Every parent wants their child to enjoy lifelong health and well-being. Our researchers develop and test strategies to solve health issues that affect kids across the nation, including asthma, developmental disabilities, depression and exposure to environmental toxins like lead and forever chemicals. We look ahead: our research is a multigenerational investment that reduces the burden of disease on families and communities, both in America and around the world.

• Parents’ health: The key to children flourishing?
• Lead exposure from firearms is a hidden danger for kids
• Teen depression: Understanding the rising tide

Americans are living longer than ever, providing more opportunities to cherish and enjoy our loved ones. However, ensuring that people live healthier, more comfortable lives as they age can put added pressure on families and our health care systems, due to increased risk of serious health conditions like cancer, dementia, heart disease and diabetes. Our researchers are improving care for older adults, ensuring they receive the support they need—especially in settings like rehabilitation, nursing homes and hospice. 

• Driving under the influence of prescriptions: An overlooked risk for seniors
• Alzheimer's care beyond drugs: Effective and affordable solutions
• Hospice care is evolving: What's new?

Chronic diseases—such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, obesity and Alzheimer’s disease impact millions of Americans every year. They also account for 90% of annual health care spending in the U.S. Our researchers are developing solutions to prevent and treat chronic diseases, which are the leading cause of death in the nation today. 

• How does late-life health trace back to what happened in the womb?
• Why insurers should cover mindfulness-based stress reduction
• Long-acting PrEP: A game changer for at-risk groups

The U.S. spends more money on health care than any other country—and health spending is a major contributor to the national debt. But patients face a complicated web of insurers, providers and health systems that can deter them from care. Our researchers are focused on better care for the average American at lower costs. Using data and evidence, they analyze laws and policies to find opportunities that can improve our nation’s health systems. By unraveling connections between insurance design, market structures and policy dynamics, their research can help expand our health care coverage, and enhance well-being for patients, all while reducing financial burden.

• Hospital ties are driving up your doctor's bill
• Wealth doesn't buy longevity: The U.S. vs. Europe
• Private equity in health care: Are patients paying the price?

COVID-19 claimed over 1.2 million lives in the U.S. and created massive disruptions to our economic and educational systems. How can we be better prepared for the next pandemic? As new biological disease threats become more frequent, researchers at Brown are working to ready the country for future outbreaks—protecting our health, economy and national security. We’re also leading efforts to build global systems that detect outbreaks early and track environmental and climate conditions that can trigger new diseases.

• Tracking Report provides data-driven insights
• What if you could disrupt the next pandemic before it starts?
• Brown's Pandemic Center: Bridging research and policy in D.C.

Tens of thousands of Americans lose their lives to drug overdose every year, creating heartbreak and devastating families across the country. In addition, this crisis strains hospitals and increases the demand for long-term care to help those struggling with addiction. To respond, Brown researchers are developing harm reduction strategies and helped open the nation’s first state-approved overdose prevention center in Rhode Island. They’re also working to reduce excessive drinking and tobacco use—still the top causes of preventable death in the U.S.—through research and training that supports better treatment.

• Understanding overdose prevention centers: A new resource from Brown
• Comprehensive analysis of Rhode Island’s unregulated drug supply
• Do overdose prevention sites increase crime? The evidence says no

America’s veterans have served our country and, due to their sacrifice, many now face serious health challenges like PTSD, substance use and chronic disease. Their suicide rate is nearly double that of civilians. Brown researchers are working directly with veterans to improve their care, by developing new mental health treatments and studying long-term effects of burn pit exposure to inform VA policy: all to better protect veterans and their families.

• Double billing for veterans? Medicare Advantage under scrutiny
• Unlocking the therapeutic potential of MDMA
• Burn pits and health risks: A growing concern for military veterans

We all deserve clean air and water as well as food, clothing and products that don’t expose us to toxic chemicals. Our homes and communities need to be safe from increasing extreme weather such as hurricanes, tornados, floods and high heat.  Brown researchers are leading interdisciplinary efforts to understand and address these threats. Their work informs both the public and policymakers about the impact of coal plants on local cases of lung and heart disease, noise pollution on mental health and forever chemicals on expectant mothers and their children.

• Evacuating the vulnerable: New concerns for assisted living in hurricane zones
• Health care’s carbon problem
• Clean air simplified