Welcome to the start of a new semester at the Harvard Chan School. For SBS students, staff and faculty, last year was memorable for the many new obstacles that we had to navigate. We now look to the future with optimism, even as we acknowledge the enormity of the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic and the almost daily reminders of the persistence of centuries old structural conditions that create disparate health, economic, social and criminal justice outcomes for black, brown and economically exploited communities in our world.

Despite the unprecedented and strategic mobilization of underrepresented communities that led to historic voter turnout in the November election in the U.S., we are also keenly aware of how much progress we have yet to make to build the political will to achieve liberty and justice for all.

The work that we are doing and that we are being trained to do is more desperately needed and important than ever. As we witness the many crises of our time, we must reaffirm our commitment and redouble our efforts to work for equity and justice. The eloquent and moving words of Amanda Gorman has reminded us that “There is always light. Only if we are brave enough to see it. There is always light. Only if we are brave enough to be it”

And although we are well into the month of February, I believe that it is not too late to wish each of you a happy, healthy, and safe New Year, as we continue to work to improve population health and advance health equity in this nation and the world.

Dr. Natalie Slopen joined the SBS Department in January 2021 as an Assistant Professor. Previously a faculty member at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, she received her ScD in Social Epidemiology at Harvard Chan and her postdoctoral fellowship training at the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. Dr. Slopen's research primarily focuses on the early life origins of health and health disparities, and her studies aim to identify modifiable risk and protective factors that can be targeted by interventions. 

"I first got involved in research during my undergraduate training in psychology. From this introduction, I learned that I loved research and slowly found my way to public health. During my doctoral training I focused on psychiatric epidemiology, and as I became increasingly aware of the strong connections between mental and physical health my research interests broadened.

My research spans two general areas. The first domain focuses on how early life experiences and environments become embedded to influence physical and mental health over the life course. My second research area focuses on social and contextual influences on common chronic disease and psychiatric health outcomes among adults, such as affective disorders and cardiovascular disease risk factors and outcomes, including sleep."

Learn more about Dr. Natalie Slopen.

Michelle Lugalia-Hollon, SM' 10 advises students to seek mentorship and advice from leaders in the field that are doing the work you would like to do. In an update, she shares her recent experience as the Director of Policy for the Mayor of San Antonio.

"I started working for the Mayor of San Antonio as his Director of Policy in July. 4 months into the pandemic, the city was upended. Our responsive strategies had to prioritize the immediate needs of our residents -- testing, rental assistance, the digital divide -- while addressing the long-standing inequities that the pandemic exacerbated.

So together with key stakeholders, we drafted a policy to avail free training in certificates/degrees that prepare residents for in-demand and high wage jobs, including funds to address barriers that prohibit program completion. In November, we put the initiative on the ballot asking voters to allocate $154M in sales taxes to support the 4-year effort. They resoundingly chose to invest in themselves and their neighbors."

Destiny Davis joined the SBS department November 2020 as Program Coordinator at the Maternal and Child Health Center of Excellence. She joins the Center as an experienced administrative professional with extensive public health knowledge and an interest in health equity. Destiny holds a Master of Public Health in Health Policy from the Milken Institute School of Public Health at The George Washington University and a Bachelor of Science in Global Community Health from George Mason University.

Natalie Slopen joined the SBS Department in January 2020 as an Assistant Professor.

Since January, SV Subramanian joined the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog, Government of India as an Honorary Senior Fellow. He also recently joined the Center for Geographic Analysis at Harvard University as chair of the Faculty Advisory Group, the Lancet Commission on Reimagining Healthcare in India as commissioner, and Institute of Competitiveness in India as a member of the Technical Advisory Committee.

A manuscript published in 2020 by Stephanie Child and her colleagues, titled “Socioeconomic Differences in Access to Neighborhood and Network Social Capital and Associations with Body Mass Index among Black Americans" has been selected as an Editors' Picks Papers of the Year for 2020 in the American Journal of Health Promotion.

