water faucet

WET Trial explores rates of illness from drinking untreated private well water

Nationwide, approximately 48 million people use private wells, including nearly 3 million in Pennsylvania. The water quality from these largely untreated wells is not federally regulated, and there have been few studies on both the extent and the source of microbial contamination in private wells.  In a new randomized controlled trial, Heather Murphy, assistant professor of epidemiology and biostatistics, will research the effects of drinking untreated well water on children ages three or under—effects that include gastrointestinal and respiratory symptoms from norovirus, Gi...
Water
Environment
Community
Epidemiology and Biostatistics
app icons on phone

NCI-funded study looks at impact of mobile devices on collecting treatment data

Are there better ways to evaluate how prescribed therapies are working while patients are living their everyday lives, when doctors aren’t there to check? New answers may come from the digital devices we carry and wear, says Donna Coffman, a biostatistician in the College of Public Health. Coffman is leading a National Cancer Institute-funded study of smoking cessation treatments as a way to develop models that could help researchers improve patient responses to all sorts of ongoing therapies, from managing addictive behaviors to compliance with medication-taking.  “We n...
Smoking cessation
Data
Epidemiology and Biostatistics
a glass of water

College to study local PFAS contamination, cancer data

Temple University’s College of Public Health will examine possible associations between PFAS-contaminated drinking water and cancer as part of a federally funded multisite health study to understand the health effects of exposure to PFAS chemicals in drinking water. Temple’s study of PFAS and cancer expands upon its participation in a broader study that is in collaboration with the Pennsylvania Department of Health and RTI International and focused in Bucks and Montgomery counties. This work is part of a national effort newly announced by the Centers for Disease Control an...
Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Water
Rural town

Social relationships could be key to overdose prevention in rural areas

As the opioid epidemic has widened, some of the most heavily impacted areas have been in rural Appalachia, a region of the country stretching from parts of New York to northern Alabama and Georgia. Opioid use in this region has grown disproportionately, driven in part by the higher prevalence of people using prescription opioids non-medically, the transition from prescription opioids to heroin, and the more recent increased availability of Fentanyl. This has presented a potentially overwhelming public health challenge in rural areas, where facilities offering treatment for subst...
Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Opioids
breastfeeding

On the news: Complications from a rising premature birth rate

Premature birth, when a mother gives birth before the 37th week of pregnancy, is a leading cause of infant mortality and can have significant, long-term health consequences for the newborn infant. Between the years 2007 and 2014, the rate of premature or “preterm” birth in the United States steadily declined. However, according to recent statistics, the United States’ premature birth rate increased to 9.93 percent of all births in 2017, marking the third year in a row the national premature birth rate has risen. According to research from the Centers for Disease Control...
Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
Maternal health
water sample

Resa Jones, alumna receive Water Foundation grant to study contamination in local communities

Resa M. Jones, chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, was awarded a grant from the California-based Water Foundation to study the effects of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) water contamination in partnership with the Buxmont Coalition for Safer Water. The coalition’s vision is for residents of Buck and Montgomery Counties to have clean and safe drinking water and for residents affected by local water contamination to have access to preventive health care, including blood testing and biomonitoring. The coalition is a grassroots community organi...
Epidemiology and Biostatistics
people standing

Cancer Health Literacy Test also effective for individuals without cancer, study finds

In an initial meeting with a patient, it can be difficult for oncologists to discern how much the patient knows about their cancer. And the same is true of that patient’s family, who may be present at the appointment. Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics Levent Dumenci and his co-investigators created a cancer health literacy test to help oncologists and other healthcare providers understand their patients’ level of cancer health literacy. Now, after conducting further research, Dumenci and his colleagues have found that the same test can be used to successfully ga...
Epidemiology and Biostatistics
scales, sick man and syringe

On the News: The importance—and challenge—of flu vaccination

Last winter saw one of the most severe flu seasons in recent memory. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 1 million were hospitalized due to influenza-related symptoms and an estimated 80,000 people died — making the 2017–2018 season the deadliest in over a decade. CDC reports found that only 37 percent of Americans got vaccinated in 2017, a six percent drop from the previous year. With peak flu season approaching, two faculty members from the College of Public Health share insights from their research experience and weigh in on the import...
Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Social and Behavioral Sciences
dna

ACS awards $1.4 million for project seeking to help patients make better decisions about tumor genetic testing

After receiving a cancer diagnosis, navigating the pathways of existing treatments can be complicated. But recently developed genetic tests for tumors have added a new layer of complexity to the cancer recovery process. Tumor genetic testing, also known as tumor genomic profiling or TGP, can help doctors find a targeted approach to treating cancerous tumors, but the testing also reveals a wealth of information about an individual’s genetic code, including what other cancers he or she is susceptible to. Some may see this additional information as a boon, but others may find it...
Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Social and Behavioral Sciences
no smoking

Study suggests that pediatrician counseling, phone intervention reduce tobacco exposure in children

According to the CDC, nearly 14 percent of adults smoke nationwide; while this number continues to drop, smoking rates in low-income and minority groups are often more than 25 percent. In those situations, more than 50 percent of children are exposed to secondhand smoke. That exposure can lead to acute problems, including ear and respiratory infections, and chronic problems, such as asthma. After a five-year, National-Institutes of Health-funded study, primary investigators Stephen Lepore, director of the Social and Behavioral Health Interventions Laboratory and professor an...
Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Social and Behavioral Sciences