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Public health researchers at UNC to lead multi-state initiative to prevent cervical cancer

Asserting that no one should die from cervical cancer, public health researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are leading a multi-state initiative to prevent - or even eradicate - the disease.

16 Feb 2010

Altarum Institute awarded $19.6M ARRA funds to serve as lead agent in establishing M-CEITA

Ann Arbor-based Altarum Institute has been awarded a grant of $19,619,990 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to serve as the lead agent in establishing Michigan’s health information technology regional extension center, the Michigan Center for Effective IT Adoption (M-CEITA, www.mceita.org). The grant will be administered through the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology and managed and sponsored by Altarum. It is expected to create over 100 new jobs in Michigan.

16 Feb 2010

Effective smoking cessation treatments

With the national trend toward quitting smoking flat, psychologists are finding some success with treatments aimed at helping smokers from underserved groups, including racial and ethnic minorities and those with psychiatric disorders.

15 Feb 2010

Researchers use $1.3M grant from NIH to study on obesity and Type 2 diabetes

A team of Northern Arizona University-led researchers is using nearly $1.3 million in new funding from the National Institutes of Health to continue with the world's longest-running study on obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

15 Feb 2010

Air pollution linked to increased risk of atherosclerosis

Researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC), in collaboration with international partners in Spain and Switzerland and colleagues in California, have found that exposure to air pollution accelerates the thickening of artery walls that leads to cardiovascular disease.

15 Feb 2010

MAXIMUS announces the acquisition of Canadian-based DeltaWare Systems

MAXIMUS, a leading provider of government services, announced today that it has acquired Canadian-based DeltaWare Systems, Inc. (DeltaWare), a premier developer of health administration management systems for the government health care market. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

15 Feb 2010

Spanish-language media campaign increases number of QuitLine callers

It pays to advertise. It especially pays to advertise in Spanish if you want Spanish speakers to use a telephone helpline to quit smoking.

12 Feb 2010

Global health and public health are indistinguishable: Lancet

Global health and public health are indistinguishable, according to a commentary published by a working group of the Association of Schools of Public Health's Global Health Committee in the February 13, 2010 issue of Lancet.

12 Feb 2010

Treating bacteria with insufficient levels of antibiotics leads to multidrug resistance in 'superbugs'

For years, doctors have warned patients to finish their antibiotic prescriptions or risk a renewed infection by a "superbug" that can mount a more powerful defense against the same drug. But a new study by Boston University biomedical engineers indicates that treating bacteria with levels of antibiotics insufficient to kill them produces germs that are cross-resistant to a wide range of antibiotics.

12 Feb 2010

Antibodies also contribute to severe dengue virus-induced disease, confirms La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology

A leading immunology research institute has validated the long-held and controversial hypothesis that antibodies - usually the "good guys" in the body's fight against viruses - instead contribute to severe dengue virus-induced disease, the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology announced today. The finding has major implications for the development of a first-ever vaccine against dengue virus, a growing public health threat which annually infects 50 to 100 million people worldwide, causing a half million cases of the severest form.

12 Feb 2010

Kaiser Permanente approves 500 grants and donations totaling $90M in fourth-quarter of 2009

Kaiser Permanente, one of America's leading health care providers and nonprofit health plans, announced today it approved 500 grants and donations nationwide totaling $90 million in the fourth quarter of 2009. In total, Kaiser Permanente approved $170 million in grants and donations to support efforts to keep people healthy during these tough economic times.

12 Feb 2010

Study: Hospitalizations for H1N1 differ from hospitalizations associated with typical flu

When compared to a typical flu, the H1N1 virus resulted in a higher proportion of patients requiring specialized hospital services - and affected younger people more - according to a new study released today by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

12 Feb 2010

Decline in breast cancer rates linked to race, ethnicity and economic background

Breast cancer rates are declining, but some groups have seen a more significant decline than others, with race, ethnicity and economic background playing a part.

