Brown SPH in the news

Many parents believe their children are getting plenty of sleep—but new research from Brown University suggests that notion may be far from the truth. “What parents often don’t see is how long it takes for kids to fall asleep or how often they wake up during the night,” explained paper author and behavioral scientist professor Diana Grigsby-Toussaint in a statement.

Biostatistics Alyssa Bilinski led a new study to quantify the impact of excluding pregnant women from controlled trials of medications.

Distinguished Senior Fellow Nikki Romanik wrote this op-ed with Demetre Daskalakis on how the name change of mpox will erode years of progress in vaccination and treatment, undermine trusted mpox communication and stigmatize the communities most impacted.

Among its many painful lessons, the COVID-19 pandemic taught us that America’s defenses against a devastating health crisis were far weaker than most had reason to expect. More than 1.2 million Americans lost their lives to COVID, the most of any country. It’s puzzling and frightening to watch the Trump Administration dismantle initiatives aimed at keeping us safe from another pandemic.

The Trump administration’s claims about Tylenol and autism — and the weak science used to support them — must be called out for what they are: reckless, disappointing, and dangerous, says Ashish K. Jha.

Keeping women out of randomized controlled trials has let uncertainty flourish, says Alyssa Bilinksi.

Dr. Ashish Jha, Dean of the School of Public Health at Brown University, joins ‘Fast Money’ to discuss new government guidance on Tylenol use during pregnancy, why leading studies show no link to autism, the reaction from obstetricians, and the challenges facing women navigating medication options, and much more.

Commenting for PBS Newshour, Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist who directs the Pandemic Center at the Brown University School of Public Health says the manner in which the ACIP was reshaped in recent months, and Kennedy’s statements and actions on vaccines, has worked to undermine public health workers and institutions.

Republicans pushed for more oversight, or complete removal, of nonprofits’ tax-exempt status. Democrats warned restrictions could cause hospital closures. Christopher Whaley, associate director of Brown University’s Center of Advancing Health Policy through Research comments.

“It is estimated that essential medicines are unaffordable or unavailable to 1 in 4 people worldwide,” wrote the authors of a recent article published in a JAMA Health Forum that was led by Olivier J. Wouters, PhD, of Brown University School of Public Health.

Dr. Ashish K. Jha, dean of Brown University School of Public Health, says the problem with RFK Jr.’s MAHA report is it falls short in its honesty, its innovation, and the evidence.

Under the guidance of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., rather than relying on evidence-based recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to inform vaccination decisions, it is now recommended that vaccination involve a discussion between patients and their physicians, says Scott Rivkees, a professor of practice at the Brown School of Public Health.

With the CDC in disarray and its future uncertain, this episode explores what’s driving the exodus of agency staff and what this means for national health security. Jennifer Nuzzo is a featured guest.

Ashish Jha comments on the Food and Drug Administration scrutinizing the common practice of giving coronavirus and flu shots together.

The only way out is a new HHS secretary.

A study of how three popular artificial intelligence chatbots respond to queries about suicide found that they generally avoid answering questions that pose the highest risk to the user, such as for specific how-to guidance. But they are inconsistent in their replies to less extreme prompts that could still harm people.

Texas health officials on Aug. 18 declared the end of a measles outbreak that had sickened more than 760 people across the state and killed two children. Doctors and public-health officials involved in the outbreak, most of whom had previously never encountered a measles patient, are now taking stock of what they’ve learned about the virus and the best ways to prevent and control outbreaks of the disease.

Stephanie Psaki writes that our best chance to reverse the decline in births is through a pro-family policy that gives Americans the freedom and support to build the lives—and families—they want.

Despite the health claims made about red wine, it turns out it’s no better than white wine, according to researchers from Brown University School of Public Health and Warren Alpert Medical Schools, who studied nearly 96,000 participants.

Randomized controlled trials should include pregnant women by Alyssa Bilinski, Peterson family assistant professor of health policy.

