Faculty News

What is the cost of homelessness in Rhode Island? Do we measure it in dollars, hours, square footage? Or is it measured by sleepless nights, persistent coughs, uncertain futures? The reasons Rhode Islanders remain unhoused are varied, but the results are the same: marginalization and the fight to keep a stable footing.

A team of Brown faculty members is conducting the first study of its kind to investigate whether MDMA-assisted therapy can relieve the suffering of Veterans with PTSD and alcohol use disorder.

WHO currently deems the risk of spread to nearby countries as high, but global spread low.

Inside your refrigerator and pantry, plastic is everywhere. There’s plastic wrap, storage bags and bins, clamshell takeout containers, beverage bottles, and condiment tubs, of course. Plastics (synthetic polymers) are also a component of the multi-layer material that make up chip bags and encase granola bars. Tin, steel, and aluminum cans, like the type that might hold beans or a soda, are lined with plastic. Even many paper products, such as paper cups and frozen food trays, are coated in–you guessed it–plastic.

With over half of America’s doctors now employed by large health systems rather than physician-owned practices, a team of Brown researchers is examining how this trend toward consolidation impacts health care costs, patient access and market competition.

A team led by Professor Erica Walker has received federal funding to conduct the first air-quality and community noise assessment of Mississippi communities impacted by the production of wood pellets.

Taking an HIV test in the privacy of your own home is as simple as swabbing your cheek. A new study from Tyler Wray finds compelling evidence that mailed tests could be a game changer.

After falling short in his first show appearance, this Brown professor made it all the way to the Jeopardy Wildcard Tournament.

As much as we would all love to ignore COVID, a new set of variants that scientists call “FLiRT” is here to remind us that the virus is still with us.

When I began my Ph.D. in an interdisciplinary environmental studies program, students further along in the program warned it was going to be particularly hard for us to get academic jobs. They pointed out that among the brilliant and productive faculty who enthusiastically taught our program, none had in fact received training like ours— they all had Ph.D.s in clearly defined fields.

Brown researchers compared assisted living residents in Florida who evacuated during Hurricane Irma to those who sheltered in place in order to determine the health risks inherent in long-term care disaster planning and response.

Brown researchers examined hundreds of thousands of veterans’ health records to determine if exposure to burn pits on military bases correlates with elevated risk for respiratory and cardiac health conditions.

Erica Walker explores the hidden health impacts of wood pellet production in her home state of Mississippi

NCCIH funding will allow Brown researchers to evaluate complementary and integrative health interventions and produce a public-facing database to support rigorous systematic reviews.

Experts describe ways to turn down the volume, from earbuds to smartphone apps that detect harmful noise levels

American life expectancy started dropping even before the pandemic. It’s a critical barometer of our nation’s health and a sign that all is not well in the U.S.

Anaridis Rodriguez is joined by Pandemic Preparedness expert, Jennifer Nuzzo, from Brown University, to dig deeper into how we can best prepare ourselves for another pandemic.

To learn from the various health systems across the globe, researchers must devise new methods of working with highly sensitive data despite vast organizational differences between countries. The newest episode of our Humans in Public Health podcast interviews Professor Irene Papanicolas.

Here’s just the tip of the iceberg: $722.50 for a nurse to push a drug into an IV. $21,500 for ten stitches. The prices charged by hospitals are exorbitant and rising. Private health insurance premiums paid by working age adults are rising rapidly. Many Americans skip necessary medical care, while those who do get treated can end up bankrupt. With U.S. health care spending reaching $4.5 trillion in 2022, finding ways to cut costs has become increasingly urgent.

Homicides were down sharply in Boston during the first three months of 2024 compared to the same period in recent years, records show. The city saw just two confirmed homicides in the first quarter of the year, compared to 11 during the first quarter of 2023, according to Boston police statistics. There were five homicides in Boston in the first quarter of 2022, nine during the same period in 2021, and 10 in the first quarter of 2020.

