Public Health in the News – May 11, 2015

Posted on May 11, 2015 by NPHR Blog in News // 0 Comments

Global

After 15 months, Liberia is Ebola-free!
Nature interviews Seth Berkley, chief executive of the GAVI Alliance, about bringing vaccines to people around the world.
Scientists have developed a way to turn smartphones into microscopes that can identify a deadly parasite.
When African researchers form international collaborations, their foreign colleagues are often favored.

National

“Virtually every family in the country, the research indicates, has been subject to overtesting and overtreatment in one form or another.” Doctors often overtreat patients, but the system can change.
A new type of pluripotent stem cell was recently identified; these might be useful for many research and clinical applications in the future.
Should we be regulating the amount of arsenic found in foods? Yes, argues science blog The Crux, but it’s complicated.
Children who get measles have weaker immune systems for years following the infection, a new study finds.
An 18th-century doctor realized that fireplace soot contained cancer-causing carcinogens. These same chemicals are present in the smoke that is used to grill food … but people rarely worry about this.

Illinois/Chicago

In a Chicago Sun Times article, Chicago Public Health Commissioner Dr. Julie Morita takes on our governor’s budget cuts to public health programs.
Rep. Mike Quigley is advocating for the use of quieter flight paths coming out of O’Hare, which may help alleviate some of the sleep-disrupting noise from low-flying aircraft.

Northwestern

NU has trained its second Community Emergency Response Team to assist in crises in the Evanston area.
Northwestern surgeon Ankit Bharat, MD, uncovered the cause of a rare infection that may save the lives of future lung transplant recipients.