The Board of Regents recently approved a request by the Georgia State University Institute of Public Health to offer a doctor of philosophy in public health degree. The new degree program will help meet the demand for public health researchers in Georgia and heighten the school’s focus on the health of underserved urban communities.
The first Ph.D. class will begin the 62-credit hour degree program this fall. As the only public university public health doctoral program in metro Atlanta, Georgia State expects to prepare its graduates for research careers. The new doctoral students will have the opportunity to help with research projects funded by a $6.7 million federal research grant developed to reduce health disparities in urban populations.
The institute also offers a master’s degree in public health (MPH), which was established in 2004. The MPH program has more than 150 students and 150 alumni.
For more information or to apply to the program, send e-mail to publichealth@gsu.edu.
Northside Hospital grants: The Breast Care Program at Northside Hospital has received three grants, totaling more than $40,000, from It’s the Journey Inc. The money, which was awarded on March 7, will be used for education and early detection of breast cancer.
It’s the Journey is a nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening Atlanta’s breast cancer community by raising money and awareness for local organizations that focus on breast cancer education, research, early detection, awareness and support services. The organization produces the Atlanta 2-Day Walk for Breast Cancer, which funds the grant program.
Since 2003, It’s the Journey has awarded more than $7.4 million to local organizations. This is the fifth year Northside has benefitted from the organization, with grants totaling more than $118,000.
Of the grant money awarded this year, nearly $20,000 will be used to provide free mammograms and other breast-diagnostic services to qualified women living in Hall, Dawson, Lumpkin and other outlying counties. Services will be provided at select Northside Hospital imaging centers across north Atlanta.
Approximately $6,000 will be used to provide breast health education to young women through Check It Out, a collaborative effort between Northside and the Greater Atlanta Hadassah. This program teaches young women how to perform breast self-examinations and promotes early detection and the education of risk factors.
The final $15,000 will go to the hospital’s Hereditary Cancer Program, which offers genetic testing and counseling for patients, who may be at risk for genetically influenced cancers including breast, ovarian and colorectal cancers.
Nurse gets VA grant: Assistant professor Andrea Boyd of the Georgia Health Sciences University College of Nursing in Augusta has received a three-year, $900,000 Department of Veterans Affairs grant to study the effect of exercise on advanced heart failure patients.
In a previous study, Boyd examined a suspected imbalance of the sympathetic nervous system, which stimulates body functioning, and the parasympathetic nervous system, which has a calming effect, to see if exercise could bring it into balance.
In advanced heart failure, an over-activation of the sympathetic nervous system coupled with a blunting or down regulation of the parasympathetic nervous system is thought to lead to many of the disease’s outcomes. Boyd’s previous research showed that the type of exercise, specifically weight-bearing aerobic exercise such as walking versus non-weight bearing aerobic exercise such as bicycling, decreased symptoms.
The new study hopes to discover the “tipping point” and frequency factor that optimizes results.
“A lot of our physicians, nurse practitioners and other primary care providers don’t always get a good understanding of how to prescribe exercise,” Boyd said.
She envisions computer software that will allow the provider to input the patient’s clinical parameters along with age, body mass index, weight and other factors to “spit out” a progressive schedule with specific daily instructions for exercise, rest and diet/fluid intake.
For information about becoming a study participant, contact Boyd at 706-721-4602 or Andrea.Boyd@va.gov.
New NCI medical director: Northside Hospital has announced the appointment of Dr. Guilherme Cantuaria as medical Director and principal investigator for the National Cancer Institute Community Cancer Centers Program (NCCCP).
In April 2010, Northside was among 14 new sites chosen by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to join a national network of community cancer centers offering expanded research opportunities and state-of-the-art cancer care. Northside was the only new hospital added in the Southeast.
The NCCCP medical directorship and principal investigator role is a vital component to the program. Cantuaria will have oversight of cancer program activities, including clinical management, community outreach and disparities, clinical trials, information technology, biospecimen initiatives, quality of patient care, and survivorship and palliative care.
- Compiled by John Brieske, Pulse Plus editor
