School Notes: School of Public Health
September/October 2011

Dean Reappointed for Second Term

Paul D. Cleary has been appointed to a second term as dean of the School of Public Health, effective July 1. In his announcement, President Richard C. Levin ’74PhD praised the school’s “steadily upward trend” during the dean’s first term. He noted that Dean Cleary has made impressive progress in developing and expanding the school’s public health service and practice activities, and that a sustainable model for community service activities has been created through the new Office of Community Health, which focuses on regional programs aimed at improving the health of New Haven area residents. In addition, the school has established the Community Alliance for Research and Engagement (CARE), a transdisciplinary “bench to bedside to community” collaboration with the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation and the City of New Haven’s municipal offices, school system, and community organizations.

Bioethics Program Created in China

The School of Public Health will lead a five-year effort at Central South University, Xiangya School of Medicine in Changsha, to train Chinese scientists and health-care professionals in the ethical challenges of health-related research. The Yale-China partnership will allow for the development of graduate-level curricula in international research ethics and the development of a cohort of Chinese scholars who can teach bioethics to future students. The program was launched with a $1.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, Fogarty International Center. “The goal is for Central South University and its affiliated health professional schools to become a center for excellence for bioethics,” said Kaveh Khoshnood ’89MPH, ’95PhD, an assistant professor at YSPH and the project’s principal investigator.

Retired Blue-Collar Workers Have Higher BMI

Laborers and other workers in traditionally blue-collar jobs have a “significantly” higher body mass index after retirement than their peers who worked in management and other executive positions, a study by the School of Public Health has found. Researchers led by Ralitza Gueorguieva, a research scientist in biostatistics, compared body mass index (BMI) patterns for workers in four broad occupational groups: professional, sales and clerical, the service industry, and laborers. They found that retired white-collar workers have no significant change in their BMI after retirement, while the BMI of their blue-collar peers increased significantly post retirement. The findings, says Gueorguieva, may help medical professionals inform individuals about the risks of weight gain in retirement. The study appeared in the International Journal of Public Health.