizations, including University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Minority Health, Magee-Women’s Hospital of UPMC, National Council of Jewish Women Pittsburgh Section, and the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition of greater Pittsburgh will bring in noted health advocate, writer, and ovarian cancer survivor Mary Scroggins to speak on September 24, 2007, at 7:00 p.m. in the auditorium of Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC.
08/28/07
Insights: Racial Disparity Affirmed in Tobacco Advertising
The New York Times
The density of billboards advertising tobacco products is more than twice as high in black neighborhoods as in white, researchers have found in a review of studies.
08/22/07
Blacks Seduced By Smoking Ads?
NPR News & Notes
A recent study suggests advertising could be one reason smoking deaths among black Americans are so high. The study's author, Dr. Brian Primack, explains the disparities between pro-tobacco advertising in white and black markets.
07/01/07
Helen Faison Intermediate students explore on 4-day cycling trip
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
For weeks, Anthony Pipkin, assistant principal of the Helen Faison Intermediate School in Homewood, had 10 students riding a stationary bike in his office each day.
06/29/07
8 Homewood youths on Greenway Sojourn
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Eight Homewood elementary school students are participating in the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's first "youth scholarship program," an adventure that enabled them to join the Greenway Sojourn bicycle ride as it pedaled into Pennsylvania yesterday. Their new mountain bikes and cycling gear, which they will be allowed to keep, were provided by the conservancy through a $4,500 Heinz Endowments grant secured in partnership with the Center for Minority Health.
06/26/07
Pitt study finds stark racial disparities
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Center for Race and Social Policy released its first report on racial demographics in the greater Pittsburgh area today.
06/24/07
Pedal pushers | Athens native, mother travel the nation and beyond by bike
The Athens Messenger
For Athens native Cheryl Hummon, the wheels on a bicycle are what make the world go around. Hummon travels everywhere on two wheels, whether biking 15 miles to work every day or following the Underground Railroad, or bicycling from her mother, Meg Hummon's, house in Athens across the country to her home in Portland, Ore.
06/23/07
Media Advisory: Prostate Cancer Screening and Education Sessions at Local Barbershops Sponsored By Pitt’s Center for Minority Health
UPMC News Bureau
The Center for Minority Health (CMH) of the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh, in conjunction with the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and the American Cancer Society (ACS), will conduct prostate cancer screenings and educational sessions in two barbershops in predominantly African-American neighborhoods on Saturday, June 23.
06/13/07
Bicyclist's journey rolls into an adventure in heritage and health
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
For seven weeks, Norman Peterson bicycled for sometimes 80 miles a day over the same hidden roads and river trails that enslaved Africans traveled as they escaped from Alabama and fled to freedom in Ontario.
06/04/07
Discrimination Linked to Health Problems Among Minorities
UPMC News Bureau
Study of Asian-Americans suggests higher rate of heart trouble, pain, other problems. Routine, even subtle, racial discrimination places significant mental stress on minorities that may provoke the development of chronic illness, new research suggests.
05/30/07
Cyclists reach the end of the line; Group follows Underground Railroad route from Alabama to Owen Sound
Local News
After 46 days of cycling some of the same back roads and riverside trails slaves used to escape from Alabama to Ontario, 76-year-old Harvey Cain rode into Owen Sound Tuesday afternoon and rested under a tree.
05/20/07
Biking the Trail of the Underground Railroad
All Things Considered
A group of cyclists is riding 2,100 miles along the Underground Railroad this month. The journey from Mobile, Ala., to Ontario, Canada, follows the route that many slaves used to escape to freedom.
Riding the Underground: Cyclists pass through Southern Indiana on 2,100 mile trek
The News and Tribune
A group of road-weary travelers wearing brightly colored jackets and riding on bicycles made their way through the backroads of Southern Indiana this week, following sleepy roads along the Ohio River to a key stop in their 2,100-mile trek.
Underground Railroad Bicycle Route stops in Grove Hill
The Clarke County Democrat
A new, long-distance bicycle route following the historic path of the Underground Railroad has been completed and passes through Clarke County.
Cyclists following historic route of the Underground Railroad
The South Alabamian
Two of a group of cyclists taking a journey from Mobile to Ontario, Canada stopped for a rest at the White Smith Memorial Library in Jackson, Tuesday.
04/22/07
Lead-poisoning screenings lag in Pittsburgh area
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Pennsylvania leads the country in the rate of children found with dangerous blood levels of potentially brain-damaging lead, yet children in the Pittsburgh area are less likely to have a blood test for lead poisoning than in most comparable cities.