Ichiro Kawachi, Karestan Koenen, SV Subramanian, and David Williams have been recognized as one of the Highly Cited Researchers in 2020 according to the Web of Science.

Nancy Krieger has been named the 2020 recipient of the American College of Epidemiology’s Outstanding Contributions to Epidemiology Award. The award recognizes an active epidemiologist for outstanding contributions to the field in one of three areas: 1) methods development; 2) etiologic research; or 3) applied epidemiology, and she was given the award “in recognition of her exemplary work in the field.” Krieger received the award on December 1, 2020 and will deliver a platform talk at the College’s 2021 annual meeting.

Nancy Krieger’s Measures of Racism, Sexism, Heterosexism, and Gender Binarism for Health Equity Research: From Structural Injustice to Embodied Harm—An Ecosocial Analysis is a top 10 downloaded article from the 2020 volumes published by Annual Reviews.

Michael Marmot and Nancy Krieger are ranked, respectively, as the top two experts in social justice worldwide according to Expertscape.

Aviva Musicus has been selected as a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree in the Healthcare category for 2021.

Racism and Health: Evidence and Needed Research by David Williams, Jourdyn Lawrence, and Brigette Davis is a top 10 downloaded article published in 2020 by Annual Reviews.

Liu J, Halpern-Felsher B, Harris S. "Does Tobacco Screening in Youth Primary Care Identify Youth Vaping?" 2021 Annual Meeting of the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine (Platform Research IV: Salient topics in Adolescent Health): Online, March 12, 2021.

Liu J, Wright C, Williams P, Elizarova O, Dahne J, Bian J, Zhao Y, Tan A. "Smokers’ Likelihood to Engage with Misinformation of E-cigarette Relative Harms on Twitter: Results from a Randomized Controlled Experiment." 2021 Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) Annual Meeting (Virtual E-Poster On Demand Video Presentation): Online, February 24-27, 2021.

Chen S, Liu J, Davine J, Lee R, Geller A, Rees, V. "Future Intentions to Quit and Access to Cessation Resources among Smokers in Low-Income Housing." 2021 Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) Annual Meeting (Virtual E-Poster On Demand Video Presentation): Online, February 24-27, 2021.

Liu J, Chen S, Davine J, Lee R, Geller A, Rees V. "Perceptions and Use of E-cigarettes as a Cessation Strategy among Smokers in Low-Income Housing." 2021 Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) Annual Meeting (Virtual E-Poster On Demand Video Presentation): Online, February 24-27, 2021.

Bekalu MA, Dhawan D, McCloud RF, Pinnamanen R, Viswanath K. Adherence to COVID-19 Mitigation Measures among American Adults: The Need for Consistent and Unified Messaging. Health Educ Res. January 26, 2021. Online ahead of print. https://doi.org/10.1093/her/cyab002.

Bekalu MA, McCloud RF, Minsky S, Viswanath K. Association of social participation, perception of neighborhood social cohesion, and social media use with happiness: Evidence of trade‐off. J Community Psychol. November 10, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.22469.

Ojikutu BO, Stephenson KE, Mayer KH, Emmons KM. Building Trust in COVID-19 Vaccines and Beyond Through Authentic Community Investment. Am J Public Health. December 10, 2020. Online ahead of print. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2020.306087.

Brownson RC, Jacob RR, Carothers BJ, Chambers DA, Colditz GA, Emmons KM, Haire-Joshu D, Kerner JF, Padek M, Pfund C, Sales A. Building the Next Generation of Researchers: Mentored Training in Dissemination and Implementation Science. Acad Med. Vol. 96(1), pp. 86-92, January 1, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1097/acm.0000000000003750.

O'Connell M, Kephart L. Local and State Policy Action Taken in the United States to Address the Emergence of E-Cigarettes and Vaping: A Scoping Review of Literature. Health Promot Pract. November 7, 2020. Online ahead of print. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524839920963691.

Lawn RB, Nishimi KM, Kim Y, Jung S, Roberts AL, Sumner JA, Thurston RC, Chibnik LB, Rimm EB, Ratanatharathorn AD, Jha SC, Koenen KC, Tworoger SS, Kubzansky LD. Posttraumatic stress disorder and likelihood of hormone therapy use among women in the Nurses’ Health Study II: a 26-year prospective analysis. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. In press.

