Brooks B. Gump, Ph.D., MPH, has been named the Falk Family Endowed Professor of Public Health in the Falk College at Syracuse University. Gump joined the Falk College faculty in 2010 and is currently a professor in the Department of Public Health, Food Studies and Nutrition, where he also serves as the graduate program director for public health. “In consultation with the Falk family, I am pleased to name Dr. Brooks Gump as the Falk Family Endowed Professor of Public Health. He is a nationally recognized leader in his field and an exemplary scholar and researcher in the area of…

The Falk College’s Department of Public Health, Food Studies and Nutrition at Syracuse University is seeking participants for a new research study aimed to improve children’s cardiovascular health. The Syracuse Lead Study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, will examine environmental toxins that collect in the human body, such as lead, to understand their impact on stress response and cardiovascular health. By identifying cardiovascular risk factors, this research study will offer valuable information to improve child and adult health in communities throughout the country. The Syracuse Lead Study is a four-year project focused on children ages 9, 10 or…

Five Syracuse University faculty and staff members will receive the Chancellor’s Citation for Excellence at a campus ceremony and reception in their honor on Monday, April 1. The 2013 Chancellor’s Citation for Excellence honorees are: Luvenia Cowart, professor of practice in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics; Edward L. Galvin, director of Archives and Records Management and Pan Am 103/Lockerbie Air Disaster archivist; James T. Spencer, Meredith Professor of Chemistry and associate dean for science, mathematics and research in The College of Arts and Sciences; Raja Velu, professor of managerial statistics and JPMorgan Chase Faculty Fellow…

Openings are still available for several Falk College study abroad programs this summer. Offerings include: HTW 400/600—Comparative Health Policy May 24-June 14, 2014 This six-credit undergraduate and graduate course will use a variety of modalities for students to learn about comparative health policies. Students will visit Geneva, Amsterdam, and Morocco to fully immerse themselves in settings that take different policy approaches to health problems. Taught by Dr. Lutchmie Narine, students will have the opportunity to visit important health care institutions (e.g., the World Health Organization in Geneva) and participate in discussions with health care leaders in each country which will…

Katherine McDonald, Ph.D., associate professor of public health in the Falk College and faculty fellow in the Burton Blatt Institute, received a grant from the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development. The research project, “Stakeholder Views on Intellectual Disability Research Ethics,” is expected to have significant ethical and public health implications. Robert S. Olick, J.D., Ph.D., associate professor of bioethics and humanities at Upstate Medical University, will serve as co-investigator on the project. Adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) face significant physical and mental health disparities. Ethical challenges may discourage their…

Brooks B. Gump, Ph.D., MPH, professor, Department of Public Health, Food Studies and Nutrition in the Falk College, was awarded a grant from the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. The research project, “Environmental Toxicants, Race and Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Children,” will investigate the relationship between race, socioeconomic status, blood lead levels, cardiovascular responses to acute stress and cardiovascular disease risk. To better pinpoint the early antecedents of racial disparities, the study will focus on a sample of 300 African American and European American children ages 9 to 11 in the city of Syracuse,…

The Department of Child and Family Studies, in collaboration with La Casita Cultural Center at Syracuse University, is pleased to announce the “West Side Through My Eyes,” teen photography exhibit. A preview will be held in conjunction with the 2013 Chancellor’s Awards for Public Engagement and Scholarship on April 24 in the Hergenhan Auditorium, Newhouse 3. The full exhibit will take place May 3-August 1 at La Casita. Open to members of the local community and Syracuse University, the exhibit will share the sights and stories of the young residents of the Near West Side reflecting their identification of place…

Associate professor of Public Health and a Burton Blatt Institute faculty fellow, Katherine McDonald, recently published the article, “There is No Black or White: Scientific Community Views on Ethics in Intellectual and Developmental Disability Research,” in the Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities. Her findings from four focus groups with researchers and ethics review board members explored how to ethically conduct research, relevant factors to consider, appropriate ways to address ethical concerns, and the role of ethical and civil rights principles. Findings indicate support for the use of ethical principles and newer models of disability to promote inclusion…