We had a playbook for handling biothreats. Then Trump pushed out the people who knew how to use it -- by Beth Cameron, Jon Finer, and Stephanie Psaki

A big, new study shows women who are victims of stalking are at significantly higher risk of heart disease. Liz Tobin-Tyler comments.

The Trump administration is canceling almost $500 million in contracts to develop mRNA vaccines to protect the U.S. against future viral threats. The move thrilled critics of the technology but horrified many public health and biosecurity experts like Jennifer Nuzzo of the Brown Pandemic Center.

Dr. Ashish K. Jha is dean of Brown University School of Public Health and a contributing Globe Opinion writer:

Over the past decade, the United States has made meaningful progress in expanding health coverage and improving care for millions of Americans. But that progress is now in jeopardy. The newly passed “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” will have far-reaching consequences for the health insurance of millions of Americans. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that nearly 10 million Americans could lose their health insurance by 2034 as a result of the new legislation. In Massachusetts, officials estimate 300,000 people are at risk of losing their health coverage.

“You’re not going to restore trust in public health until you take some accountability for the mistakes you’ve made,” says Ashish Jha, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator under President Joe Biden. “Then you’ve got to just keep spreading good information and you’ve got to build allies to do that across the political aisle.”

Stephanie Psaki was the U.S. coordinator for global health security at the Biden White House. She is currently a distinguished senior fellow in global health security at the Brown University School of Public Health:

Last week, the Trump administration rejected the 2024 amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) — a global treaty that the United States has been a part of since 2007. The rejection cited concerns about sovereignty, scientific freedom, and World Health Organization overreach.

Originally launched to track major pandemic outbreaks in the US and around the world, Brown University School of Public Health’s Pandemic Tracker now helps with a wide range of public health efforts. Led by Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center and professor of epidemiology at SPH, the tracker helps public and policy makers stay on top of disease outbreaks during a time of economic strain and political polarization.

A bill signed by Gov. Dan McKee to ban cell phones in schools will start in August 2026. Dr. Caroline Kistin from Brown University’s Hassenfeld Child Health Innovation Institute has researched the topic of school cell phone bans. Kistin joined 12 News at 4 Friday to discuss what her research has shown and the legislation lawmakers approved last session.

If you’ve been outside on a smoggy day, you’ve probably noticed that your body reacts poorly to bad air quality. Maybe you coughed, or got a headache. But what actually happens to your body when you breathe in polluted air?

Craig Spencer, an associate professor of public health and emergency medicine at Brown penned this guest essay on the moral imperative of global health care. 

Dean of the School of Public Health Dr. Ashish Jha penned this column on the potential impacts of the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act."

Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at Brown, provides commentary on measles vaccination and travel concerns.

As Americans approach Independence Day, we should reflect on the foundational ideals of our country. A central ideal, laid out nearly 250 years ago in the Declaration of Independence, is our unalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It’s a core promise of America, but one that cannot be fully realized without one of its key enablers.

Professor of Epidemiology Marianthi Kioumourtzoglou discusses the limitations of and current models for assessing wildfire-smoke exposure and its health impacts.

Ellen McCreedy, associate professor of health services, policy, and practice at the Brown University School of Public Health, is studying a toe-tapping alternative that could reduce reliance on antipsychotic medications. The university’s ongoing study, “Music and Memory,” looks at how music can be used as a non-pharmacological intervention for people with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a budget bill that promises a sweeping dismantling of critical public programs that millions of people rely on, including food stamps, Medicaid, and federal education loans. Buried inside the bill’s thousand-plus pages are provisions that specifically target healthcare for transgender people, including an outright ban on Medicaid coverage for transgender people of all ages.

The United States maintains more than 750 military bases around the world—not just to fight wars, but to prevent them. That same principle has guided U.S. investment in the global footprint of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)—the agency tasked with protecting the health and security of Americans—to build and “forward deploy” critical defenses against biological threats worldwide.

When Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was appointed secretary of Health and Human Services, some hoped that the responsibility of public office would temper his long-standing hostility toward vaccines. Instead, he is doing exactly what many of us feared: dismantling the systems that protect Americans from preventable infectious diseases.

