UTHealth Houston School of Public Health Breaks Ground on New Home in TMC's Helix Park

Pictured: Department of Biostatistics and Data Science Professor Jose-Miguel Yamal, PhD, Epidemiology, Human Genetics, and Environmental Sciences faculty including Professor and Vice Chair, Shreela Sharma, PhD, Professor and Chair, Alanna Morrison, PhD, and Associate Professor Lawrence Whitehead, PhD

The most prestigious school of public health in the state and fourth-largest in the country, UTHealth Houston School of Public Health breaks ground on a 10-story, 350,000-square-foot tower in the Texas Medical Center that underscores the school’s mission of health promotion and disease prevention, sustainable access to affordable health care with improved outcomes, and training the next generation of leaders in public health sciences.

Located in the Texas Medical Center’s Helix Park, it will house state-of-the-art research laboratories and distance-learning technology, an auditorium, teaching kitchen for its dietetic interns, collaborative spaces, and classrooms in support of the school’s broad range of disciplines including epidemiology, genetics, nutrition, health policy, data science, and health promotion.

Read more about our new innovative campus on the UTHealth Houston News website.

Welcome New EHGES Faculty

Associate Professor

Shannon Guillot-Wright, PhD

EHGES welcomes Shannon Guillot-Wright, PhD, as an associate professor.

Guillot-Wright earned her MA in Human Rights from Columbia University, a PhD in Medical Humanities from UTMB, and completed her postdoctoral training in health policy research at Penn State.

Guillot-Wright's research interests are at the intersection of occupational health equity and health policy research, emphasizing community-based participatory research. She is an ethnographer by training and is particularly interested in examining power, influence, social change, and the broader health impacts of political-economic policies.

In her free time, she enjoys binging a great TV series or podcast, and she also loves running and recently finished the NYC marathon.

Assistant Professor

Anna Gitter, PhD

Our latest addition to the EHGES department is Assistant Professor Anna Gitter, PhD.

Gitter earned her BS in Environmental Science from the University of Michigan and her MS and PhD in Water Management and Hydrological Science from Texas A&M University.



Gitter's research interests include human health risk modeling to interpret environmental exposures, water resources management for public health, and risk communication.

She spends her free time volunteering at the local animal shelter and has completed over 25 marathons, including the Boston Marathon, three times.

EHGES FACULTY HIGHLIGHTS

Waller Receives NIH R03 Grant to Study if Omega-3 Fatty Acids Can Prevent Birth Defects

Associate Professor Kim Waller, PhD, has been awarded an R03 NIH grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Associate Professor Marcia Otto, PhD, and research scientist Renata Benjamin, PhD will collaborate with Waller to study mothers who frequently eat fish, salad dressing, and other foods that contain Omega-3 fatty acids to determine whether eating foods containing healthy fats will help to prevent mothers from having babies with birth defects.

Ramphul Awarded Grant for San Antonio Food Insecurity Needs Assessment

Assistant Professor Ryan Ramphul, PhD, has been awarded a grant to conduct a food insecurity needs assessment for the Metropolitan Health District in San Antonio, Texas. The needs assessment will include the creation of a web-based data dashboard and a review of innovative solutions piloted to address food insecurity in other large metropolitan areas.

School of Public Health Tapped as Key Partner on New Federal Initiative to Address Poverty

The National Institutes of Health has awarded $50 million as part of the Persistent Poverty Initiative to alleviate the cumulative effects of persistent poverty on cancer outcomes by building research capacity, fostering cancer prevention research, and promoting the implementation of community-based programs.

The initiative establishes five Centers for Cancer Control Research in Persistent Poverty Areas to reduce inequities in the structural drivers of cancer and prevent more cancers before they start by reducing tobacco use and ensuring everyone has access to healthy food.

One of the five centers is the Acres Homes Cancer Prevention Collaboration which will be led by the MD Anderson Cancer Center. UTHealth Houston School of Public Health has been tapped as a key partner for the Houston Center with EHGES Professor and Vice Chair Shreela Sharma, PhD serving as PI of the sub-award.

Sharma along with EHGES Assistant Professors Ryan Ramphul, PhD and Brett Perkison, MD, as well as HPBS Professor Maria Fernandez, PhD, Professor Christine Markham, PhD, Associate Professor Andrew Springer, DrPH, Assistant Professor Ru-Jye Chuang, DrPH, and BADS Associate Professor Cici Bauer, PhD, will lead one of the two Center research projects in partnership with Brighter Bites non-profit organization, and provide implementation science, geospatial analysis, and community engagement support on the project. 

New Discovery of Genetic Associations Published

A new study was recently published by Assistant Professor Elena Feofanova, PhD, in the May issue of Nature Communications.

In a “Whole-Genome Sequencing Analysis of Human Metabolome in Multi-Ethnic Populations,” Feofanova et al. reported a whole-genome sequencing association analysis of genetic variants in up to 11,840 multi-ethnic participants with up to 1,666 circulating metabolites. Feofanova et al. discovered 1,985 novel variant-metabolite associations (and replicated 79 of them). The findings provide a unique resource for follow-up studies in basic science and clinical medicine to investigate health and disease further.

