Press Releases
2006 Releases
Recurrence of a Flu Pandemic Similar to Infamous 1918 Flu Could Kill 62 Million
For immediate release: December 21, 2006 Boston, MA - In recent years, health professionals and the general public alike have been acutely aware of the potential ravages that could result from...
Elkan Blout, former Harvard School of Public Health Academic Dean, National Medal of Science Winner, dies
For immediate release: December 20, 2006 Boston, MA -- Elkan R. Blout, a former dean for academic affairs at Harvard School of Public Health, National Medal of Science winner, and a leading contributor...
Andrew Spielman, Professor of Tropical Public Health and International Mosquito Expert, Dies
For immediate release: December 20, 2006 Boston, MA -- Andrew Spielman, an expert in vector-borne diseases and professor of tropical health in the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases...
High Levels of Vitamin D In the Body May Decrease the Risk of Multiple Sclerosis
For immediate release: December 19, 2006 Boston, MA – The possibility that vitamin D could help protect people from developing multiple sclerosis (MS) has been posited by researchers in...
Genetic Map Offers New Tool for Malaria Research
For immediate release: December 10, 2006 Boston, MA and Cambridge, MA,- An international research team announced today the completion of a genome-wide map that charts the genetic variability of...
Harvard Study Finds Major Energy Gap Contributes to Obesity Among U.S. Teens
For immediate release: December 04, 2006 Boston, MA -- A new study by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) shows that America’s overweight teens consumed an average...
USA Today/Kaiser/Harvard Survey Highlights Problems in the Health Care System Through the Experiences of People With Cancer
For immediate release: November 20, 2006 A major national survey of people affected by cancer provides an in-depth examination of how families cope with cancer and highlights problems of...
Pioneer of Oral Rehydration Therapy Receives Prince Mahidol Award
For immediate release: November 13, 2006 Boston, MA -- Dr. Richard Cash, credited with saving millions of lives by promoting the use of oral rehydration therapy to treat cholera and other...
A 20-Year Study Finds No Association Between Low-Carbohydrate Diets and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease
For immediate release: November 08, 2006 Boston, MA – Advocates of low-carbohydrate diets, such as the popular Atkins diet, claim that those diets may help prevent obesity and coronary...
A Silent Pandemic: Industrial Chemicals Are Impairing the Brain Development of Children Worldwide
For immediate release: November 07, 2006 Boston, MA – Fetal and early childhood exposures to industrial chemicals in the environment can damage the developing brain and can lead to...
Study Finds Pay-for-Performance Now Common Among U.S. HMO
For immediate release: November 01, 2006 Boston, MA – Pay-for-performance plans, which aim to improve the value of health care by paying providers based on quality and cost measures,...
Health Care is Not Playing a Major Role In 2006 Congressional Elections, But Could Be a Factor In Selected Close Races
For immediate release: November 01, 2006 Boston, MA -- A New England Journal of Medicine article published November 2, 2006 finds that health care is not likely to play a major role...
Infectious Disease Experts Anthony Fauci and William Foege Receive Richmond Awards for Their Lifelong Efforts at Protecting Health
For immediate release: October 27, 2006 Boston, MA- Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) has awarded its highest honor, for the promotion of high public health standards among...
In the Case of an Outbreak of Pandemic Flu, Large Majority of Americans Willing to Make Major Changes in Their Lives
For immediate release: October 26, 2006 Boston, MA -- The latest national survey conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) Project on the Public and Biological Security finds...
New Study Shows the Benefits of Eating Fish Greatly Outweigh the Risks
For immediate release: October 17, 2006 Boston, MA – Many studies have shown the nutritional benefits of eating fish (finfish or shellfish). Fish is high in protein and omega-3 fatty...
Statement on R.J. Reynold's Agreement to Stop the Sale of Candy-flavored Cigarettes
For immediate release: October 11, 2006 Boston, MA-- In a settlement with the Attorneys General of 38 states, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company today agreed to end the sale of candy, fruit...
Secondhand Smoke in Cars May Lead to Dangerous Levels of Contaminants For Children
For immediate release: October 05, 2006 Boston, MA – Secondhand tobacco smoke (SHS) can have harmful effects on children. Some of the adverse health outcomes include a greater likelihood...
Gaining Weight Between Pregnancies Could Lead to Pregnancy Complications
For immediate release: September 29, 2006 Boston, MA – A number of studies over the years have found an association between obesity and pregnancy complications, including pre-eclampsia...
Independent Evaluation finds GAVI Funding to Poor Countries can Boost Childhood Vaccine Coverage
For immediate release: September 17, 2006 Boston, MA -- The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) was created in 1999 with the goal of enabling even the poorest countries...
Dramatic Increase in Life Expectancy Possible for HIV-Infected Patients in Poor Countries using Cost-Effective Antiretroviral Therapy
For immediate release: September 14, 2006 Boston, MA --The use of potent antiretroviral medications has transformed the AIDS epidemic where people have access to these drugs. Markedly...
