The Interplay Between Environmental Exposures and Mental Health Outcomes - A Workshop | National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

There is growing evidence that the environment can play an important role in mental health—yet research into the effects of environmental stressors rarely focuses on behavioral and mental health outcomes. This virtual workshop will bring together experts in mental health and environmental health research to explore emerging research on the relationship, harmful or beneficial, between environmental factors and mental health.

Join us as we explore ways to better integrate mental and behavioral health into multidisciplinary considerations of environmental health, and consider how mental and behavioral health impacts could become part of environmental risk assessments and public health decisions.

Workshop presentations and discussions will focus on topics such as:

New diagnostic tools and methodologies in neurobehavioral research frameworks to assess mental health effects.

Vulnerable populations, such as marginalized communities, adolescents, first-responders, and veterans.

Identifying public health actions that could help reduce the mental health impacts of environmental stressors.

Watch the video here.

The role of policy in addressing COVID-19 pandemic & economic crisis with Sandro Galea & Martin McKee | Institute for Health and Social Policy

Moderated by IHSP Associate Member Erin Strumpf, this session features a conversation with two eminent population health scholars, Sandro Galea and Martin McKee, on the relation between evidence and policy in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis. Potential topics include: how public policy responses have evolved during the pandemic; how evidence has informed policy prescriptions (or not); what we’ve learned about policy effectiveness; and how we should prioritize population health research moving forward.

To learn more, click here.

A Healthy Conversation with Steve Woods

This week, renowned epidemiologist Dr. Sandro Galea joins Steve Woods to talk about COVID-19, the status of vaccinations, and how finding cures shouldn’t be the sole focus when it comes to healthcare. Pathr AI CEO George Shaw also joins Steve to explain how businesses can use data gathered using artificial intelligence to reopen safely.

Click here to listen to the full podcast.

Health Equity Lecture Series | University of Washington School of Public Health

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to lay bare the deep health inequities ingrained in our society. Inequitable policies in our health, criminal justice, education, housing and employment systems have created the conditions that allow the virus to harm communities of color disproportionately. In the first event of our 2020-21 Health Equity Lecture Series, a panel of public health experts will discuss the legacy of discrimination reflected in health outcomes and the lessons we’ve learned from COVID-19 that can guide us toward building more equitable systems in the future. Includes 30 minute Q&A.

Click here to learn more about the Health Equity Lecture Series

Spotify Betting Big Podcasts | Bloomberg Businessweek

Dr. Sandro Galea, Dean of Boston University School of Public Health, provides a coronavirus and vaccine update. Bloomberg Businessweek Editor Joel Weber and Bloomberg News Entertainment Reporter Lucas Shaw talk about Spotify betting big on podcasts as a path to profitability. Bloomberg News Cybersecurity Reporter William Turton discusses the article “‘No Regrets’: A Capitol Rioter Tells His Story From Inside.” And we Drive to the Close with Yana Barton, Co-Director of Growth Equity at Eaton Vance.

Listen to the full podcast here.

The contagion next time: Underlying socioeconomic and racial divides and our risk from COVID and future pandemics | NIH VideoCast

Health is a product of a broad range of social and economic conditions. The COVID-19 pandemic showed how longstanding underinvestment in these conditions affected our overall health during a time of crisis and widened health gaps between racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups. COVID-19 illustrates how our extraordinary achievement in biomedical science—evidenced by remarkable advances to a COVID-19 vaccine in record time—is not matched by commensurate achievement in creating the conditions that can generate health in populations.

Sandro Galea is a physician, epidemiologist, and author, is dean and Robert A. Knox Professor at Boston University School of Public Health. He previously held academic and leadership positions at Columbia University, the University of Michigan, and the New York Academy of Medicine. He has published extensively in the peer-reviewed literature, and is a regular contributor to a range of public media, about the social causes of health, mental health, and the consequences of trauma. He has been listed as one of the most widely cited scholars in the social sciences. He is chair of the board of the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health and past president of the Society for Epidemiologic Research and of the Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine. Galea has received several lifetime achievement awards. Galea holds a medical degree from the University of Toronto, graduate degrees from Harvard University and Columbia University, and an honorary doctorate from the University of Glasgow.

