School of public health

School Notes: School of Public Health
January/February 2019

Megan L. Ranney | https://ysph.yale.edu/

Professor awarded “genius grant”

Interdisciplinary scholar and HIV/AIDS activist Gregg Gonsalves ’17PhD, assistant professor at the Yale School of Public Health, received the prestigious 2018 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, commonly known as a “genius grant.” He was one of only 25 recipients across the United States. The prize recognizes future potential and comes with a $625,000, no-strings-attached prize. Gonsalves’s current projects include studying whether having more public toilets in South Africa could result in fewer sexual assaults against women and figuring out how to increase the detection of previously unknown individuals infected with HIV.

Students help those struggling with homelessness

Volunteers from the Yale School of Public Health, Yale College, and the greater New Haven community gathered at St. Paul and St. James Episcopal Church in the city’s Wooster Square neighborhood November 9 to wash the feet of over 70 individuals as part of Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. The event was sponsored by the New Haven PAWS (Poverty Alleviation through Washing Soles) Project, which was founded in 2017 by Ashton Gores ’18MPH to promote foot health as a basic human right. During the event, data was also collected to better understand the experience of the homeless community and to develop strategies for foot health management. Some clients said that they walk anywhere from six to 15 miles a day and that their feet are a constant health issue.

Ageism comes with $63 billion price tag

Ageism—a widespread form of prejudice that is directed at older persons—led to excess costs of $63 billion for a broad range of health conditions during one year in the United States, a new YSPH study has found. Ageism also was responsible for 17.04 million cases of the eight most expensive health conditions in one year among those 60 and older, according to the study. Those conditions include cardiovascular disease, mental disorders, and chronic respiratory disease.   

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