News & Events

Creating a Landscape of Community Population Health and Wellness Contexts for Children

Dr. Brandon Grimm, Dr. Athena Ramos, Chelsey Schlechter, & Dr. David Dzewaltowski

Spotlight on Research at COPH – Preventive health behaviors, such as physical activity and healthful eating, are brief events that accumulate throughout the day.  Previous research and health professional practice have typically viewed sustained health behavior as an individual’s decision made frequently and habitually over time.  Strategies to promote healthy behavior have focused on developing knowledge and skills within individuals.  But, evidence has emerged that individual choices are made in relation to the characteristics of places and people that they interact with on a daily… Continue Reading

Researchers at COPH Health Services Research and Administration Examine the Needs of Emergency Department Patients with High Utilization Patterns

Dr. Hongmei Wang

Spotlight on Research at COPH – Medical care expenditures are highly concentrated in the U.S. with 5% of the population responsible for nearly half of all health care expenses. Patients with high medical utilization often have frequent emergency department visits. There is an increasing interest in studying the characteristics and underlying needs of the frequent users of emergency department (ED) to help understand the causes of poor health and high utilization.  Research shows that these patients may have complex health-harming needs that cannot be addressed… Continue Reading

Working to Improve the Health and Safety of Immigrant Feedlot Workers

Antonia Correa, Dr. Kathleen Grant, Ellen Duysen, Natalia Trinidad, Dr. Gustavo Carlo, Dr. Athena Ramos, Rodrigo Gamboa, Marcela Carvajal-Suarez, Axel Fuentes)

Spotlight on Research at COPH – Increasing numbers of Latino immigrants are working in agricultural production across the U.S., and these workers represent a significant portion of the agricultural labor force. Research has documented that agriculture and animal production can be risky business. In fact, this industry has the highest fatality rate of any industry with approximately 100 agricultural workers injured every day. Even with these sobering statistics, research on the health and safety practices of immigrant cattle feedlot workers is sorely lacking. Dr. Athena… Continue Reading

Replication studies strengthen research and education

Morshed Alam presenting at ICASA International Conference

Spotlight on Research at COPH – Replication of scientific research is currently a hot topic in the media. Research studies have been criticized for lacking standardized procedures, insufficient documentation and misuse of statistical techniques leading to results that cannot be duplicated by other researchers. In 2015, Drs. Meza, Smith, Yu, and Luo from the Department of Biostatistics received grants for replication studies from the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation, in partnership with Science Exchange. The focus of these studies was to replicate results of HIV/AIDS… Continue Reading

Exposure to price promotions for cigarette is associated with financial stress among smokers

Spotlight on Research at COPH – Tobacco is one of the most marketed products in the United States. The tobacco industry has increasingly concentrated its marketing efforts at the point of sale (POS). In 2013, over 85% of the $8.9 billion of tobacco industry expenditure on marketing was made on POS sales promotion activities to reduce the price of cigarettes. Research conducted by Mohammad Siahpush and colleagues from University of Nebraska Medical Center revealed that smokers who are exposed to higher levels of cigarette price… Continue Reading

Summer Epidemiology Research in a Mediterranean Island

UNMC College of Public Health Faculty, Dr. Evi Farazi, and two Master of Public Health (MPH)-Epidemiology students, Ellana Haakenstad and Emma Schultz, spent part of this past summer setting up research projects at the Bank of Cyprus Oncology Center, the largest oncology treatment center in Cyprus, a small island in the Eastern Mediterranean. The students received an award from the Cancer Epidemiology Education in Special Populations program at UNMC, headed by Dr. Amr Soliman, for their summer work which was executed. Both projects were based… Continue Reading

Faculty and Student Research Awards

Each year the College of Public Health awards the Chancellor Robert D. Sparks, M.D., Award in Public Health and Preventive Medicine to a person who has shown outstanding innovation and impact on preventing disease and promoting health through public health education, research, and practice, with particular attention to the needs of Nebraska and its citizens.  The selection is based on the degree to which an individual demonstrates excellence, creativity, and/or distinguished collaboration in advancing effective approaches to preventing disease and promotion of health through public… Continue Reading

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