Urban Health

hands holding various cancer ribbons

Lifestyle risk factors for urban and rural participants with cancer

Jean Rinkowski

Jean Rinkowski, a recent graduate in online MPH program, investigates how lifestyle and risk factors differ between urban and rural cancer patients in the California Teachers Study cohort, uncovering disparities and their potential implications for public health.

Water trickles out of the end of a rusty pipe

Lead exposure may alter the body's response to stress

Chris Giang and Olivia M. Halabicky, PhD, RN

The water crisis in Flint, Michigan garnered national attention, but there are thousands of cities in the US with even higher levels of lead poisoning. Despite knowing lead is harmful, we still don’t know how lead causes such harmful health outcomes. Identifying potential biological pathways is key for developing interventions to mitigate health risk.

Food market in Detroit

Emergency Food Security Funding Must Continue

Alek Ostrander and Carly Truett

The economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the risk of the nearly 26 million adults in the US struggling to access and afford food. Federal nutrition assistance programs like SNAP help, but additional assistance is needed for those already receiving maximum benefits. And many of these emergency measures should become permanent.

Katherine Hoffman at her desk in the biostatistics and epidemiology division at Weill Cornell Medicine.

On the sidelines: New York's COVID-19 outbreak from the eyes of a Biostatistician

Katherine Hoffman, MS ’18

It's March. An early-career biostatistician at a large medical facility, alum Katherine Hoffman is living through New York City’s explosive COVID-19 outbreak. As the statistician for a pulmonary and critical care team, she is quickly pulled into COVID-19 work. Her hospital is running out of ventilators. She is told to drop all other research projects for COVID-19 work. This is her story.