Applying the lessons from the field of genetics to social determinants of health with a polysocial risk score

Ashish Jha headshot

Faculty member Ashish K. Jha, MD, and colleagues suggest in this JAMA Viewpoint that given the complexity of trying to parse the impact of social factors on health, perhaps developing and deploying a risk score model similar to the polygenic model could advance the field of social determinants of health.

Study finds Medicaid expansion (aka Obamacare) linked to lower out-of-pocket spending, reduced chance of catastrophic financial burden among recipients

Ashish Jha headshot

Faculty member Ashish K. Jha, MD, MPH, is an author on a study that examines the association between the expansion of Medicaid (under the Affordable Care Act) and changes in healthcare spending among recipients from 2014– 2017. Other authors on the paper include: Hiroshi Gotanda, Gerald F. Kominski, and Yusuke Tsugawa. Learn more in this UCLA Research Brief.

Tracking search terms of Google users found better at identifying source of foodborne illnesses / unsafe restaurants than complaints & routine inspections

A study published in npj Digital Medicine by faculty member Ashish K. Jha, MD, and colleagues (including Google researchers) has found that a machine-learned model can help identify a food safety breach at a restaurant or health department more quickly, before it poses a bigger public health risk. Learn more in this EurekAlert.