HHI collaborates on George Clooney-funded project to monitor Sudan

The Harvard Humanitarian Initiative is collaborating on a new human rights project initiated by George Clooney to monitor tension in Sudan surrounding the country's January 9 referendum on independence for oil-rich southern Sudan. In response to fears that the event may spark civil war and humanitarian disaster, the Satellite Sentinel Project uses satellite imagery and crowd-sourced mapping to capture evidence of violence and possible threats to civilians in near real-time. Read more

Photo: Tim Freccia/Enough Project

From the Harvard Public Health Review: Happiness and health

Do happier people live longer--and, if so, why? This is the kind of question that researchers are asking as they explore a new and sometimes controversial avenue of public health: documenting and understanding the link between positive emotions and good health. Read more

Gawande Talks Health Reform with NPR, Colbert Report

Atul Gawande, associate professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at HSPH, spoke with Tom Ashbrook of NPR's On Point about health care and health reform on Jan. 4. He also appeared on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report Jan. 5 to discuss his book, The Checklist Manifesto, which has just been released in paperback.
Read more and get links to the programs

Alumni news: Propping up Afghanistan's health system

Suraya Dalil, MPH '05, acting minister of public health in Afghanistan, was quoted in an article about the country's community health workers (CHWs), unpaid volunteers who play a vital role in public health initiatives such as immunization campaigns. Dalil, who attended medical school in Afghanistan in the late 1980s, returned after graduating from HSPH to help rebuild the country's war-torn health system.
Read the IRIN News article.
Read the Harvard Public Health Review profile of Dalil (June 2005)

Around the School

HSPH researchers seek to understand Africa's chronic diseases
A group of HSPH researchers are enrolling 500,000 people from four African countries for a long-running study focusing on identifying trends in chronic ailments, such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Read more

Faculty book

Stefanos Kales has co-authored the book Heavy Metals: A Rapid Clinical Guide to Neurotoxicity and Other Common Concerns (Nova Science Publishers, 2010) Learn more

Have a book to announce? Contact Amy Roeder.

Researchers: Are you using mobile technology?
If you are using mobile technology for your research, or are interested in doing so, you are invited to join a School-wide group forming to share ideas and identify potential sources of funding. Contact Sam Harp to learn more.

Lown Scholars Program and Visiting Professorship launched

A professorship and scholarship program to honor HSPH Professor Emeritus Bernard Lown's career was launched on November 5 with a Dean's Distinguished Lecture by the first Bernard Lown Visiting Professor of Cardiovascular Health Srinath Reddy. The program is dedicated to promoting teaching, research, and training with an emphasis on the global prevention of cardiovascular disease. Lown pioneered research on sudden cardiac death and developed the direct current defibrillator. He also co-founded International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985.

Read a Brookline Tab article about the event.

Did you know?
 

HUCTW additional personal day (floating holiday)

Per the HUCTW contract effective July 1, 2010, all HUCTW staff were awarded an additional personal day to be used by June 30, 2011.

For more information: 
HUCTW Staff
Managers of HUCTW Staff

Contact Crystal Stone at 2-7241 or Trina Weekes at 2-4368 with questions.

Child Care Summit: Future Directions

presented by The Joint Committee on the Status of Women at Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Dental Medicine 

January 25, 2011

12:00-5:00 PM
The Joseph B. Martin Conference Center
77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston, MA

The Committee aims to heighten awareness of childcare needs in the work environment and to promote thoughtful discussion by identifying both critical needs and possible solutions. The Committee hopes this summit will provide an impetus for developing a set of workable recommendations for the future. Register

Save the Date: Celebration with the Stars

This annual event honors HSPH staff, faculty and academic appointees who have reached a benefits-eligible milestone in 2010 (January 1 - December 30).

Thursday, February 10, 2011

2:30-4:00 PM

Kresge Cafeteria