Colorado School of Public Health News and Stories

Among health experts, the jury is still out on THC, CBD and the use of marijuana in general, as those in medical and research fields weigh the benefits and risks. "This is the big challenge with cannabis: How do we facilitate the beneficial medical applications, allow for what society has determined is acceptable recreational use and also guard against the very real harms?" Gregory Tung, Ph.D., an associate professor at the Colorado School of Public Health, tells USA TODAY. "This is difficult and will likely require a mix of policy, rules, regulations and education."

Colorado Public Radio | July 15, 2024

Patti Valverde’s education and work credentials might lead one to believe a career in public health was inevitable. Not so. 
Yes, Valverde has spent nearly three decades in the field. She earned a Master of Public Health in Maternal and Child Health from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill in 1996. She went on to become a leading figure in training community health workers and patient navigators and a powerful advocate for improving health outcomes in vulnerable communities. She also completed a PhD in Health Services Research from Colorado School of Public Health in 2014.

Tyler Smith | June 17, 2024

A 59-year-old man in Mexico who contracted a type of bird flu known as A(H5N2) died in April, the World Health Organization said June 5Trusted Source. This is the first laboratory-confirmed human case of infection with an A(H5N2) virus worldwide, and the first avian H5 virus reported in a person in Mexico, the WHO said. “These viruses, such as H5N1 and now H5N2, primarily circulate among birds, with occasional spillover into mammals, including humans, under the right circumstances,” said Daniel Pastula, MD, MHS, chief of neuro-infectious diseases and global neurology at the University of Colorado and Colorado School of Public Health.

Healthline | June 07, 2024

Susan Niermeyer, MD, MPH, a graduate of the Colorado School of Public Health (ColoradoSPH), senior scientist in the school’s Center for Global Health, and Professor Emerita of Pediatrics was honored this week with the 2024 Florence Rena Sabin, MD Award. Presented by the leadership of the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (CU Anschutz), Dr. Niermeyer became the first ColoradoSPH graduate to receive this distinguished honor.

Colorado School of Public Health | May 20, 2024

The Colorado School of Public Health (ColoradoSPH) is pleased to announce the establishment of the Stephen Berman, MD Endowed Chair in Global Health. Philanthropic gifts totaling more than $2 million generously provided by The Jack and Sarita Gantz Foundation, and scores of esteemed community leaders, family, and friends, have been directed to ColoradoSPH to establish the first endowed chair at the Center for Global Health.

Colorado School of Public Health | May 08, 2024

When Madiha Abdel-Maksoud, MD, PhD, MSPH, a physician and researcher, saw the latest data about high school students in Colorado and risky behavior, she knew she had to do something, not only as a public health professional but as a mother of a daughter who graduated from the Denver Public School (DPS) system.

Colorado School of Public Health | February 22, 2024

Dr. William Mundo didn’t know it at the time, but his career in public health and medicine sprang from the seeds planted in an unlikely setting: a snowy pre-dawn morning in a trailer on the outskirts of Leadville, Colorado.

Tyler Smith | February 15, 2024

Under the best of circumstances, mosquitoes are no better than annoying pests. But many also carry viruses that cause widespread disease and death in large expanses of the world. A new study with contributions from the Colorado School of Public Health describes a novel path to early diagnosis of dengue, the most common mosquito-borne viral illness, in areas of the world where lab tests to confirm the disease are not available.

Tyler Smith | March 14, 2023

Our deepest condolences to the family, friends, patients and colleagues of Dr. Stephen Berman, who passed away on January 17. Steve was a true champion for children, and this loss will be felt deeply by all who knew him. Services were held Sunday, January 22, at the Hebrew Educational Alliance, in Denver.

Colorado School of Public Health | January 20, 2023

In the wake of the peak of the Omicron variant, Stephen Berman, director of the Center for Global Health, discusses how Colorado should prepare for the emergence of new strains of SARS-CoV-2. Berman suggests strengthening our surveillance systems and public-health capacity as methods to prepare for future, more dangerous variants.

The Colorado Sun | March 27, 2022

A recent research article authored by Stephen Berman, Center for Global Health director, highlights a case study that demonstrates how a life course approach to maternal, neonatal, child, and adolescent programs was implemented effectively in a rural Central American community.

Columbus Publishers | January 01, 2022

The concept of global health addresses health care issues and concerns that transcend national boundaries and are best addressed by cooperative actions and solutions. The understanding of this concept  has never been as important in human history as today with the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Stephen Berman | June 11, 2021

Hopes are soaring that children under age 12 soon will be able to get vaccines to prevent COVID-19.

UCHealth | June 07, 2021

One of the most common causes of pediatric emergency department and urgent care visits is acute respiratory infections. Around 55-57% children presenting in these settings are prescribed antibiotics, despite these infections having primarily viral causes. The overuse of antibiotics can have negative consequences such as antibiotic resistance, increased healthcare costs, and adverse drug events. Respiratory pathogen identification could lead to improved evaluation and management of acute respiratory infection in children; it could also lead to decreases in the overuse of antibiotics. New advances in rapid respiratory virus testing provide an opportunity for the identification of pathogens in short timeframes in the emergency department and urgent care setting. A new randomized trial examined whether rapid knowledge of the pathogen impacted the prescribing patterns of physicians in these settings. 