Additionally, the findings affirm the use of computationally efficient pooled analysis in large initiatives, including multiple studies. 

Co-authors included School of Public Health Dean Eric Boerwinkle, PhD, and EHGES faculty, including Professor and Chair Alanna C. Morrison, PhD, Associate Professors Bing Yu, PhD, and Han Chen, PhD, along with Senior Statisticians Michael R. Brown, MS, and Taryn Alkis, MS. 

New NIH R01 Award To Continue Research into Vascular Calcification Mechanisms

Assistant Professor Paul de Vries, PhD, has received an R01 award from NIH to further research into vascular calcification by focusing on the sulfatase family proteins.

De Vries and Co-PI Rajeev Malhotra, MD, a cardiologist with Massachusetts General Hospital, aim to generate mechanistic insights into vascular calcification by focusing on a novel biological pathway, the sulfatase family of proteins.

In a previous collaboration with Malhotra, we identified one member of this family as a potent regulator of vascular calcification, but the mechanism and the involvement of other family members remain to be explored.

This interdisciplinary effort will use a variety of approaches, including genetic epidemiology led by the UTHealth Houston team as well as cellular and mouse models led by the team at Massachusetts General Hospital. 

Read "The Role of Arylsulfatase in Vascular Calcification" proposal here.

Research Uncovers Genetic Variants Linked with Heart Issues

A new study has discovered rare genetic variants associated with sudden cardiac arrest in young people.

Assistant Professor Zeynep H. Coban Akdemir, PhD, Associate Professor Bing Yu, PhD, Dean & M. David Low Chair in Public Health, Eric Boerwinkle, PhD worked in collaboration with researchers from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on the project titled "Rare Genetic Variants Associated With Sudden Cardiac Arrest in the Young: A Prospective, Population-Based Study" that has been published in Circulation: Genomic and Precision Medicine, an AHA Journal.

ATVB to Feature New Study

Selected as the feature article in the July 2023 issue of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, an AHA Journal, Professor and Chair Alanna Morrison, PhD, Assistant Professor Paul S. de Vries, PhD, Senior Statistician Michael Brown, MS, and alumnus Allison Bebo, MS, co-authored the study, "Identifying genetic determinants of the levels of three anticoagulants proteins: Antithrombin, Protein C, and Protein S." The article is available at no cost for a limited time on the ATVB website.

New Study Connects Sleep Duration, Inflammation Markers and Obesity in Adolescent Girls

Assistant Professor Augusto De Moraes, PhD, has published a new study that found that sleep time was negatively associated with pro and anti-inflammatory biomarkers mediated by waist circumference.

The study was published in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health in June 2023.

EGHES NEWS

Society for Epidemiologic Research Conference - Portland, Oregon

The SER 2023 Conference was held in Portland, Oregon, where Assistant Professors Augusto Moreas, PhD and Jenil Patel, PhD each presented their work in the poster session. Moreas presented his study linking NFL injuries to limited preseason activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Patel and two NIOSH trainees, Lola Oluwafemi, MPH, and Sneha Manohara, MS, presented their work on racial disparities surrounding adverse birth outcomes and the impact of asthma.

ISBNPA Conference in Uppsala, Sweden

EHGES Professor Shreela Sharma, PhD, RDN, attended the International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (ISBNPA) 2023 in Uppsala, Sweden, in June 2023. Sharma presented her research poster titled “Comprehensive evaluation of a large-scale food prescription program in Houston, TX USA.” Sharma also spoke at the conference, delivering her presentation titled “Comparative effectiveness RCT of produce prescription models to improve health outcomes in pediatric populations.” 

UTHealth Houston Celebrates Pride!

Students with Metro Q Card Get Free Rides This Summer

UPCOMING EVENTS

EHGES NOTES

The Teaching Assistant (TA) Training course is a self-paced online course available to students currently holding a TA position or those looking to pursue a TA position.

Students who hold TA positions are highly encouraged to sign-up for the course. Upon completing this course, students will receive a certificate to show they are prepared for the position. If you took the training in previous semesters, you do not need to retake the training.

This course also gives TA position applicants with less experience the opportunity to be more competitive candidates. The course does not guarantee TA position placement following the completion of the course.

Registration is required. The training is offered on Canvas and will take approximately 5 hours to complete. TA Training for the Fall Semester: 7/31/2023 - 9/8/2023 (6 weeks)

Teaching Assistant Training Course Registration Form

Please feel free to contact Xi Chen for questions.

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Calling all EHGES alums! EHGES in the News would like to include alum updates and news to feature in our monthly spotlight! Please email Jana Satterwhite, Communications Specialist, to be considered for our upcoming newsletters.

Reminder: For more information on how to handle media requests, see the UTHealth Houston HOOP policy here. If you are contacted by the media, please call the UTHealth Houston Media Relations team on the hotline, 713-500-3030 - someone is available 24/7. Deb Lake is the designated School of Public Health contact. Always choose to call the hotline for immediate assistance.

SUBMISSIONS AND NEWSLETTER DEADLINE

All campuses are encouraged to submit items for consideration for the monthly EHGES newsletter. Please feel free to submit your items to sphehges@uth.tmc.edu.