School Notes: School of Public Health
March/April 2017

New dean begins tenure at YSPH

Sten Vermund began his deanship at the Yale School of Public Health on February 1. Vermund, formerly a professor of pediatrics, medicine, health policy, and obstetrics and gynecology at Vanderbilt University, has identified making YSPH more diverse and inclusive, and multidisciplinary engagement and collaboration, among his priorities. He also wants to focus on nurturing alumni relations and increasing financial support for students.  “I am humbled and honored to join the university, YSPH, and New Haven communities at this time of great challenges to health, diversity, and social justice,” he said.

Movie highlights the cost of alcohol abuse

In an effort to shine a light on alcohol abuse, the Yale School of Public Health screened HBO’s soon-to-be-released documentary, Risky Drinking, followed by a panel discussion in November. “This is an established problem, and it is not getting any better, ” said Vasilis Vasiliou, chair of the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, who specializes in the health effects of alcohol and drug use. The film follows the lives of four people who are struggling with alcohol abuse. The purpose was to show how alcohol affects every aspect of behavior and well-being. Vasiliou said opioid and heroin addiction may be the hot topic these days, but alcohol is and will continue to be a serious and costly health problem.

Zika causes glaucoma in infants

The Zika virus causes glaucoma in infants exposed to the virus during gestation, researchers at the Yale School of Public Health have learned. “We identified the first case where the Zika virus caused glaucoma after birth,” said Albert I. Ko, professor at the Yale School of Public Health and coauthor of the study. While conducting their investigations of the microcephaly epidemic in Salvador, Brazil, the researchers identified a boy who was exposed to the Zika virus during gestation. While healthy at birth, the infant soon developed swelling, pain, and tearing in the right eye. The researchers diagnosed glaucoma. Since the Zika outbreak began in 2015, it has reached the United States, with more than 4,000 travel-related cases reported.