11 Feb 2010

New campaign launched to bring attention to national asbestos problem

"Ban Asbestos Now," a campaign to build awareness of the continued use of asbestos in the United States, today launched the Ban Asbestos Now Video Search, asking students across the United States to use their creativity to draw national attention to the toxic, and often deadly, substance considered "the largest manmade public health crisis in history" according to the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO).

11 Feb 2010

UCLA and Health Net to develop health literacy training intervention for adolescents

With the average teen spending approximately nine hours a week on social networking sites, the UCLA School of Public Health has partnered with Health Net of California to develop a health literacy training intervention using social media to encourage adolescents ages 13 to 17 to utilize their health care more effectively.

11 Feb 2010

Medica Foundation awards grants totaling $604,940 in second cycle of funding

The Medica Foundation wrapped up its 2009 giving with 17 program grants totaling $473,690 in its second cycle of funding in 2009. The Medica Foundation also awarded 19 General Health Improvement Grants totaling $131,250. Funding by the Medica Foundation totaled $604,940 in its second cycle; for all of 2009, its total funding was $1,353,000.

11 Feb 2010

Raising New Jersey's cigarette tax by $1 would bring in $80M in new annual revenue

Raising New Jersey's cigarette tax by $1 per pack would bring in $80 million in new annual revenue to help close the state's budget shortfall, while also reducing smoking and saving lives, according to a national report released today by a coalition of public health organizations.

11 Feb 2010

NCCID to host consultation with national and international experts to discuss ways to fight superbugs

The National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCCID) is hosting a consultation with national and international experts in Winnipeg on February 10th and 11th, 2010 to discuss ways to fight the threat posed by "superbugs," or bacteria that are increasingly resistant to conventional treatment with antibiotics.

11 Feb 2010

UC experts recommend binational prevention efforts for TB and HIV infections

The results of an innovative study to understand what factors may influence who contracts tuberculosis (TB)/HIV co-infection in San Diego show a significant shift in the ethnic makeup of the disease, with the majority of cases now coming from the Hispanic community.

11 Feb 2010

Preterm birth: Pre-pregnancy obesity and gestational weight gain increase risk

Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine's (BUSM) Slone Epidemiology Center and Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) have found that pre-pregnancy obesity and gestational weight gain are associated with an increased risk of preterm birth in African American participants from the Black Women's Health Study. This study currently appears on-line in Epidemiology.

11 Feb 2010

Public Health News and Research

Public health researchers at UNC to lead multi-state initiative to prevent cervical cancer

Altarum Institute awarded $19.6M ARRA funds to serve as lead agent in establishing M-CEITA

Effective smoking cessation treatments

Researchers use $1.3M grant from NIH to study on obesity and Type 2 diabetes

Air pollution linked to increased risk of atherosclerosis

MAXIMUS announces the acquisition of Canadian-based DeltaWare Systems

Spanish-language media campaign increases number of QuitLine callers

Global health and public health are indistinguishable: Lancet

Treating bacteria with insufficient levels of antibiotics leads to multidrug resistance in 'superbugs'

Antibodies also contribute to severe dengue virus-induced disease, confirms La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology

Kaiser Permanente approves 500 grants and donations totaling $90M in fourth-quarter of 2009

Study: Hospitalizations for H1N1 differ from hospitalizations associated with typical flu

Decline in breast cancer rates linked to race, ethnicity and economic background

New campaign launched to bring attention to national asbestos problem

UCLA and Health Net to develop health literacy training intervention for adolescents

Medica Foundation awards grants totaling $604,940 in second cycle of funding

Raising New Jersey's cigarette tax by $1 would bring in $80M in new annual revenue

NCCID to host consultation with national and international experts to discuss ways to fight superbugs

UC experts recommend binational prevention efforts for TB and HIV infections

Preterm birth: Pre-pregnancy obesity and gestational weight gain increase risk

Sensing a Healthier Future

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

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