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Posts Tagged ‘School of Public Health’
The Other Side of the Dream
For some immigrant groups, the stress of migrating to the United States can lead to substance use and abuse. In the process of migrating to the United States, Latino men who have sex with men face the additional burden of having to redefine their sexual identity to meet the cultural norms of mainstream white gay culture, says Jose Bauermeister, a research assistant professor in health behavior and health education and supervisor of the newly founded Sexuality and Health Research Lab at the School of Public Health. In his research, Bauermeister finds that homosexual activity can be a catalyst for drug use. [Read more...]
Improving Care for the Vulnerable
U-M's Kyle Grazier, a professor of health management and policy in the School of Public Health, says society also pays a high price for failing to care for vulnerable populations. Untreated addiction often leads to drunk driving, suicide, broken families, and juvenile delinquency. Lack of transitional housing and job training programs brings more homelessness and crime. In recent research, she interviewed individuals receiving services and developed a guide to the essential features of successful programs. [Read more...]
U-M researcher part of effort to reform federal rules to improve accuracy of nursing home payments
Federal Medicare payments to the nation’s nursing homes will more accurately match the different levels of care that elderly patients require, under rule changes that have just been announced for implementation in 2010. “We know that the characteristics of nursing home residents have changed in the last decade, for example with more individuals who have severe mental illness and serious disabilities. But we were surprised that the old system, with only a bit of modification, is still very effective in predicting the cost of care,” says Brant Fries, research professor in the U-M Institute of Gerontology and professor of health management and policy at the U-M School of Public Health. [Read more...]
Two U-M faculty elected to prestigious Institute of Medicine
Ana V. Diez Roux, professor of epidemiology and director of the Center for Social Epidemiology and Population Health in the School of Public Health, and Arul M. Chinnaiyan, Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, S.P. Hicks Endowed Professor of Pathology, and director of the Michigan Center for Translational Pathology in the Medical School, have been elected to the Institute of Medicine. Being selected for membership in the IOM is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine. [Read more...]
Breast reconstruction varies by race, U-M study finds
Latinas who spoke little English were less likely to undergo reconstruction surgery after a mastectomy for breast cancer, according to a study from researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center. The study compared breast reconstruction among white women, African-American women, and Latina women. “We have good data that shows reconstruction after mastectomy improves quality of life. This is a body part that affects women’s self esteem, body image, sexuality and social roles. Not all women should necessarily choose reconstruction – it’s not right for everyone. But all women should be presented the option,” says lead study author Amy Alderman, assistant professor of plastic surgery at the U-M Medical School. [Read more...]
In adults, shots better than nasal spray vaccine in preventing seasonal flu
A flu shot is 50 percent more effective than a nasal spray vaccine in preventing seasonal influenza in healthy adults, a new study shows. The School of Public Health study looked at the differences in protection for the A (H3N2) viruses, the seasonal strains that cause the most severe disease. The seasonal-flu vaccines that were studied do not protect against the H1N1 swine flu virus. [Read more...]
U-M joins other leading research universities to launch futurity.org
A group of leading research universities has launched Futurity (www.futurity.org), an online research channel covering the latest discoveries in science, engineering, the environment, health and more. The University of Michigan is one of 35 partners supporting the project. Given the changes occurring in the news business, the partner universities are looking for ways to share important breakthroughs with the public in a new and direct way. [Read more...]
U-M exceeds $1 billion in annual research spending for the first time
Research spending at the University of Michigan in 2008-09 exceeded $1 billion for the first time, a milestone that highlights the university’s role as an economic resource benefitting the entire state. In the midst of the most severe recession since the Great Depression, research spending at the university rose 9.4 percent over the previous fiscal year, totaling $1.02 billion. The federal government provided 64.4 percent of the funds, and federal research spending at the U-M rose 7.1 percent over 2007-08. [Read more...]