04/19/07
Biking to health on the Underground Railroad Trail
University Times - University of Pittsburgh
The road to improving minority health may be a long one, but Pitt’s Center for Minority Health (CMH) has come up with one 2,058-mile-long path that aims to be a route to both better fitness and a deeper appreciation for American history.
04/18/07
Spirit of healing leads to mission of health
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The healthy church is a welcoming church, said the Rev. Dr. Jermaine McKinley, as she showed a visitor a wall of photographs of churches big and small that offer exercise classes, cooking demonstrations and health screenings to keep worshippers in top shape.
04/15/07
Bikers follow Underground Railroad
Press-Register
Sixty-six-year-old Yuji Komoto's tiny frame urged his bicycle forward through Mobile's downtown Saturday. He was on his way to Canada.
Historical Information In Support of the Adventure Cycling 2007 Bicycle Tour Along the Underground Railroad
Purdue University
This was part of a class project by a group of students at Purdue (with a significant amount of work by their professor) and includes historical notes, photographs, and links to other sources. You can look at the entire document or view it state by state.
Policy Issues Associated with Undertaking a New Large U.S. Population Cohort Study of Genes, Environment, and Disease
Department of Health & Human Services
The report describes the preliminary questions that should be addressed to help policymakers decide whether the U.S. Government should undertake a new large population study (LPS) of genes, environment, and disease. The aim of such studies is to determine linkages between environmental factors and exposures and risk for disease. These studies usually include the collection of health and environmental data and biological specimens from hundreds of thousands of people over a period of a decade or longer. Data and biospecimens are typically maintained in databases and repositories and are used by many researchers to determine associations between environmental factors and disease. Some scientists believe that a new large-scale LPS involving 500,000 to 1 million participants is the next logical step for deepening our understanding of the relationship of genes and the environment in human disease.
04/14/07
University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Minority Health to Hold National Minority Health Month Activities
ASPH Friday Letter
The day’s events will focus on seven major health priority areas identified by the Department of Health and Human Services: cancer screening and management, infant mortality, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, immunization and mental health.
04/06/07
University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Minority Health to Hold National Minority Health Month Activities Locally on April 14
UPMC News Bureau
Improving the health status of racial and ethnic minorities who experience premature illness and death from cancer, diabetes, heart disease and a number of other diseases is a major concern in today’s public health and medical care environment.
04/06/07
Allegheny County Health Department marks 50 years
The Tribune-Review
"Fifty years is a long time," Dr. Bruce Dixon, health department director, said yesterday. "Public health fits into almost every aspect of daily life. Collaboration is extremely important in getting things done."
The Northern Underground - Bicycling from Kentucky to Canada
The Adventure Cyclist
The Underground Railroad. The words may conjure up memories of a history class that you weren't particularly interested in, like the "Age of Jackson" or the "Great Depression", but for those who are interested in America's past, the words generate plenty of excitement.
Adventure Cyclist - Go the Distance
The Adventure Cyclist
Underground Part 2 : North to Canada
Underlying the Underground
The Adventure Cyclist
As I write this, it's Valentine's Day, and I guess I should be writing a love sonnet to the bicycle - but instead I'll share a recipe. For today is also the day we start shipping the northern maps of Adventure Cycling's Underground Railroad Bicycle Route.
The Underground Railroad Bicycle Route : Alabama to Kentucky
The Adventure Cyclist
They've gone and done it again. Just a handful of years ago the Adventure Cycling Association offered the first of its "heritage routes" - the east-west historic trail of Lewis and Clark.
04/03/07
Breaking Away to Freedom
The Adventure Cyclist
Just like the historic network of footpaths that inspired its creation, Adventure Cycling's new Underground Railroad Bicycle Route is not truly underground - obviously. But the project does indeed break new ground for the organization, figuratively speaking.
04/02/07
A Historical Ride - Jet Magazine
Jet Magazine
Cyclist Ken Williams takes a coffee break with John "Blue" Hannon, tour leader of the Adventure Cycling Association, at a coffee shop in Niagara, NY.
04/01/07
Riding to Better Health
The Adventure Cyclist
The Center for Minority Health and Adventure Cycling have Captains Lewis and Clark to thank for one of the most innovative partnerships in cycling. Besides their many other achievements, the legendary explorers were the inspiration for a new kind of Adventure Cycling bicycle route - the heritage route.