New, Comprehensive Analysis Shows Rofecoxib (VIOXX), But Not Other COX-2 Inhibitor Drugs, Increases Risks of Adverse Kidney and Heart Rhythm Disorders
For immediate release: September 12, 2006 Boston, MA – Although COX-2 inhibitors were developed as a class of pain-relieving drugs without the adverse gastrointestinal effects of...
Harvard to Host International Conference on the Costs and Benefits of HIV/AIDS Interventions in Developing Countries
For immediate release: September 08, 2006 EVENT ADVISORY WHAT: INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE COSTS AND BENEFITS OF HIV/AIDS INTERVENTIONS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES WHEN: Wed.,...
Chemical Compounds Restore Normal Glucose Levels and Insulin Action in Obese Mice
For immediate release: August 24, 2006 Boston, MA – Treatment of obese and diabetic mice with compounds that act as chemical chaperones called PBA and TUDCA restored healthy...
Exposure to PCBs May Reduce the Effectiveness of Vaccines in Children
For immediate release: August 22, 2006 Boston, MA -- New epidemiological evidence suggests that exposure to environmental pollutants may have an adverse impact on immune responses...
Jim Yong Kim, Former HIV Director at WHO, Named Head of FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard School of Public Health
For immediate release: August 10, 2006 Boston, MA-- Dr. Jim Yong Kim, a former director of WHO's HIV/AIDS unit, has been appointed Director of the François-Xavier Bagnoud Center...
Study Finds Firearms Are Stored Less Safely in Homes With Older Children
For immediate release: August 07, 2006 Boston, MA – More than 1.6 million U.S. children live in homes with firearms that are stored loaded and unlocked. Because the guns used in youth...
Poor Countries With Least-Developed Health Systems Best Able to Make Rapid Use of Grants
For immediate release: August 03, 2006 Boston, MA-- The Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria was launched in 2002 to attract and rapidly disburse money to combat these three...
Extreme Heat: Who is Most Likely to Die
For immediate release: August 03, 2006 Boston, MA--Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) have recently co-authored a study that aimed to identify if certain population...
Shortening the Duration of Tuberculosis Therapies Could Lead to Substantial Reductions In Cases and Deaths
For immediate release: July 31, 2006 Boston, MA—New, shorter therapies to treat tuberculosis (TB), which kills millions worldwide each year, may make TB control efforts substantially...
Despite Last Year's Devastating Hurricane Season, One-Third In High-Risk Areas Say They May Ignore Evacuation Order
For immediate release: July 20, 2006 Boston, MA -- According to a new survey of high-risk hurricane areas in eight states--Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina,...
Being Overweight As a Teen Associated With Premature Death in Adulthood
For immediate release: July 17, 2006 Boston, MA – Children and adolescents in the U.S. and around the world are becoming more overweight. A new study from the Harvard School of Public...
Adopting Multiple Healthy Habits May Significantly Lower Risk of Coronary Heart Disease in Men
For immediate release: July 03, 2006 Boston, MA -- A prospective study of 42,847 middle-aged and older U.S. men participating in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study has found that...
Violence From Male Partners Associated With Serious Health Threats to Pregnant Women and Newborns
For immediate release: June 28, 2006 Boston, MA -- In the first national study of the effects of intimate partner violence on the health of women during pregnancy and the health of newborn...
Smoking and Obesity May Increase the Risk of Erectile Dysfunction
For immediate release: June 27, 2006 Boston, MA -- A prospective study by researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) has found that obesity and smoking are strongly associated...
Pesticides Exposure Associated With Parkinson's Disease
For immediate release: June 26, 2006 Boston, MA -- In the first large-scale, prospective study to examine possible links between chronic, low-dose exposure to pesticides and Parkinson’s...
Research Identifies Protein In Mice That Regulates Bone Formation
For immediate release: June 22, 2006 Boston, MA -- Osteoporosis, a disease characterized by a decrease in bone mass and density and which makes people more susceptible to bone fractures...
Children With Special Health Care Needs and Their Families Report Unmet Needs for Mental Health Care Services
For immediate release: June 22, 2006 Boston, MA -- Children with special health care needs (CSHCN) and members of their families are at risk of not getting the mental health care services...
Three Human Gene Variants Appear to Influence TB Susceptibility
For immediate release: June 22, 2006 Boston, MA -- Three variations of a human gene appear to impact human tuberculosis susceptibility, providing insight into why some patients infected...
Nieman Foundation and Harvard School of Public Health Announce 2006-2007 Fellowships in Global Health Reporting
For immediate release: June 01, 2006 Boston, MA -- Three journalists have been awarded Nieman Fellowships in Global Health Reporting for the 2006-2007 academic year. The fellowships, a...
Study Casts Doubt on Claims That the Medical Malpractice System Is Plagued By Frivolous Lawsuits
For immediate release: May 10, 2006 Boston, MA – The debate over medical malpractice litigation, which raged during the last presidential campaign, continues as a hot-button political...
"Virginity Pledges" by Adolescents May Bias Their Reports of Premarital Sex
For immediate release: May 02, 2006 Boston, MA -- Adolescents who sign a "virginity pledge" and then go on to have premarital sex are likely to disavow having signed such a pledge,...