Krieger N, Waterman PD, Chen JT. COVID-19 and overall mortality inequities in the surge in death rates by ZIP Code characteristics: Massachusetts, January 1 to May 19, 2020. Am J Public Health. Vol. 110(12), pp.1850-1852, November 12, 2020. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2020.305913.

Krieger N, Nethery RC, Chen JT, Waterman PD, Wright E, Rushovich T, Coull BA. Impact of differential privacy and census tract data source (Decennial Census versus American Community Survey) for monitoring health Inequities. Am J Public Health. Vol. 111(2), pp. 265-268, February, 2021. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2020.305989.

Lee HE, Choi M, Kim HR, Kawachi I. Impact of Decreased Night Work on Workers' Musculoskeletal Symptoms: A Quasi-Experimental Intervention Study. Int J Environ Res Public Health. Vol. 17(23), pp. 9092, December 5, 2020. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17239092.

Lee HH, Okuzono SS, Kim ES, De Vivo I, Raffield LM, Glover L, Sims M, Grodstein F, Kubzansky LD. Optimism and Telomere Length among African American Adults in the Jackson Heart Study. Psychoneuroendocrinology. In press.

Liu J, Gaiha SM, Halpern-Felsher B. A Breath of Knowledge: Overview of Current Adolescent E-cigarette Prevention and Cessation Programs. Curr Addict Rep. Vol. 7, pp. 520-532, November 12, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40429-020-00345-5.

McCormick MC. Early Intervention and Mental Health. Pediatr Med. In press.

Fuentes-Afflick E, Perrin JM, Moley KH, Diaz A, McCormick MC, Lu MC. Optimizing Health and Well-being for Women and Children. Health Aff. January 21, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2020.01504.

Poole MK, Musicus AA, Kenney EL. Alignment Of US School Lunches With The EAT-Lancet Healthy Reference Diet’s Standards For Planetary Health. Health Aff. Vol. 39(12), pp. 2144-2152, December, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2020.01102.

Rummo PE, Moran AJ, Musicus AA, Roberto CA, Bragg MA. An online randomized trial of healthy default beverages and unhealthy beverage restrictions on children’s menus. Prev Med Rep. Vol. 20, pp. 101279, December, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2020.101279.

Musicus AA, Hua SV, Schwartz MB, Block JP, Barg FK, Economos CD, Glanz K, Krieger JW, Roberto CA. Messages Promoting Healthy Kids’ Meals: An Online RCT. Am J Prev Med. In press.

Dhawan D, Pinnamaneni R, Bekalu M, Viswanath K. Association between different types of mass media and antenatal care visits in India: a cross-sectional study from the National Family Health Survey (2015-2016). BMJ Open. Vol 10(12), pp. e042839, December 15, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-042839.

Reisner SL, Deutsch MB, Mayer KH, Grasso C, Potter J, Gonzales A, Keuroghlian A, White Hughto J, Campbell J, Asquith A, Pardee DJ, Pletta DR, Radix A. Longitudinal cohort study of gender affirmation and HIV-related health in transgender and gender diverse adults: The LEGACY Project protocol. J Med Internet Res. In press.

Gupte HA, D'Costa M, Ramanadhan S, Viswanath K. Factors Influencing Implementation of a Workplace Tobacco Cessation Intervention in India: A Qualitative Exploration. Workplace Health Saf. Vol. 69(2), pp. 56-67, February 2021. https://doi.org/10.1177/2165079920952761.

Lincoln AK, Eyllon M, Prener C, Garverich S, Griffith JL, Adams W, Arford T, Rosenfeld L, Nykiel S, Johnson P, Guyer-Deason M, Leung J, Paasche-Orlow M. Prevalence and Predictors: Limited Literacy in Public Mental Health Care. Community Ment Health J. January 3, 2021. Online ahead of print. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-020-00750-0

Shiba K, Kawahara T, Aida J, Kondo K, Kondo N, James P, Arcaya M, Kawachi I. Causal Inference in Studying the Long-term Health Effects of Disasters: Challenges and Potential Solutions. Am J Epidemiol. In press.