Colorado School of Public Health | June 04, 2021

Agua, suero, descanso y sombra. These words hang on the wall of the sugarcane company clinic in Santa Lucia Cotzumalguapa, Guatemala. The sign translates to water, electrolytes, rest, and shade. Lyndsay Krisher, however, is not in the clinic. She is out in the field coordinating a team before they begin their field research with sugarcane workers. The team, based at the Center for Health, Work & Environment at the Colorado School of Public Health (ColoradoSPH), is seeking to better understand Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Origin (CKDu), an epidemic that is affecting agricultural workers throughout Latin America.

Laura Veith | March 09, 2021

In May 2019, Brittney Sly, a doctoral student in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at Colorado State University, embarked on her second research trip to Burera, a district in the northern part of Rwanda.

Sylvia Bao | August 27, 2019

While going through medical records at a tea plantation in the Darjeeling district of India, Dr. Michael Matergia and his wife, Denna, discovered the names of children who should have been in Denna’s primary school class, but weren’t. Upon looking in on the children and their families, the couple found the children had died from issues related to diarrhea and fever before the age of five.  

Tori Espensen-Sturges | July 31, 2019

Influenza pandemics have shaped history. In 1918, the Spanish flu pandemic infected approximately 500 million people worldwide and claimed the lives of 50 million. The first cases were recorded at the U.S. Army’s Camp Funston, Kansas. It quickly swept through the barracks and the, aided by the transportation of soldiers, spread to the fronts of World War I. The death toll from the pandemic surpassed all the military deaths in the two world wars. New research suggests that Spanish flu virus originated from birds. Influenza virus infecting birds rapidly mutated, leaping to humans. Wild, aquatic birds are natural hosts to influenza viruses and they usually show no symptoms of illness. These avian flu viruses do not normally infect humans, except when a mutation occurs. If a mutation enables the influenza virus to infect humans the results can be deadly. 

Noel Leifer, Rowena Crow, and Nicole Laurita | April 30, 2019

On a typical scorching hot day in the rural Trifinio region of Guatemala, you might find Saskia Bunge-Montes, MD, MPH, checking a child for malnutrition or monitoring a pregnant woman. Or she might be traveling dusty dirt roads in a motorized three-wheel tuk tuk to meet members of the community. Or she could be skyping with her colleagues at the Colorado School of Public Health at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.  

For Bunge-Montes, a 2016 graduate of ColoradoSPH, the best part of a typical day is that it’s not typical at all.  

“I can’t describe a typical day because no two days are the same,” she says. 

Kathleen Bohland | February 01, 2019

I live in Guatemala, where almost 50% of all children under five suffer from malnutrition, and poverty, but I was fortunate to attend a private school in the capital city. Even at my school they only taught us four classes on sexual health from grades 6-8 and the rest was left to our parents and imagination. These lessons were not only short, but they lacked depth and were imparted by conservative volunteers that distanced themselves from the reality of modern teen messages and sexuality. Their teachings scared students away from sex, and did little to foster healthy relationships, values or skills. 

Javier Balsells | October 11, 2017

Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and the Baylor College of Medicine will join with Guatemalan investigators in a major study examining the clinical outcomes of children infected with the Zika virus after being born, focusing on long-term brain development. 

Colorado School of Public Health | June 20, 2017

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that between 1990 and 2003, mortality of children under five years old fell from 12.7 million to 6.3 million. During the same time, the proportion of deaths that occurred in the neonatal period (the first 28 days) actually increased from 37 percent to about 44 percent. Global recognition of this gap has motivated many in the field of neonatal care to scale up effective and affordable interventions to address the primary causes of neonatal mortality: asphyxia, low birth weight, and infection. Among those leading the effort to improve newborn survival worldwide is Susan Niermeyer, MD, MPH, FAAP, professor of Pediatrics, Section of Neonatology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and professor of Epidemiology at the Colorado School of Public Health, both located on the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. 

Molly T. Moss | April 03, 2017

The Center for Health, Work & Environment and the Center for Global Health at the Colorado School of Public Health announced a new partnership with Pantaleon, one of the largest sugar producers in Central America, to further understand the health risks of sugar cane workers and improve prevention efforts.   

Colorado School of Public Health | November 17, 2016

The Colorado School of Public Health's Center for Global Health announced today the rollout of a revised Pediatrics in Disasters (PEDs) training program, which trains healthcare and humanitarian workers to prioritize life-saving care for children in disasters. 

Colorado School of Public Health | November 14, 2016

The maternal and child health program within the Colorado School of Public Health’s Center for Global Health has been re-designated by the World Health Organization as a WHO Collaborating Center for Promoting Family and Child Health. The program, which is a partnership between Children’s Hospital Colorado (Children’s Colorado) and the Colorado School of Public Health (ColoradoSPH), is the only maternal and child health collaborating center in North America.

Colorado School of Public Health | July 10, 2016