04/01/07
If you go... Underground Railroad Bicycle Route
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Underground Railroad Bicycle Route follows 2,100 miles from Mobile, Ala., to Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada, passing through Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York along the way.
04/01/07
Cycling trip follows trail from slavery to freedom
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Growing up in the South, Gertrude Frances remembers that some of her favorite stories were of the Underground Railroad. At her mom's knee, the social worker from Manchester reveled in the tales of escaped slaves and imagined the brave Africans who risked their lives to gain freedom to be her ancestors. In school, she did many a book report on "Uncle Tom's Cabin," fascinated by the abolitionist movement in Harriet Beecher Stowe's ground-breaking novel.
03/18/07
Comings and Goings
The New York Times
The lyrics of “Follow the Drinking Gourd” supposedly guided 19th-century American slaves north toward freedom (the gourd apparently being the Big Dipper). More recently, these lyrics guided the creation of a 2,058-mile-long simulation of an Underground Railroad route for 21st-century cyclists.
03/19/07
Report of the APA Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls (pdf)
American Psychological Association
At the recommendation of the American Psychological Association (APA) Committee on Women in Psychology (CWP) and with the approval of the Board of the Advancement of Psychology in the Public Interest (BAPPI) and the Board of Directors, APA's Council of Representatives established the Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls in February 2005.
03/09/07
New bicycle routes trace Underground Railroad
USA TODAY
In the 19th century, thousands of people who sought release from slavery followed the North Star to freedom. Now, bicyclists can follow a series of maps that approximate the historic 2,100-mile Underground Railroad from the Deep South into Canada.
03/03/07
Maps aim to connect cyclists with Underground Railroad history
Associated Press
History can be healthy. That's the message two groups hope to get across to veteran and beginner bicyclists with a set of maps intended to get riders closer to a painful chapter of American history.
02/26/07
PittChronicle - Black History Month Series | Rachael J. Berget (pdf)
Pitt Chronicle
This Pitt administrator pursues twin career goals: eliminating racial health disparities and helping faculty fulfill their career potentials.
2/28/07
Mothering the mother: Doulas help women with childbirth
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh's community doula movement started to take shape when obstetrician Irene Frederick moved from Philadelphia to join the faculty of UPMC Shadyside Family Practice and the staff of East Liberty Family Health Care Center in 1998. Dr. Frederick had long been passionate about ensuring that all pregnant women have a positive birth experience
2/12/07
Newsmaker: Stephen Thomas
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Before arriving at Pitt in 2000 as a social work professor, Thomas served for seven years as an associate professor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education at Atlanta's Emory University.
Genes, Behavior, and the Social Environment: Moving Beyond the Nature/Nurture Debate By MICHAEL MOORE of the Missoulian, AUGUST 2006 (pdf)
Institute of Medicine
We have made great strides over the past century in reducing rates of disease and enhancing people’s general health. Public health measures such as sanitation, improved hygiene, and vaccines; reduced hazards in the workplace; new drugs and clinical procedures; and, more recently, a growing understanding of the human genome have each played a role in extending the duration and raising the quality of human life.
CDC Releases 2006 Annual Report on America's Health
CDC
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the 30th annual report on the nation's health titled, "Health, United States, 2006" last week. The report consists of two main sections: a chartbook containing text and figures that illustrate major trends in the health of Americans; and a trend tables section that contains 147 detailed data tables. The two main components are supplemented by an executive summary, a highlights section, an extensive appendix and reference section and an index.
University of Pittsburgh Community Impact Report
University of Pittsburgh
At Pitt, we recognize that much of our strength is drawn from the strength of our home communities.
12/26/06
Missoula-based cycling nonprofit looks back, plans for future
Missoulian
Thirty years ago, in the summer of 1976, a cross-country bicycle ride organized by a small group of folks in Missoula took place. More than 4,100 people from all 50 states and 22 countries rode over 10 million miles, with the riders ranging in age from 7 to 86.
8/23/06
Promising Practices for Patient-Centered Communication with Vulnerable Populations: Examples from Eight Hospitals
The Commonwealth Fund
As patient populations become increasingly diverse, health care organizations are looking for innovative ways to communicate effectively across cultures, languages, and health literacy levels. This study identified eight hospitals from across the country that have demonstrated a commitment to providing patient-centered communication with vulnerable patient populations. Through site visits and focus group discussions, the authors draw out "promising practices" from the hospital's efforts to lower language barriers and ensure safe, clear, and effective health care interactions.