A Texas dairy worker has tested positive for the avian flu, marking the first identified human case of an illness in the U.S. that has sickened cattle across several states over the past few weeks.

An internationally-known public health expert, Professor Malabika Sarker advocates for vulnerable populations around the world. We talked to her about implementation science, the importance of community and advocacy, and why she thinks the School of Public Health is ready to tackle the public health problems of the 21st century.

To promote partnership between local community members, organizations and researchers at Brown, the School of Public Health has established new research awards, with inaugural funding for projects impacting Rhode Island’s children and older adults.

An expert on global health security, public health preparedness and response, and health systems resilience, Jennifer Nuzzo DrPH, is professor of epidemiology at the Brown University School of Public Health where she directs the Pandemic Center. We spoke to her about pandemic proofing the future, and how Brown is uniquely positioned to make impact in the field.

In mid-February, a measles outbreak started at the Manatee Bay Elementary School in Broward County in South Florida. There are now at least nine cases in the county and one additional one in Polk County in Central Florida.

New research points to October as the sweet spot, at least for kids. But it’s not too late to get one, even now.

Brown researcher awarded grant to assess the spillover impact of private equity practice acquisition on health care spending, quality and access outcomes

Following a transformational tenure, Academic Director Dr. Anthony Napoli passes the torch to Dr. Scott Rivkees, ensuring a seamless transition for the program’s continued success.

Accomplished physician, scholar and public health expert Ateev Mehrotra M.D., MPH, will join Brown's School of Public Health on July 1, 2024.

With diverse academic and practice-based backgrounds, a new wave of public health educators at Brown aims for multidisciplinary solutions.

Every health care model involves people doing their best to balance competing priorities in the face of limited resources. In other words, every system involves tradeoffs.

When humanitarian catastrophes erupt around the world, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed by the scale of suffering. How do aid workers navigate the immense challenges in order to jump into action—juggling safety, equipment and logistics?

Strokes are the leading cause of death and a major contributor to disability in the United States, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A new study published Wednesday in the journal “Neurology” found Black people in the United States experience strokes more frequently and at younger ages compared to White people.

The number of private equity firms has exploded in health care in recent years, spending hundreds of billions of dollars to buy physician practices, hospitals, laboratories and nursing homes. It’s a trend that should have everyone’s attention, from politicians to patients, because it can significantly increase costs, reduce access and even threaten patient safety.

Taking a closer look at how human behavior, design and public health form a 21st-century partnership.

Enrollment in Medicare Advantage plans has grown substantially in the past few decades, enticing more than half of eligible people, primarily those 65 or older, with low premium costs and perks like dental and vision insurance. And as the private plans' share of the Medicare patient pie has ballooned to 30.8 million people, so too have concerns about the insurers' aggressive sales tactics and misleading coverage claims.

As founder and leader of the Community Noise Lab, Professor Erica Walker develops practical tools to help people advocate for healthier neighborhoods, and explores how social disparities and environmental exposures harm communities.

Tracing the history of biostatistics at Brown — an essential component of all branches of public health and medical research.

Who owns your doctor’s office? More and more often nowadays, the answer is a private equity firm — a type of investment fund that buys, restructures, and resells companies.

The debate over vapes, nicotine pouches and the quest to reduce the global scourge of tobacco-related diseases and fatalities.

Over his 50 years at Brown University, Professor Peter M. Monti has not only been witness to a sea change in our understanding of addictive disorders, but has contributed to that understanding with his research and leadership. At the School of Public Health’s 10th anniversary, he reflects on the decades of work defining Brown’s public health legacy.

Summit led by Brown researchers makes shared space between mindfulness training and Indigenous cultural practice

Dr. Francesca Beaudoin was the first physician in the nation to serve patients in a mobile drug recovery unit. The van, an innovative public health intervention on wheels, delivers services to individuals suffering from substance use disorder in Rhode Island’s underserved communities.

Many Americans have lost confidence in the importance of public health recommendations like vaccines. Here’s why—and why they still matter.