Harvard Public Health: Spring/Summer 2011
In this issue
AIDS at 30: Hard lessons and hope
Thirty years after the first official reports about HIV/AIDS, we look back on the human devastation and forward to a changed social landscape. The infection has killed more people so far than has any other discrete epidemic, except for the Great Influenza pandemic of 1918–1919 and the Black Death of the Middle Ages. It has destroyed individuals, families, and societies. Yet HIV/AIDS has also raised public health to new levels of science, conscience, and innovation. Review editor Madeline Drexler asked distinguished Harvard School of Public Health faculty and alumni at the forefront of research where the epidemic has taken us and where it is headed.
Also in this issue
Dean’s message: HIV/AIDS at 30: Turning the corner
HSPH researchers have made fundamental discoveries about HIV/AIDS and translated knowledge into action.
Frontlines
Quick updates about public health news from the Spring/Summer 2011 issue of Harvard Public Health.
Can neighborhoods hurt our health?
Doctoral student Caitlin Eicher wants to understand how people’s perceptions of their local surroundings shape their health behaviors.
Health care with dignity
Alum Robert Taube helps homeless people build healthier lives—and self-esteem.
A cure for health professional education
The training of doctors and other health care professionals must change dramatically to meet 21st-century medical and public health needs.
Waging peace, saving lives
Renowned physician and Harvard School of Public Health Professor Emeritus Bernard Lown explains how defeating militarism could solve global health problems.
Why public health?
In this video series, Harvard School of Public Health students talk about why they chose to enter the field.
Global health aid during financial crises
If rich countries substantially cut their aid budgets in response to the recession, it would signal a new and potentially worrisome trend.
Coffee: The good news
Recent scientific studies suggest moderate coffee consumption may help reduce some disease risks.