May 30, 2011 Liz Borkowski, MPH

This Memorial Day, I haven’t just been thinking of those who died in combat, but also of those who’ve died because of combat. This morning’s NPR story about 23-year-old Ivan Lopez, who struggled with PTSD after returning home and then became the 14th Pennsylvania Guardsman since 2003 to die by his own hand, is just […]

May 24, 2011 Liz Borkowski, MPH 1Comment

I’ve written before about “Ten Great Public Health Achievements of the 20th Century,” which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published in 1999. Now, CDC has put together a list of ten great public health achievements from 2001 to 2010, based on nominations from the agency’s public health scientists. Here are the ten achievements […]

May 23, 2011 Liz Borkowski, MPH 3Comment

The saying “demography is destiny” reportedly dates back to 19th-century social scientist Auguste Comte, and it’s still popular among journalists. Earlier this year, for instance, Alan Wheatley of Reuters warned about the challenges Asian countries (especially Japan) will face as over-60 residents make up ever-larger shares of their populations. His article also touches on the […]

May 20, 2011 Liz Borkowski, MPH

Several news outlets have reported on the findings of the Governor’s Independent Investigation Panel into the Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster, which killed 29 miners in West Virginia last year. (The report is here; my post on it is here.) Two of the most in-depth articles come from Ken Ward Jr. of the Charleston Gazette […]

May 19, 2011 Liz Borkowski, MPH 8Comment

On April 5, 2010, an explosion occurred at Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch Mine in Raleigh County, West Virginia. The blast rocketed through 2.5 miles of underground chambers and tunnels nearly 1,000 feet beneath the mountains, and it killed 29 miners and severely injured another. The youngest victim was Cory Thomas Davis, age 20, who […]

May 17, 2011 Liz Borkowski, MPH

A few of the recent pieces I’ve liked: Charles Ornstein at ProPublica: Cardiac Society Draws Bulk of Funding from Stent Makers Deborah Blum at Speakeasy Science: A Chemical (Battle) Cry Tara C. Smith at Aetiology: Ebola in Uganda: current and past outbreaks Tim Lougheed in Environmental Health Perspectives: Phosphorus Paradox: Scarcity and Overabundance of a […]

May 12, 2011 Liz Borkowski, MPH 2Comment

For many years, the public health and environmental communities have been calling for reform of the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which governs the use of chemicals in US commerce. Instead of requiring companies to demonstrate the safety of chemicals they intend to use or produce, TSCA puts the burden on EPA to request […]

May 11, 2011 Liz Borkowski, MPH

Good data isn’t just important to researchers; it’s also essential for people who want to participate in the governmental processes that affect our environment. The US government makes a lot of environmental data available to the public and provides many opportunities for public participation, but both the information and the engagement opportunities need to improve […]

May 11, 2011 Liz Borkowski, MPH 1Comment

The American Society of Magazine Editors has announced its 2010 award winners, and I found it striking that three of the winning pieces address the issue of cancer. Over the past couple of years, we’ve heard more cautions about the downsides of aggressive screening for breast and prostate cancers – and then we occasionally also […]