Stay informed with the latest public health research, insights, and evidence-based analysis from our team of experts.
Do you follow the HHS Facebook page? I do, mainly because I think I should. But, boy, it’s adopted the bizarre self-promotional tactics of the president. I’ve always been loath to jump into the comment sections on public Facebook posts — no good can come of it. Helpfully, I work under an HHS contract, so […]
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What if the biggest threat to universal health care isn’t in Congress, but in your Facebook feed? In 2019, a coalition of private healthcare giants launched a million-dollar advertising campaign on Meta platforms, including Facebook and Instagram. Their target wasn’t a competing company or product; it was you, specifically, your perception of universal health care. […]
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Imagine trying to predict a hurricane, but your radar only works on half the sky. That’s the challenge public health officials face when trying to forecast COVID-19 surges using social media. New research published in Frontiers in Public Health reveals that politics and pandemic forecasting are more closely intertwined than previously expected. Researchers analyzed over 420 million […]
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In the face of tough circumstances—poverty, trauma, unstable homes—some people manage to thrive. Why? What makes the difference? That’s where the concept of resilience comes in. More and more public health and mental health systems are embracing resilience as a key part of how we support people, especially those at risk of developing mental health […]
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Hello. I know it’s tempting to chase the latest HHS news, and try to unpack what it means (e.g., Top staffers dismissed, the HHS Facebook page is meming Joe Biden? for some reason.) My ongoing theory is that these individuals are primarily seeking to consolidate wealth and power. That’s it. The health angle is merely […]
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Mental health shapes everything—from how we relate to others to how we get through the day. But understanding what qualifies as a mental disorder is not always straightforward. If you’ve ever wondered who decides what’s “normal” or when emotions become diagnosable, you’re not alone. In public health, we often use systems like the DSM (Diagnostic […]
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As our digital tools evolve, so must the methods we use to collect and visualize identity data. Two recent contributions in Nightingale, Querying the Quantification of the Queer and Datafying Mixed Social Identities: Nonbinarity as the Complementary of Intersectionality highlight how current systems fall short of capturing the fluid, layered realities of gender and other […]
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On June 1st, a high school friend forwarded me a letter to the editor that had recently been published in our local paper. The author criticized the paper’s recent treatment of President Trump, contrasting it to how it treated Joe Biden in the 2024 election. It was a fairly typical opinion piece, nothing especially surprising […]
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In recent years, the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and biotechnology has presented novel approaches to some of the most persistent health challenges. One of the most promising advancements is in the realm of cancer treatment, where AI-driven protein engineering is paving the way for unprecedented medical solutions. This blog post delves into the latest […]
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We tracking some interesting recent research, including one Harry Potter? adjacent study and some work out of China, picking up on the ball where the US Feds threw it away, on health equity research. Here’s what’s coming up next week. Health Law Diagnosed – Best Practices for Communicating with the FDA And some of the […]
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It’s a Sunday afternoon. You stop at the supermarket to grab milk, maybe some snacks. But instead of walking straight to the produce aisle, someone greets you with an unusual question:“Would you like to know your risk for diabetes?” That simple ask changed hundreds of lives in Buffalo, New York. A groundbreaking pilot program, detailed […]
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Picture this: You’re drinking a bottle of water after a run. Refreshing, right? I do it all the time. Now imagine you’ve just swallowed hundreds of tiny plastic particles—too small to see, but not too small to hurt you. That’s not science fiction. It’s our everyday reality. A groundbreaking 2025 review published in Frontiers in […]
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