1-2-3: Counting the missteps of the U.S. Federal Government’s handling of COVID-19

Brick wall with graffiti

A new Harvard Pop Center Working Paper assesses the impact of the U.S. Federal Government’s “missteps” regarding the entry, spread and inequities associated with COVID-19. Authors include: William P. Hanage, Christian Testa, Jarvis T. Chen, L. Davis, Elise Pechter, Mauricio  Santillana, and Nancy Krieger. Photo credit: Nancy Krieger

Behavioral scientists call for “common-sense” federal policy to help curb diet-related diseases

Head shot of Anna Grummon

In this JAMA Viewpoint, Harvard Bell Fellow Anna Grummon, PhD, along with her colleague Marissa G. Hall, PhD, make a strong case for the implementation of a federal policy mandating that products containing high levels of unhealthy nutrients (e.g. sugar, salt, saturated fat) be labeled with a simple, prominent nutrient warning. Follow the media coverage: Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health News Post

Transgender young women with supportive mothers less likely to have suicidal thoughts

Head shots of Adedotun Ogunbajo and Sari Reisner

The findings of a paper published in LGBT Health by Harvard Pop Center postdoctoral fellow Adedotun Ogunbajo, PhD, and faculty affiliate Sari Reisner, ScD, and their colleagues suggest that interventions targeting the parents of transgender young women could be an effective way to reduce the chances of this population experiencing suicidal ideation.

Dr. Kenneth Mayer named as History Maker

Head shot of Dr. Kenneth Mayer

Harvard Pop Center faculty affiliate Kenneth Mayer, MD, is the recipient of the The History Project’s 2020 HistoryMaker Award. Since 2009, the awards have gone to “those whose lifetime achievements have had a significant and positive effect on Boston and Massachusetts’ LGBTQ communities.” Dr. Mayer will be “celebrated” online on October 15th at 7pm. 

Pregnant women exposed to increased threat of eviction within their county at greater risk of premature birth, lower birth weight

Eviction notice taped to a door

Harvard Pop Center graduate student affiliate Aayush Khadka, MS, faculty member Margaret McConnell, PhD, and colleagues Günther Fink, PhD, and Ashley Gromis, PhD, have published a paper that advances the growing body of evidence linking threatened evictions with poor health outcomes. Photo: David Jackmanson on Flickr

Geo-mapping risk of COVID-19 in India

Map of India with PC districts in background with headline Geo-mapping of COVID-19 Risk Correlates Across Districts and Parliamentary Constituencies

A paper published in a special edition of the Harvard Data Science Review utilizes geo-mapping to identify high-risk areas for the spread of COVID-19 across the Districts and Parliamentary Constituencies of India. The researchers focus on four risk correlates including: population density percentage of population that is exposed to crowding in a household, percentage of population without access to handwashing facilities percentage of population over 65 years of age These…

Quantifying mental health impacts of Covid-19 lockdowns among senior population in Turkey

Head shot of Onur Altindag

Visiting scientist (and former Harvard Bell Fellow) Onur Altindag, PhD, is an author on a new working paper that sets out to quantify the mental health effects experienced by those aged 65 years and older during a period of strict curfew imposed by the Turkish government in response to Covid-19.  

STILL MISSING: US racial/ethnic data for COVID-19 cases

COVID-19 virus with question marks layered on top of it

A Harvard Pop Center working paper finds that despite a federal policy that went into effect in early June requiring that racial/ethnic data be reported for all COVID-19 cases, it is still not being adequately reported. Based on publicly available data at the CDC website, close to half of the cases reported between August 28, 2020 and September 16, 2020 are still missing this key information. “These findings suggest that…

Assessing the scale for assessing depression in rural South Africa

Two South African women wearing colorful clothes

Researchers from the Harvard Pop Center in Cambridge, MA and the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa who are affiliated with the HAALSI study have published a paper in the Journal of Affective Disorders that finds that the reliability of the commonly used scale to assess depression (Center for Epidemiologic Depression Scale (CES-D)) differed by gender. Authors of the study include: Leslie B. Adams, Meagan Farrell, Sumaya Mall,…