November 13, 2023 – There is no longer any question of how to prevent high-intensity, often catastrophic, wildfires that have become increasingly frequent across the Western U.S., according to a new study by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and Stanford University. The analysis reveals that low-intensity burning, such as controlled or prescribed fires, […]
Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
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Nearly one in 10 in the US reports having depression
Increases in depression without commensurate increases in treatment are widespread, reports a study conducted at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and City University of New York. In 2020, past 12‒month depression was prevalent among nearly one in ten Americans and almost one in five adolescents and young adults. The findings are published online in the American Journal […]
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The COVID-19 pandemic: Even mild disease impacts mental health
May 6, 2021 — A significant level of symptoms of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress may follow COVID-19 independent of any previous psychiatric diagnoses, according to new research by Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health with colleagues at Universidade Municipal de São Caetano do Sul in Brazil. Exposure to increased symptomatic levels of COVID-19 […]
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U.S. Needs Clear Vaccine Distribution Strategy to Defeat Coronavirus
December 18, 2020 – An opinion piece published in BMJ by Nina Schwalbe in the Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, calls for a national vaccine strategy now that COVID-19 vaccines are available. Schwalbe writes that a lack of clarity on a distribution plan sets unrealistic expectations among the public and could undermine public trust. […]
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Projections Suggest Potential Late May Rebound in COVID-19 Infections and Deaths as States Reopen
May 10, 2020 – The latest data modeling projections by Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health scientists estimate that, nationally, new COVID-19 cases and deaths will rebound in late May, as states ease stay-at-home orders and social contacts increase. By June 1, one projection scenario gives median estimates of 43,353 cases per day and 1,841 deaths […]
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Columbia University Study Finds Risk of Coronavirus Reinfection Remains After Individuals Recover
April 29, 2020 – New research by Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health experts finds that reinfections with endemic coronaviruses are not uncommon, even within a year of prior infection. The study on the four endemic coronaviruses—not including SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19—found that when reinfection occurred, it was not associated with less severe symptoms. Instead, genetic […]
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Threat to sexual and reproductive health services from policies designating them as non-essential and diverting resources
April 13, 2020 – The commentary published in The Lancet highlights the detrimental impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic response on sexual and reproductive health and rights. The piece emphasizes the threat to sexual and reproductive health services caused by policies designating these services as non-essential and diverting resources. Senior author Terry McGovern, chair of the Heilbrunn Department of Population […]
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More than lyme: Tick study finds multiple agents of tick-borne diseases
Sept. 16, 2019 – In a study published in mBio, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology, Jorge Benach and Rafal Tokarz, and their co-authors at Stony Brook University and Columbia University, reported on the prevalence of multiple agents capable of causing human disease that are present in three species of ticks in Long […]
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How the global gag rule stifles free speech
March 7, 2019 – During his first week in office, President Donald J. Trump issued an executive order known as the Expanded Global Gag Rule that cuts funding to foreign aid organizations that provide or refer women to abortions. A new journal article by researchers in the Global Health Justice and Governance program (GHJG) at […]
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Lancet Report: Unfounded Health Myths About Migration Used to Justify Policies of Exclusion
Dec. 12, 2018 – Stereotypes that migrants are disease carriers who present a risk to public health and are a burden on services are some of the most prevalent and harmful myths about migration, according to new evidence from the UCL–Lancet Commission on Migration and Health. The report, which includes new international data, shows that while […]
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Women lack access to private toilets around the world
NEW YORK, September 5, 2018–One of the most pervasive and common forms of gender discrimination experienced daily by girls and women around the world is their inadequate access to private toilets, according to a new paper by researchers at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health and colleagues at the International Rescue Committee. Despite the rise […]
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First Multiplex Test for Tick-Borne Diseases
Feb. 22, 2018 – A new blood test called the Tick-Borne Disease Serochip (TBD Serochip) promises to revolutionize the diagnosis of tick-borne disease by offering a single test to identify and distinguish between Borrelia burgdorferi, the pathogen responsible for Lyme disease, and seven other tick-borne pathogens. Led by scientists at the Center for Infection and […]
Posted inThe M Files
Study debunks claim that medical marijuana laws increase recreational pot use for US teens
Feb. 22, 2018 – Legalizing medical marijuana has not increased recreational use of the substance among U.S. adolescents, according to a new study conducted at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. The findings are published online in the journal Addiction. “For now, there appears to be no basis for the argument that legalizing medical […]
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America’s child poverty rate remains stubbornly high despite important progress
January 31, 2018 – While many American families have experienced economic gains in recent years, children are still most likely to live in households too poor to cover their basic needs, according to new research from the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. Using the latest […]
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Air pollution and poverty stack the deck for ADHD
Oct. 4, 2017 – Scientists at the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health (CCCEH) at the Mailman School of Public Health report the first evidence that prenatal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH)–carcinogenic and neurotoxic combustion byproducts commonly found in urban air–combines with material hardship to significantly increase ADHD symptoms in children. Results are online […]
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Abstinence-only-until-marriage programs and policies are a failure, research shows
Aug. 22, 2017 – Two scientific review papers released today show that abstinence-only-until-marriage programs and policies in the United States are ineffective as they do not delay sexual initiation or reduce sexual risk behaviors. They also violate adolescent human rights, withhold medically accurate information, stigmatize or exclude many youth, reinforce harmful gender stereotypes, and undermine […]
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Study: Ryancare essentially takes from the poor, the sick, the elderly and gives that money to the rich
March 22, 2017 – A new study on reforming U.S. healthcare showed that Americans believe a health insurance policy should be about 5% of household income to be affordable — whether or not household income was low or high. They also feel that younger people–particularly singles–could pay somewhat more for health insurance and that healthier […]