Students, Faculty, and Staff Beat the Heat at the

EHGES Ice Cream Social

The EHGES Ice Cream Social drew a great crowd of EHGES students, faculty, and staff the second week of September. All were treated to a deluxe ice cream bar with representatives from TEPHI, the Epi PhD Student Association, SPH Library services, and Metro Transit available to answer questions, spotlight student resources, and give out goodies. If you want more photos from our ice cream social and EHGES art break, please visit our Flickr page!

EHGES FACULTY HIGHLIGHTS

EHGES Faculty Receive Teaching Innovation Award

UTHealth Houston School of Public Health Office of Instructional Design has awarded a trio of EHGES Assistant Professors the Teaching Innovation Award for 2023-2024.

Assistant Professors Elena Feofanova, PhD, Audrey Choh, PhD and Heather Essigmann, PhD will be working with the School of Public Health Office of Instructional Design throughout the current academic year on the online Epidemiology II course to create more interactive opportunities for learners to engage with content, each other, and the teaching team.

They will incorporate the integration of interactive components into the lectures, the implementation of an Epidemiological Field Study as a learner's experience, and the implementation of the draft system to facilitate the review process throughout the semester.

Perkison Discusses Heat Stress on Workers in National Podcast

EHGES Assistant Professor William Perkison, MD, was a guest speaker on OccPod: the official ACOEM podcast hosted by Ismail Nabeel, MD, and Erin L. Ransford, BSPH. Perkison discussed the relationship between heat stress and worker health.

In the interview, Perkison stressed, "As a result of each successive summer's increased temperatures and prolonged length of time those temperatures remain high, it is critical that businesses stay up-to-date on the latest improvements in heat stress prevention programs and when these programs are available."

Houston Public Media published a pilot study measuring bus stop temperatures in a metric called Wet Bulb Globe Temperature. WBGT offers a fuller picture of elements that heat or cool the body when outside. In the two-part series, "Hot Stops, How Houston Bus Stops Get Dangerously Hot," Perkison and Assistant Professor Kevin Lanza, PhD, provided guidance on research methodology for a pilot study measuring temperatures at Houston bus stops in the summer.

You can read the two-part series, Hot Stops, How Houston Bus Stops Get Dangerously Hot, on the Houston Public Media website.

You can also listen to the complete episode of OccPod on Spotify.

AHA Presidental Advisory Calls for Coordinated Research for Food Is Medicine Initiative

A new American Heart Association Presidential Advisory calls for creating a stronger body of research on the efficacy and value of clinical Food Is Medicine programs nationwide. The FIM research demonstrates that healthcare systems may be able to help patients access healthy food, resulting in improved health and reduced need for health care.

The advisory serves as a roadmap for the research and advocacy initiative led by the AHA.

EHGES Vice Chair Shreela Sharma, PhD, RD serves as co-vice chair of the Research Planning Group of the American Heart Association Food Is Medicine Initiative, who published the advisory to serve as a roadmap for the research and advocacy initiative in the AHA's flagship scientific journal, Circulation.

You can read the AHA Presidental Advisory here and learn more about the Food Is Medicine Initiative here.

EHGES Postdoctoral Research Fellow Selected for 2023 PCGC and CDDRC Fellows Program

New Faculty Spotlight: Assistant Professor Yun Hang, PhD

EHGES welcomes Yun Hang, PhD, as assistant professor.

Hang earned her PhD in Environment and Resources from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and completed her postdoctoral training in Environmental Health from Emory University.

Hang's research centers on the intersection of climate change, air quality, and human health. Over the past nine years, she has been supported by NASA and NIH to combine satellite remote sensing and machine learning to study climate, air pollution, and environmental justice.

During her free time, Hang enjoys exploring new restaurants and engages in frequent running to offset the calories gained.

EHGES STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

EHGES ON LOCATION

#EHGES on Location

EHGES Assistant Professor Wei-Chung Su, PhD, gave three presentations at the 35th Annual Conference of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

Su was also invited to speak at Kaohsiung Medical University and present his research about health-related aerosol respiratory deposition and the development of MALDA to pulmonary medicine doctors.

UPCOMING EVENTS

EHGES NOTES

Predoctoral & Postdoctoral Fellowships in Obesity-Related Cancer Research

Predoctoral Applicants $36,000 per year + benefits

• Enrolled full-time in a Ph.D. program in an obesity or cancer-related research discipline for their dissertation
• Completed doctoral comprehensive exams successfully

Postdoctoral Applicants - NIH NSRA stipend levels starting

• at $56,484 per year + benefits Must have a Ph.D. or other equivalent doctoral degree by fellowship start Demonstrated experience working in relevant research or describe the knowledgeable interest

The NCI U54 Acres Homes Cancer Prevention Collaboration Applications are accepted & and reviewed on a rolling basis.

Open to U.S. Citizens and permanent residents Up to three (3) years of salary support.

For more information please visit: www.CancerPreventionTraining.org or

email AcresHomesCPC@MDAnderson.org 

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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.