Shiba K, Yazawa A, Kino S, Kondo K, Aida J, Kawachi I. Depressive symptoms in the aftermath of major disaster: Empirical test of the social support deterioration model using natural experiment. Wellbeing, Space and Society. Vol. 1, pp. 100006, November 4, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wss.2020.100006

Shiba K, Aida J, Kondo K, Nakagomi A, Arcaya M, James P, Kawachi I. Mediation of the relationship between home loss and worsened cardiometabolic profiles of older disaster survivors by post-disaster relocation: A natural experiment from the Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami. Health Place. Vol. 66, pp. 102456, November 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2020.102456.

Kim R, Liou L, Xu Y, Kumar R, Leckie G, Kapoor M, Venkataramanan R, Kumar A, Joe W, Subramanian S V. Precision-weighted estimates of neonatal, postneonatal and child mortality for 640 districts in India, National Family Health Survey 2016. J of Glob Health. Vol. 10(2), 020405, December, 2020. http://doi.org/10.7189/jogh.10.020405.

Subramanian S V, Sarwal R, Joe W, Kim R, Geo-visualising Diet, Anthropometric and Clinical Indicators for Children in India: Enabling District Prioritisation for Interventions. Harvard Dataverse. December, 2020. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/ZSH8HR.

Hanage WP, Testa C, Chen JT, David L, Pechter E, Seminario P, Santillana M, Krieger N. COVID-19: US Federal accountability for entry, spread, and inequities – lessons for the future. Eur J Epidemiol. Vol. 35, pp. 995-1006, November 2, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-020-00689-2.

Trudel-Fitzgerald C, Zevon E, Kawachi I, Tucker-Seeley RD, Kubzansky LD. Depression, smoking, and lung cancer risk over 24 years among women. Psychol Med. December 3, 2020. Online ahead of print. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0033291720004390.

Trudel-Fitzgerald C, Zevon E, Kawachi I, Tucker-Seeley RD, Grodstein F, Kubzansky LD. The prospective association of social integration with lifespan and exceptional longevity in women. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. Vol. 75(10), pp. 2132-2141, December, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbz116.

Vázquez-Otero C, Daley EM, Vamos C, Romero-Daza N, Beckstead J, Martinez Tyson D. The Intersection of Problems, Policy, and Politics: the adoption of an HPV vaccine school-entry requirement in Puerto Rico. Qual. Health Res. In press.

Viswanath K, Lee EWJ, Pinnamaneni R. We Need the Lens of Equity in COVID-19 Communication. Health Commun. Vol. 35(14), pp. 1743-1746, December 2020. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2020.1837445.

Book Launch | Critical Epidemiology and The People’s Health by Jaime Breilh and Series (Small Books Big Ideas in Population Health) Edited by Nancy Krieger

Thur, Jan 21, 6-7pm ET, Via Zoom

Recording (Access Code: %e^WJ94F)

Speakers: Ali Anderson, Lyric Zhané, Ashley Gripper,

Center for Population and Development Studies Seminar | COVID-19, Structural Racism, Embodied Histories, and the Two-Edged Sword of Data

Speaker: Dr. Nancy Krieger

Harvard Chan Qualitative Methods Student Club | Engaging with Community Partners in Qualitative Data Collection and Analysis: Lessons Learned from the Impact of ICE on Immigrant Health Study, Everett, MA

Speaker: Jocelyn Chu

2021 Black Health Matters Conference ​| Taking an Intersectional Approach to Systemic Racism

Keynote Speakers: Harriet A. Washington, Dr. David Williams

Center for Population and Development Studies Seminar | The Impact of Alternative Types of Elder Care Providers: Stratified IV Analysis with Machine Learning Using Nursing Home Exits

Speaker: Dr. Yanyue Wang

Speaker: Dr. Michèle Lamont