6/27/06
Health Professionals for Diversity (HPD) Coalition
Health Professionals for Diversity Coalition
HPD Digest is a monthly electronic newsletter with information and resources for health professionals concerned about the lack of diversity in the health care workforce. HPD Digest highlights issues, events, publications, and other newsworthy items pertinent to diversity in the health professions.
6/24/06
12th Annual Summer Public Health Research Institute and Videoconference on Minority Health
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Program for Ethnicity, Culture, and Health Outcomes
The 12th Annual Summer Public Health Research Institute and Videoconference on Minority Health opens with a two-hour discussion on Race-Based Medicine, with Drs. Joseph Graves, Pilar Ossorio, and Morris Foster, moderated by Stephanie Crayton. The session will be broadcast from the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. (2:00pm-4:00pm EDT Monday, June 26, 2006).
6/23/06
Racial and ethnic disparities in health care Feb 2006 special issue of the Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law
The Commonwealth Fund
Racial and ethnic disparities in health care were the theme of a special issue of a recent issue of the Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, which includes four articles supported by The Commonwealth Fund.
6/23/06
4th Annual Health Disparities Summer Workshop
The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
Below is a link that you can click on to access the web page with information regarding our 4th Annual Health Disparities Summer Workshop, June 24-30, 2006.
03/28/06
University of Pittsburgh's Center for Minority Health to Hold National Minority Health Month Activities
UPMS News Bureau
Improving the health status of racial and ethnic minorities, who experience premature illness and death from cancer, diabetes, heart disease and a number of other diseases, is a major concern in today’s public health and medical care environment.
01/25/06
Keep your baby safe from SIDS
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Persistent higher death rates in minorities draw attention with release of seasonal warning.
01/24/06
PITT’s Center For Minority Health And Wpxi-Tv Join Forces To Present Program On Health Issues Facing African-Americans
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
The University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health’s (GSPH) Center for Minority Health (CMH) has joined forces with WPXI-TV, Channel 11, in a year-long partnership that will produce a variety of health education program specials and vignettes designed to raise awareness of what works to prevent type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure in Pittsburgh’s African-American community.
05/27/05
Stephen Thomas, Ph.D., Director of University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Minority Health, to Receive National Award
UPMC / Health Sciences News Bureau
Stephen B. Thomas, Ph.D., director of the Center for Minority Health (CMH) within the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH), received the David Satcher Award from the Directors of Health Promotion and Education (DHPE) at the group’s annual meeting this week in Minneapolis, Minn. in conjunction with the National Conference of Health Education and Health Promotion.
Spring 2005
GSPH Center for Minority Health Launches Healthy Black Family Project TM
University of Pittsburgh - Research Review
Effort aimed at decreasing diabetes, hypertension in Pittsburgh neighborhoods
03/25/05
Entertainer Bill Cosby to Receive 2005 Porter Prize from University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health
UPMS News Bureau
Famed entertainer, comic, actor, educator and social commentator Bill Cosby, Ed.D., will be the 2005 recipient of the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health’s (GSPH) prestigious Porter Prize in recognition of exemplary performance in health promotion when he speaks with students and parents from Pittsburgh’s Reizenstein Middle School during GSPH’s “A Conversation with Bill Cosby” taking place at 6 p.m., Tuesday, April 5.
06/07/05
Angela Ford, Ph.D., of the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Minority Health, Named to Statewide Panel on Physical Fitness and Sports
UPMC / Health Sciences News Bureau
Angela Ford, Ph.D., associate director of the Center for Minority Health of the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH), has been named to the Governor's Advisory Council on Physical Fitness and Sports by Calvin B. Johnson, M.D., secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, on behalf of Gov. Ed Rendell.
06/06/05
Pitt’s Center for Minority Health, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute And American Cancer Society Sponsor Prostate Cancer Screenings at Local Barbershops
UPMC / Health Sciences News Bureau
The Center for Minority Health (CMH) of the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh, in conjunction with the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and the American Cancer Society (ACS), will be sponsoring prostate cancer awareness sessions in four barbershops in predominantly African American neighborhoods on June 18, to culminate national Men’s Health Week, taking place June 13-18.
02/09/05 - 02/11/05
Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities
W.K. KELLOGG FOUNDATION
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation began commemorating its 75th anniversary of philanthropic activity by sponsoring a Seminar titled, “Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities: Schools of Public Health Respond as Engaged
Institutions” held February 9–11, 2005, at The Woodlands Resort and Conference Center, The Woodlands, Texas.
