UC Santa Cruz developed a computational tool known as UShER that enables real-time SARS-CoV-2 tracking and helps researchers identify new lineages of the virus. The easy-to-use tool and online server creates an evolutionary tree that helps scientists understand genomic mutations by creating new branches, showing the relationships between virus samples and the order in which mutations happened along various lineages as the virus evolves. Series: "UC Santa Cruz News" [Public Affairs] [Health...

Since the mid 1970s, California policy makers have attempted to address the ever-growing problem of homelessness and incarceration of people with serious mental illness. Despite these efforts, the numbers of people who are homeless and incarcerated with mental illness have reached unprecedented highs. In this program, Dr. Joel Braslow, professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and History at UCLA, lays out why this historically informed perspective is crucial to understanding why we...

What's California doing to address the issue of chronic homelessness? Some say nothing while others point to many efforts at the local and state levels. In this discussion, Dr. Margot Kushel, State Senator John Laird, and Dr. Toby Ewing explore the ways in which California is addressing the problem of the chronically unsheltered, what barriers remain, and how innovative solutions might restore some of the sheen to the state's golden reputation. [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 38782]

The world has lived through 2+ years of the COVID-19 pandemic, heightening the awareness of the links between health and other aspects of life including education and the economy. Future pandemics are a real risk but there are a number of other threats to human health and well-being as well. These include climate change, the rise of obesity, inverted population pyramids, inter-state conflict, rising inequalities, antimicrobial resistance. Counterbalancing these threats are the opportunities...

Disability rights activist Judy Heumann has been fighting for inclusion for over six decades, in ways that transformed legal and societal understandings of equality. Her life-long experience has included co-founding the organization Disabled in Action, working on Capitol Hill to shape landmark disability rights laws, co-organizing the extraordinary protest and advocacy efforts that spurred the implementation of Section 504, and advising presidential administrations and the World Bank on...

Marion Nestle, Ph.D., MPH, reflects on her late-in-life career as a world-renowned food politics expert, public health advocate, and a founder of the field of food studies after facing decades of low expectations. She discusses her new memoir, "Slow Cooked," that tells her personal story, including her rise from bench scientist to the pinnacles of academia, while overcoming the barriers and biases facing women of her generation and finding her life's purpose after age 50. Series: "Philip R....

The Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) began in 1991 sponsored by the World Bank and the World Health Organization to fill a critical gap in global health information. It has grown steadily to become an active collaboration of more than 8,000 scientists, researchers and policy-makers from 156 countries working together to quantify health at the national and subnational level. In this program, Christopher J.L. Murray, Professor and Chair of Health Metrics Sciences at the University of...

COVID-19 changed many aspects of our lives and policymakers at the local and state level are seeking solutions to help restore the health and well-being of Californians. In this program, Dr. Rita Hamad discusses ways to bolster the safety net for people most impacted by the pandemic. Series: "Mini Medical School for the Public" [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 38198]

COVID-19 changed many aspects of our lives over the last two years. Policymakers at the local, state, and federal level are seeking solutions to myriad problems including addressing rising rates of substance misuse and addiction. In this program, experts discuss the increase in opioid use and overdose deaths as well as the increase in youth using e-cigarettes. Series: "Mini Medical School for the Public" [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 38200]

COVID-19 changed many aspects of our lives, and policymakers at the local, state, and federal level are seeking solutions to help restore the health and well-being of Californians. In this program, Joanne Spetz examines the impact the pandemic has had on healthcare workers, from burnout to physical and mental health impacts, and what leaders can do to resolve the crisis. Series: "Mini Medical School for the Public" [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 38201]

COVID-19 changed many aspects of our lives and policymakers at the local, state, and federal level are seeking solutions to help restore the health and well-being of Californians. In this program, Julia Adler-Milstein, Ph.D., and A Jay Holmgren, Ph.D., explain how their collaborative research center uses information to improve the use and impact of digital health on health outcomes. Series: "Mini Medical School for the Public" [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 38199]

