Environmental Health

The Worst Disease You've Never Heard Of: Caring for Children with Epidermolysis Bullosa

Bailey Brown, BS ’20

Children with epidermolysis bullosa are often called butterfly children—their skin seems to be as fragile as a butterfly’s wing. While there is no cure for EB, ongoing clinical trials have developed treatments to manage symptoms. Public health clinicians can help patients and their families build support networks by connecting them to local support groups and other families caring for children with EB.

Opening Up US Will Trigger More COVID-19 Cases, but Disease Models Suggest How to Avoid a Second Peak

Joseph Eisenberg

As states open up, more coronavirus spread is expected, and models can show whether public health measures are working. Models are more like compasses than crystal balls, says epidemiologist Joseph Eisenberg, and current models from epidemiologists suggest that we must make changes slowly and relax social distancing measures incrementally during the coming months.

Building a New Normal: Strategic Actions for Health Equity in a Post Pandemic World

In the post COVID-19 world, we understand in very fundamental ways that low-wage workers, once considered marginal, are “essential” to the continued functioning of critical infrastructure, health, and social care systems. Sustained protections for low wage workers can protect them from adverse health effects.

Why Are Ethical Concerns Blocking the Progress of COVID-19 Vaccine Efforts?

Akpabio Akpabio and Utibe Effiong

Ultimately, vaccines are beneficial, and human trials are essential in determining the safety of any vaccine. But how do we select candidates for vaccine tests? Fallout from unethical experiments is persistent, and we must insist on the most ethical and medically accurate appraisals of the vaccine landscape.

Stacking Protections against Disease: What Do Driving a Car and Occupational Health Have to Do with the Coronavirus?

Aurora Le

Preventing the spread of disease is essential for our health. So is having a steady income. To get us back to work safely, occupational health experts are helping us “stack” protective measures—use multiple layers of safeguards—to truly protect workers, clients, patients, and visitors from the potential harms of environmental exposures on the job and in other spaces we frequent.

The (Mis)Education of US on Climate and Health: Dr. Jalonne L. White-Newsome's Health Sciences 2020 MLK Lecture

Jalonne L. White-Newsome, PhD '11

On Monday January 8, 2020, Michigan Public Health alum Dr. Jalonne L. White-Newsome visited the University of Michigan to deliver the University of Michigan Health Sciences 2020 MLK Lecture titled "The (Mis)Education of US on Climate and Health."