Dr. Ashish Jha, Dean of Brown University's School of Public Health, tells CNN's Wolf Blitzer why he calls HHS Secretary Kennedy's reasoning for firing all members of the CDC's vaccine advisory committee "nonsense."

For the first time since the COVID vaccines became available in pharmacies in 2021, the average person in the U.S. can’t count on getting a free annual shot against a disease that has been the main or a contributing cause of death for more than 1.2 million people around the country, including nearly 12,000 to date this year. “COVID’s not done with us,” says Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at Brown University. “We have to keep using the tools that we have. It’s not like we get to forget about COVID.”

Sometimes it can feel like whatever is stressing you out — that deadline, a big meeting, the news cycle — is showing up first thing in the morning. You may wake up with a pit already forming in your stomach and your anxiety high before you even get out of bed.

What to do if you have morning anxiety? Anxiety can also turn into a habit that you may unconsciously foster over time, said Judson Brewer, a professor at Brown University’s School of Public Health and the author of the book “Unwinding Anxiety.”

Of all the misguided decisions Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made as secretary of Health and Human Services, canceling Moderna’s contract to develop a bird flu vaccine may be the most dangerous yet. Dr. Ashish K. Jha is dean of Brown University School of Public Health and a contributing Globe Opinion writer.

Medicaid, the largest payer for long-term care facilities, covers around 2 in 3 nursing home residents, and reducing dollars to the massive, yet already resource-limited, program could have disastrous effects on older adults’ health, safety and quality of life. Vincent Mor, professor of health services, policy and practice at the Brown University School of Public Health, comments.

The federal government announced Wednesday that it is canceling a contract to develop a vaccine to protect people against flu viruses that could cause pandemics, including the bird flu virus that's been spreading among dairy cows in the U.S., citing concerns about the safety of the mRNA technology being used. Ashish Jha and Jennifer Nuzzo comment.

How does exposure to “forever chemicals” impact pregnancy? Is there a connection between firearm ownership and elevated lead levels in children? These are the kinds of studies Brown University carried out through its Center for Children’s Environmental Health in recent years, placing an emphasis on solutions-oriented research, said environmental epidemiologist Joseph Braun, the center’s director.

A new study about affordability standards for hospitals in Rhode Island was recently released by Brown University. The study looks into how these standards enacted by the state resulted in lower prices in hospitals and insurance premiums. Andrew Ryan, director of Brown’s Center for Advancing Health Policy Through Research, joined 12 News at 4 Friday to talk about the findings.

Biomedical and public health research in the United States now finds itself in an existential moment. The government’s proposed changes, if allowed to take place, will absolutely decimate not just the nation’s but the world’s ability to study disease, therapeutics, and health outcomes.

In 2010, Rhode Island attempted a lively experiment in health care costs by limiting how much hospitals could increase the prices they charge. Fifteen years later, a new study led by a team of Brown University researchers suggests the hospital price growth mandate worked, not only cutting hospital prices directly, but also flowing downstream to lower consumer spending on health plan premiums.

Next week at the World Health Assembly in Geneva, 193 member countries of the World Health Organization (with the U.S. notably absent) are expected to adopt the Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response Agreement, also known as the Pandemic Treaty. In anticipation of its adoption, the final agreement has been celebrated as a triumph of multilateralism. The co-chairs of the negotiations described the agreement as a plan to “protect future generations from the suffering and losses [experienced] during the COVID-19 pandemic” and to ensure that in the next pandemic, “the response will be faster, more effective and more equitable.”

The number of people who died of drug overdoses in the U.S. dropped dramatically in 2024, a promising sign amid a national fentanyl crisis that has fueled a surge in drug-related deaths in recent years. “This progress is encouraging, but it’s fragile,” said Alexandria Macmadu, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Brown University’s School of Public Health. “We can’t mistake this progress for victory. Sustained investment is essential if we want to build on this momentum instead of backsliding.”