In this program, Heather Royer, Ph.D., discusses the challenges and benefits of parental leave, including the impact on families, companies, the labor force and the economy. Series: "Critically Human" [Health and Medicine] [Humanities] [Business] [Show ID: 38278]

COVID-19 changed many aspects of our lives and policymakers at the local, state, and federal level are seeking solutions to myriad problems, including health workforce burnout, ensuring food security and maintaining safety-net services, and keeping schools safely open. This program looks at effective and emerging policies and practices around food and nutrition security. Series: "Mini Medical School for the Public" [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 38197]

There is increasing awareness that health disparities are largely a result of the socioeconomic position in which you are born, the housing and neighborhood where you reside, and the accessibility of educational and job opportunities. These are known as the social and structural determinants of health. By the time a person arrives at a hospital, their health outcome or their chance of survival may have already been pre-determined. Can technological advances in health devices and health-care...

For San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher, public office is about the opportunity to improve the lives of the people he serves. Fletcher's road to public service is grounded in a difficult upbringing where he and his mother endured domestic violence and poverty in the South. He worked during high school to support his family, went to college on a football scholarship and served a decade in the Marine Corps. Fletcher says looking forward and a commitment to community is important. As...

Former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and former Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius explore the H1N1 Pandemic of 2009 and what lessons that pandemic might have for our current situation. Series: "UC Public Policy Channel" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 37523]

This presentation reflects on the long history of contamination in the Bayview Hunters Point community, the health harms disproportionately suffered by community members, and the challenges and opportunities for collaboration between community members, academics, scientists, and health professionals to address these environmental injustices. Series: "Mini Medical School for the Public" [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 36861]

This moderated discussion explores the structural inequities of the healthcare system, laid to bare most recently by the COVID pandemic, and the institutional, socio-political and policy changes that are necessary to rebuild the health of our people, our economy, and our democracy. Series: "Mini Medical School for the Public" [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 36859]

Climate change affects the health of all Americans. The adverse health consequences are projected to worsen with additional climate change. Kristie Ebi, University of Washington, explains that proactive adaptation policies and programs reduce the risks and impacts from climate-sensitive health outcomes and from disruptions in healthcare services. Additional benefits to health arise from explicitly accounting for climate change risks in infrastructure planning and urban design. Series: "Mini...

Experts share perspectives on institutional, state and national efforts to create knowledge networks that accelerate bench top research, clinical trials, and patient access to experimental and approved therapies. A discussion of how best to capture and integrate various datasets to improve understanding of diseases, discovery of novel targets, therapeutic candidates and biomarkers, accelerating clinical development and approval of novel therapies and enhancing patient access and...

US Family and Medical Leave Act provides unpaid job-protected leave for qualifying workers. More than 40% of employees don't qualify and low-income workers are less likely to take leave. Dr. Rita Hamad looks at the policy through two case studies and discusses the implications and impact on health. She concludes that paid leave may be an important lever to improve infant and parent health at the population level. Series: "Mini Medical School for the Public" [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 35591]

It's all over the news – if we don't flatten the curve, healthcare systems will be overrun by COVID-19 cases, jeopardizing the nation's ability to treat patients. Are the shelter-in-place measures proving effective? Is there hope to be found in biomedical research? Series: "Global Impacts of COVID-19 - A GPS Webinar Series" [Show ID: 35868]

Digital tools including mobile apps, wearable sensors, and social network platforms offer unprecedented opportunities in health research and healthcare. However, this rapidly emerging sector is outpacing existing regulatory structures and challenging norms for ethical practice. Camille Nebeker, EdD, MS, Associate Professor of Behavioral Medicine in the Department of Family Medicine & Public Health at the UC San Diego School of Medicine describes how technologies, including wearable...

Contextualizing the fight for healthcare reform, honoring the connection between nurses and patients, and personalizing the struggles with the US healthcare system all arise in this conversation between activist Ady Barkan, Uncovered: Healthcare Conversations with Ady Barkan series creator Liz Jaff, director Nick Bruckman, and Carsey-Wolf Center Associate Director Emily Zinn. This powerful discussion explores the complex challenges of navigating healthcare in the US and the urgency of...