Click here to watch the video on NIH VideoCast

"Everyone is holding their breath," Galea says | Bloomberg Businessweek

Dr. Sandro Galea, Dean of the Boston University School of Public Health, provides a coronavirus and vaccine update. Bloomberg Businessweek Editor Joel Weber and Bloomberg News Federal Reserve Reporter Chris Condon talk about the story “Fed Effort to Save Midsize Firms Isn’t Working and Here’s Why.” Bloomberg New Economy Editorial Director Andy Browne details a climate czar’s path through China. And we Drive to the Close with JJ Kinahan, Chief Market Strategist at TD Ameritrade.

If Not Now, When? Racism: A 400 Year Public Health Emergency

About this Episode:

George Floyd’s murder was one blow too many in a 400-year history of callous and inhumane treatment of Black Americans. It sparked international outrage and to date, roughly 130 U.S. states, cities, and counties have declared racism a public health emergency. But what does an emergency really mean for an injustice that has been ongoing for centuries? That’s what we explore in this first episode of our new series.

Listen to the full podcast here.

Anxiety, Depression Increased During Pandemic. Why Not Loneliness? | NPR

SILBERNER: That's University of Washington psychologist Jonathan Kanter. He and his team have been surveying people in Seattle and around the country, and a government survey in the United Kingdom and a national survey by the University of Southern California are also failing to find a loneliness pandemic. But there's something unusual going on here. Depression and anxiety are definitely increasing. Many studies have confirmed that, and those mood disorders have long been linked to loneliness. Sandro Galea is dean of the School of Public Health at Boston University. He found Sutin's surveys to be well done but perplexing. He says there could be a lot that this pandemic can teach us about the link between loneliness, depression and anxiety.

SANDRO GALEA: The relationship between social isolation, physical distancing, loneliness, how that mediates or does not mediate a relationship with depression or anxiety. I think that's a really interesting set of questions and one from which we can learn quite a bit.

Read the full piece here.

Trump Facing Scrutiny Over Personal Finances | Bloomberg Businessweek

We get the Businessweek Agenda with Bloomberg Intelligence Chief Equity Strategist Gina Martin Adams. Dr. Sandro Galea, Dean of the Boston University School of Public Health, provides a coronavirus and vaccine update. Bloomberg Businessweek Editor Joel Weber and Bloomberg News Senior Projects & Investigations Reporter Neil Weinberg discuss the story “How to Succeed in Private Banking—or Get in a Lot of Trouble.” We get Businessweek Economics with Bloomberg New Economy Editorial Director Andy Browne. He breaks down why China has a big climate change paradox. Bloomberg News Congressional Tax Reporter Laura Davison walks through President Trump facing new scrutiny of personal finances weeks before the election. And we Drive to the Close with Deepak Puri, CIO Americas at Deutsche Bank Wealth Management.

Click here to listen to the full podcast.

Merck's Progress Toward a Coronavirus (Podcast) | Bloomberg Businessweek

Dr. Sandro Galea, Dean of the Boston University School of Public Health, talks about the inequality of the coronavirus outbreak. Bloomberg Businessweek Editor Joel Weber and Bloomberg News U.S. Health Care Reporter Riley Griffin share their insight on Merck taking a slow and steady approach as rivals race for a vaccine. Bloomberg News U.S. Consumer Editor Anne Riley Moffat walks through McDonald’s accusing its ex-CEO of lying about office relationships. And we Drive to the Close with Katerina Simonetti, Senior VP at UBS Private Wealth Management.

Listen to the whole podcast here.

Resilience In A Time of COVID | Happiness Institute

COVID-19 represents a near ubiquitous traumatic event that will have substantial impact on mental health of populations. Sandro talks about what makes us resilient in these times and how we can quickly bounce back from stressors.

This talk is part of the Happiness Festival, a weekend of virtual talks and live workshops from July 24-26 focused on reimagine how we can integrate happiness into our future economic systems, societies and everyday lives. It is organised by the newly founded Happiness Institute, based out of the University of Oxford, and is raising donations in support of the WHO COVID-19 Relief Fund.

Click here for more on the Happiness Festival.

Strategies for Controlling the Pandemic | Bloomberg Businessweek

Dr. Sandro Galea, Dean of Boston University School of Public Health, provides a coronavirus update. Bloomberg Businessweek Editor Joel Weber and Businessweek Economics Editor Peter Coy discuss cities no longer being escalators of opportunity, according to an MIT study. And we get the Bloomberg Green segment with Bloomberg News Sustainability Editor Emily Chasan. Hosts: Carol Massar and Jason Kelly. Producer: Doni Holloway.

Listen to the podcast here.

This is the personal website of Sandro Galea. All photos are taken by Sandro Galea.