Boston University School of Public Health

Congratulations to SPH's Samantha Parker Kelleher on receiving a five-year, $3.2 million grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute!

Parker Kelleher, along with researchers at BU School of Public Health and Boston Medical Center, will examine the role of high blood pressure during the postpartum period on the risk of developing recurrent hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, such as preeclampsia and gestational hypertension.

Learn more ➡️ http://spr.ly/6181B8NkFZ

Dean Adnan Hyder reflects on a recent Public Health Conversation convening global public health leaders on how institutions, countries, and partnerships may need to evolve over the next 50 years.

"The conversation underscored a broader point: the future of global public health will depend not only on scientific progress, but on whether institutions, countries, and leaders are willing to strengthen collaboration and invest in systems capable of responding to increasingly complex challenges."

Read the full reflection here ➡️

Can We Build a Future of Global Health That Works Better for Everyone? | SPH Dean Adnan Hyder reflects on a recent Public Health Conversation convening leaders from PAHO, Gavi, and global public health leadership on how institutions, countries, and partnerships may need to evolve over the next 50 years.

The health sector is generating unprecedented volumes of digital data—from clinical records to genomics and population health. But more data has not meant easier access for researchers. Fragmented systems, regulatory complexity, and technical barriers continue to slow progress.

To address these challenges, the School of Public Health’s Center for Health Data Science (CHDS) has launched DataHub, a new initiative designed to transform how researchers discover, access, and work with health data.

DataHub acts as both a gateway and a guide. It connects researchers to high-value datasets, leveraging the center’s rich data inventory and governance expertise to facilitate responsible and effective access and use. It also enables AI-enabled research by helping ensure that underlying data are curated, organized in ways that allow them to work across systems and disciplines, and traceable.

“Researchers are often working with complex data, but the systems for discovering, accessing, and connecting those data have not evolved nearly as quickly,” says Debbie Cheng, executive director of CHDS and professor of biostatistics.

“DataHub is designed to help lower those barriers and make it easier for researchers to work with data in rigorous, collaborative, and responsible ways.”

Learn more ➡️http://spr.ly/6182B8qECw

Center for Health Data Science Launches DataHub to Advance AI-Driven and Convergent Research The new initiative, led by Debbie Cheng, targets the growing scale and complexity of health data, removing systemic barriers to data discovery and cross-disciplinary collaboration.

How does an emergency physician at Boston Medical Center (BMC) wind up leading biotechnology systems at a national security research and development powerhouse?

Dr. Kathryn Brinsfield discusses her public health journey from the BMC ED to the White House Situation Room to Draper’s Cambridge headquarters.

Read more ➡️ http://spr.ly/6182B8Utdq

A new study led by an SPH researcher estimates that pediatric appointments for anxiety-related issues rose from 1.7 percent of visits in 2014 to 6.1 percent in 2023—a 300 percent increase.

“Our findings may reflect both the underlying increasing prevalence of pediatric mental health needs, alongside primary care physicians having greater capacity to screen for and address them,” says study lead and corresponding author Kerrin Gallagher, who recently received her PhD in health services and policy research at SPH and was a doctoral student at the time of the study.

“Primary care providers should continue to build up training and staffing to both screen for and treat mental health conditions, and integrating behavioral health is one strategy to achieve this goal.”

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Anxiety-related Pediatric Primary Care Visits Rose 300% Over Decade in Massachusetts A new study found that children’s visits to the doctor for all mental health conditions increased from 2014 to 2023 in the commonwealth. Visits related to anxiety represented the largest increase, and ADHD was the most common condition addressed during these visits.

SPH is going to the World Cup!

Widely hailed the largest event in sport's history, five MPH students will be on the frontlines of a first-of-its-kind disease surveillance operation helping to ensure everyone’s safety: MacClement Guthrie, Melissa Mezieche, Alma Nieto, Deirdre Otoo, and Julianna Reyes.

The students have been selected for an SPH-sponsored summer practicum with Boston University’s Center on Emerging Infectious Diseases (CEID) to support CEID’s Biothreats Emergence, Analysis and Communications Network (BEACON) program, a revolutionary reporting operation launched in April 2025 to track global infectious disease threats in real time.

Beginning June 1—10 days before kick off in Mexico City—the SPH practicum students will review signals of possible infectious disease events near FIFA venues using BEACON and other resources, conduct verification of signals deemed report-worthy in collaboration with CEID leadership, and assist with compiling daily disease surveillance status reports to send to public health departments across North America throughout the five-and-a-half week period of the tournament.

The work is highly specialized, requiring that all students have prior coursework in epidemiology and biostatistics and several to have Spanish language expertise.

Learn more ➡️ http://spr.ly/6185B8iEMd

Have you been considering pursuing your Master's of Public Health? There's still time to apply!

Learn more about our program offerings here ➡️ http://spr.ly/6184B8ZzIG

Congratulations to SPH's Patricia Fabian on receiving a Resilient Boston Award!

Fabian was honored for her multiple collaborations with the City of Boston at the 2026 Boston Climate Leader Awards, an annual initiative hosted by Mayor Michelle Wu and the city’s Environment Department to recognize organizations and individuals advancing Boston’s climate goals.

Her collaborations with the City of Boston have included the B-COOL pilot project, which evaluated whether Boston’s heat emergency system adequately reflects risks in neighborhoods experiencing extreme temperatures. Fabian has also contributed to regional climate resilience efforts through partnerships with community organizations and researchers studying environmental justice and urban heat islands.

Learn more ➡️ http://spr.ly/6185B8X19U

Senator John Keenan and his staff enlisted SPH students in Jacey Greece’s communications strategies course to devise interventions to draw attention to the health risks of sports betting in the commonwealth.

In January 2026, Sen. Keenan introduced Bill S.302 An Act addressing economic, health and social harms caused by sports betting, commonly known as the Bettor Health Act. The bill would place guardrails on the industry: bans on particularly risky bets, limits on betting ads during televised games, affordability checks on people making large wagers, higher taxes on online operators, and increased required contributions to the state Public Health Trust Fund.

Over the course of the 14-week semester, Sen. Keenan and his staff collaborated with two groups of SB806 students to devise strategic communications campaigns to better educate the public and other legislators on the risks of sports betting and to garner support for the Bettor Health Act. The students presented their final proposals to their Beacon Hill clients during the last session of the course in early May 2026.

Learn more about their proposals ➡️

Students Help Senator Tackle Health Harms of Sports Betting | SPH Senator John Keenan of the Massachusetts state legislature and his staff enlisted the help of students in Jacey Greece’s communications strategies course to devise interventions to draw attention to the health risks of sports betting the commonwealth.

A new study found that adolescents who were aware of their state’s minor consent laws were more likely to seek and receive testing for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, suggesting that teens’ accurate knowledge of their legal capacity to consent to healthcare services may be more important than the laws providing this right.

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Adolescents’ Knowledge of Legal Capacity to Independently Consent Linked to Higher STI/HIV Testing A new study found that adolescents who were aware of their state’s minor consent laws were more likely to seek and receive testing for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, suggesting that teens’ accurate knowledge of their legal capacity to consent to healthcare services may be more im...