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In the field of public health alone, climate change will in some way impact every area of this broad, diverse discipline. How will human health adapt to a rapidly changing world and to rapidly evolving disease burdens as climate change threatens natural environments and already vulnerable populations?
You don't have to know an organism to track its effects. This fundamental insight into the relationship between humans and pathogens helps public health professionals act even when they have only imperfect information. Just as importantly, says Betsy Foxman, is the will to act—for the benefit of everyone in the community—when good science tells us the time is now.
After studying genetics and cardiac physiology, Leon Espira worked in med tech and began noticing gaps between theoretical and practical understandings of human health. In studying epidemiology, which tries to account for every experience a human might have, Espira is seeing new bridges we might build between data and daily life.
We asked a family of public health researchers about big-picture changes in the field, how they decide which questions to pursue, and what they make of specialization in the sciences. Their conversation both lifts up and itself embodies the interdisciplinary nature of public health.
Advances in genetic science provide us more and more information about our health. Biobanks are increasing the organization of that data so we can ask and answer crucial health questions more rapidly, from diseases we might have to how we might respond to certain drug treatments.
About six of every 100 Americans is affected by seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a recurrent form of major depression, characterized by feelings of hopelessness and despair, fatigue, problems sleeping and concentrating, and changes in appetite. Here’s what you need to know about SAD this winter.