01/06/05
University Of Pittsburgh Announces Establishment Of Minority Health Archive
UPMC / Health Sciences News Bureau
The University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Minority Health (CMH) of the Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH) and the University of Pittsburgh Library System (ULS) have joined to develop the Minority Health Archive (MHA) as an online repository for minority health documents.
01/05/05
Pitt’s Center for Minority Health to Play Prominent Role in National Leadership Summit on Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health
UPMC / Health Sciences News Bureau
The University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Minority Health (CMH), housed in the Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH), will co-sponsor the National Leadership Summit on Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health to be held Jan. 9-11 in Washington, D.C.
01/08/04
University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Minority Health Receives $2.1 Million from Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for Tobacco Cessation Programs
UPMC / Health Sciences News Bureau
The University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Minority Health (CMH) of the Graduate School of Public Health has received almost $2.1 million from the Pennsylvania Department of Health to provide statewide technical assistance to ethnic, racial and disparate populations, primary contractors and service providers to establish tobacco cessation programs.
01/09/03
Pitt Center for Minority Health Receives $6 Million from NIH to Help Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities
UPMC / Health Sciences News Bureau
The Center for Minority Health in the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh received a $6 million grant from the National Institute of Health’s National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities, it was announced today at a press conference at the University Club.
01/2003
Voices for a New Tomorrow
Persad Center
An Assessment of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community of Allegheny County January 2003 Part 1 Part 2.
11/10/02
Program Enlists Barbershops in Health Cause
A Pittsburgh program tries to get barbershops in African-American neighborhoods to help spread preventative-health messages. NPR's Rachel Jones reports.
09/27/02
Black Ministers
A Pittsburgh program tries to get barbershops in African-American neighborhoods to help spread preventative-health messages. NPR's Rachel Jones reports.
07/10/02
How a City Aims to Give Minorities Better Health Care
Wall Street Journal
PITTSBURGH - The Rev. John Welch paused, dabbing at sweat on his receding hairline. Dapper in a double-breasted tan suit, he stood silent for a moment in the pulpit of the Bidwell United Presbyterian Church here, and then resumed speaking on a new topic. "God wants us to take preventative steps for our health," he exhorted.
09/09/01
Confronting American history: Warhol hosts an exhibit of lynching photos
Post-Gazette Cultural Arts Writer
Before they left the New-York Historical Society last year, having seen photographs of American lynching victims that will be on display at The Andy Warhol Museum beginning Sept. 22, many of them wrote their thoughts in a book of comments.
06/22/01
Artificial Heart Gives Patient New Reason to Smile
New York Times
When Robert Tools, the first recipient of a self-contained artificial heart, awakened from the surgery on July 2, he knew instantly that he was getting better, he said today in his first interview since the operation.
06/06/01
African Queen Sails Into Pitt
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The queen mother of the Royal Bafokeng Nation, looking for educational exchanges between her village kingdom and Pitt, stopped for a visit on campus. Such explorations occur countless times on campuses in the U.S. and abroad as visiting academics and diplomats look for teaching and research that can be applied back home.
05/21/01
Booster Booster Campaign a Victory for City of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
It will be a great day at the University,” said Stephen Thomas, director of University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Minority Health in the Graduate School of Public Health, as he described Commencement 2001, when thousands of graduates would gather at Mellon Arena to receive their diplomas and to listen to David Satcher, M.D., Surgeon General of the United States.
05/21/01
Perspectives: Making mincemeat of measles
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
In a triumph for children, public health, education -- and, for that matter, the entire region -- the Greater Pittsburgh Measles Immunization Task Force has helped bring city school children into 99 percent compliance with the measles booster shot mandated by the commonwealth. And through this partnership, thousands of students in the 42 school districts surrounding Pittsburgh have also achieved compliance.
04/29/01
U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher Addresses Pitt Graduates
Pitt Campaign Chronicle
It will be a great day at the University,” said Stephen Thomas, director of University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Minority Health in the Graduate School of Public Health, as he described Commencement 2001, when thousands of graduates would gather at Mellon Arena to receive their diplomas and to listen to David Satcher, M.D., Surgeon General of the United States.
04/23/01
Mobilizing Against Measles
Pitt Campaign Chronicle
Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg greets students who visited the Children’s Hospital’s Ronald McDonald Care Mobile on April 13 to receive their measles booster shot.