Obesity Levels in U.S. States Are Grossly Underestimated
For immediate release: May 01, 2006 Boston, MA – The prevalence of obesity in the U.S. states has been greatly underestimated. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH)...
Health Services Researcher and HSPH Professor Marie McCormick Receives Douglas K. Richardson Award
For immediate release: April 27, 2006 Boston, MA - Harvard School of Public Health Professor Marie McCormick, M.D., Sc.D., will receive the Douglas K. Richardson Award for Perinatal and...
Autism Has High Costs to U.S. Society
For immediate release: April 25, 2006 Boston, MA – It can cost about $3.2 million to take care of an autistic person over his or her lifetime. Caring for all people with autism over...
Gene Variant Protects Against Type 2 Diabetes, Heart Disease, and Hypertriglyceridemia
For immediate release: April 24, 2006 Boston, MA -- A rare gene variant in humans helps to protect against two of the country's top killers -- type 2 diabetes and heart disease -- as well as against...
Ads for Unhealthy Foods May Explain Link Between Television Viewing and Overweight in Children
For immediate release: April 20, 2006 Boston, MA -- Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and Children's Hospital Boston found that kids who spend more time watching...
Treating Populations Infected with Both HIV and Latent TB Could Speed the Emergence of Drug-Resistant TB
For immediate release: April 17, 2006 Boston, MA -- In 2005, 46 regional Ministers of Health in Africa declared that a dramatic rise in tuberculosis (TB) cases was cause for emergency....
Gene Variant Associated with Obesity Risk Found with New Statistical Technique
For immediate release: April 13, 2006 Boston, MA - A pioneering statistical technique developed at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) has helped identify a common gene variation...
Stronger Evidence Found Linking Epstein-Barr Virus and Risk of Multiple Sclerosis
For immediate release: April 10, 2006 Boston, MA – Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health, Kaiser Permanente, and a team of collaborators have found further evidence...
Study Finds M-Rated Video Games Contain Violence, Sexual Themes, Substances, and Profanity Not Labeled on Game Boxes
For immediate release: April 03, 2006 Boston, MA -- According to a study led by Associate Professor Kimberly Thompson of the Kids Risk Project at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH),...
Irish Pubs Under Smoke-free Law in Ireland Show 91% Lower Indoor Air Pollution Than "Irish Pubs" in Cities Around the World
For immediate release: March 16, 2006 Boston, MA - A survey of air pollution levels in "Irish pubs" around the world has found that indoor air pollution in authentic Irish...
Harvard Six Cities Study Follow Up: Reducing Soot Particles Is Associated with Longer Lives
For immediate release: March 15, 2006 Boston, MA - An eight-year follow up to the landmark Harvard Six Cities Study has found an association between people living longer and cities reducing...
Prenatal Pesticide Exposure May Lead to High Blood Pressure and a Decreased Neurological Ability to Copy Shapes In Childhood
For immediate release: March 06, 2006 Boston, MA - Children in Ecuador whose mothers were exposed to pesticides while pregnant had increased blood pressure and diminished ability to copy...
Globalization: Children and Working Parents Pay Too High a Price
For immediate release: February 27, 2006 Montreal, Quebec -- What do a Baltimore nurse, a Honduran sweatshop worker, and a Vietnamese shoe factory laborer have in common? If they are parents,...
While Concerned, Most Americans Do Not Expect Widespread Human Cases of Avian Flu in U.S. in the Next Year
For immediate release: February 23, 2006 Boston, MA -- The latest national poll conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) Project on the Public and Biological Security finds...
Newly Identified Mechanism Helps Explain Why People of African Descent Are More Vulnerable to TB
For immediate release: February 23, 2006 Boston, MA -- A team of scientists has identified a cellular mechanism that may help explain the puzzle of why people of African descent are more...
Containment Buys Time but Unlikely to Prevent Flu Pandemic Due to Probable Multiple Introductions of Virus
For immediate release: February 20, 2006 Boston, MA -- Containing an emerging bird flu pandemic at its source will probably only delay--not stop--the illness' spread because...
Roxbury Community Coalition and Harvard School of Public Health Receive Funding to Encourage Participation of Minority Groups in Cancer Clinical Trials
For immediate release: February 13, 2006 Boston, MA Cherishing Our Hearts and Souls (COHS), a Roxbury-based community-centered coalition affiliated with the Harvard School of Public Health...
Survey Finds Association Between Presence of Gun in Vehicle and Aggressive Driver Behavior
For immediate release: February 07, 2006 Boston, MA -- Riding in a vehicle with a firearm is one of a number of markers for aggressive and dangerous driver behavior, according to the results...
$5 Million Pritzker Gift to Fund Potential Solutions For Childhood Obesity Including Testing of Exercise and Nutrition Programs at YMCAs Nationwide
For immediate release: February 02, 2006 Boston, MA -- To address the national and global epidemic of childhood obesity, Harvard College alumna Penny Pritzker '81 and her husband, Bryan...
Monitoring System Needed to Prevent Safety Hazard of Problem Physicians
For immediate release: January 16, 2006 Boston, MA -- Asserting that "physician performance failures are not rare and pose substantial threats to patient welfare and safety,"...