04/16/01
Booster Bus
Pitt Campaign Chronicle
The Children’s Hospital Ronald McDonald Care Mobile will be dispensing free measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) booster shots at various locations around Allegheny County, as part of a campaign by the Greater Pittsburgh Measles Immunization Task Force to vaccinate school children. Organized by Pitt Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg and Pittsburgh Public Schools Superintendent John Thompson, the task force is responding to a civic crisis that could adversely affect thousands of school children in Allegheny County.
04/14/01
Clinics held as part of immunization drive
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Three times he was asked and three times Curtis Baker, 11, denied that he was scared. With his sleeve rolled up on his white No. 7 Starter-brand football jersey, the Sheraden fifth-grader said he wasn't afraid of the measles shot he was waiting for at the Giant Eagle parking lot in East Liberty.
04/14/01
Vaccination Deadline Looms for Students in Pennsylvania
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HARRISBURG, Pa., April 13 — Hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvania children face suspension from school within weeks if their parents fail to meet a deadline for proving that the students have received two measles shots. In Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, roughly one-third of students lack proof of a second vaccination.
Greater Pittsburgh Measles Immunization Task Force Announces Program to Keep 30,000 Kids in School
University of Pittsburgh
PITTSBURGH, Mar. 29 -- A task force of university and community leaders convened by University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg and Pittsburgh Public Schools Superintendent John Thompson today unveiled plans for a campaign to help keep more than 30,000 students in Allegheny County in school.
03/11/01
Syphilis Study Leaves Lessons, Legacies
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
One of the most shameful legacies of the Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male, according to Stephen Thomas of the University of Pittsburgh, is that too many doctors and nurses haven't been taught about it.
03/11/01
Pitt Prof. Seeks Cure for Minority Health Crisis
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
When professor Stephen Thomas asked why it is that so many minorities have worse health outcomes than whites with the same diseases, a graduate student in the back of the class took offense.
01/16/01
Grant Establishes Pitt as ‘Center for Excellence’ in Minority Health Research
Pitt Campaign Chronicle
The University of Pittsburgh has received a $1.27 million federal grant to study racial and ethnic differences in health status and the use of health services among adults. The grant is one of nine awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to address ethnic and racial health disparities. Receipt of this grant establishes Pitt as a Center for Excellence in Minority Health Research.
01/13/01
Ethnic Communities Need Voice in Health Studies
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A three-day summit on racial and ethnic disparities in health care culminated yesterday with a recommendation that the National Institutes of Health force researchers to include minority communities in institutes-funded research projects that address minority health concerns.
Treatment Sought for Minority Health Care Ills
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
An optimistic roomful of the nation's health care leaders met on Thursday in Oakland to draw up a plan to improve health care for blacks, Hispanics and other minorities.
01/11/01
Study in Racial & Ethnic Differences in Adult Health Services
University Times
Pitt has received a $1.27 million federal grant to study racial and ethnic differences in health status and the use of health services among adults.
01/11/01
STEPHEN THOMAS: Public health professor sees progress toward eliminating racial and ethnic health disparities
University Times
Gazing from a window at Pitt's Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH) at the hospitals and Health Sciences schools that dominate the Oakland skyline, Stephen B. Thomas observes: "In those buildings are some of the world's leading health researchers. And yet, in neighborhoods that are almost literally in the shadows of those buildings, people are dying of diseases that are easily treatable or preventable.
01/11/01
Minority Health Takes Center Stage at Pitt Meeting
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Minority health issues are gaining a higher profile in Pittsburgh, with the University of Pittsburgh hosting a national meeting this week on the topic and the university garnering grants totaling $3 million to study discrepancies in health outcomes among racial and ethnic groups.
01/08/01
Pitt to Host National Minority Health Summit
Pitt Campaign Chronicle
Minority health leaders and scholars from around the United States will convene at the University of Pittsburgh from January 10-12 for a summit on eliminating racial and ethnic health disparities.
12/29/00
People to Watch: Stephen Thomas
American City Business Journals Inc.
Surrounding Stephen Thomas' office at the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public Health are some of the world's finest health institutions.
12/11/00
A Matter of Trust
Pitt Campaign Chronicle
In one of the most shameful incidents in American history, 399 poor Black sharecroppers from Macon County, Alabama, went untreated for latent syphilis by U.S. Public Health officials from 1932 to 1972 in what has become known as the “Tuskegee Syphilis Study.” When it became public in 1972, newspaper editors likened the experiment to the atrocious medical experiments on humans conducted by the Nazis during World War II.
08/16/00
Professor to Wage War on Health-Care Racism
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
For Dr. Stephen Thomas, the battle for freedom and justice in civil rights continues today.
