Dimensions Magazine available now

Each year the Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington publishes its feature magazine, Public Health Dimensions. With a long history of highlighting the important activities underway at the school, Dimensions Magazine keeps alumni, faculty, staff, and friends of the school informed about a wide-array of topics. This year's theme is "Public Health Reimagined: from Bloomington to Beijing and beyond"

Read the latest issue online. 

Following six healthy lifestyle choices can help decrease risk of heart disease in women

Andrea Chomistek

A new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology followed nearly 70,000 women for two decades and concluded that three-quarters of heart attacks in young women could be prevented if women closely followed six healthy lifestyle practices.

Researchers from the Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington lead by Andrea Chomistek, and assistant professor Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, as well as researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital found that women who had healthy habits such as as not smoking, a normal body mass index, physical activity of at least 2.5 hours per week, watching seven or fewer hours of television a week, consumption of a maximum of one alcoholic drink per day on average, and a diet in the top 40 percent of a measure of diet quality had a 92 percent lower risk of heart attack and a 66 percent lower risk of developing a risk factor for heart disease.

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Catherine Sherwood-Laughlin elected president of the Indiana Public Health Association

Catherine Sherwood-Laughlin

Catherine Sherwood-Laughlin, a clinical professor and assistant chair of the Department of Applied Health Science at the Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, was elected president of the Indiana Public Health Association (IPHA) this past fall.

A member of the IPHA Board of Directors since 2009, Sherwood-Laughlin plans to continue and enhance the organization’s mission of policy advocacy, professional development, and building partnerships. She also hopes to help sharpen IPHA’s longstanding focus on local public health policy, capacity, and practice to address challenges including tobacco use, obesity, and other lifestyle and environmental health issues.

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NIH grant awarded to develop computational model of acetaminophen-induced liver failure

James Klaunig

James Klaunig, a professor in the Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington Department of Environmental Health and fellow IU researchers have been awarded $2.1 million from the National Institutes of Health to develop a computational model of acetaminophen-induced liver failure – the leading cause of liver failure in the United States – by using advanced microscopic and computational technologies that allow scientists to see into the liver of a living animal.

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James Gibson joins school as Director of Advising

James Gibson

James Gibson, former director of the Indiana University 21st Century Scholars Program, has recently joined the Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington as the school’s first Director of Advising. Gibson will lead the school’s efforts to provide superior advising services to undergraduate students both during summer orientation and throughout the academic year. Dedicated to facilitating student academic success, he will lead the school’s many undergraduate departmental advisors and also providing academic counseling to students enrolled.

"We are very excited to have Jim join our school. He brings a wealth of experience to the advising component of our student services area. This newly-created position is in response to the increasing number of majors and our continued growth as a School of Public Health-Bloomington. We intend to continually improve advising and career services available to all of our majors," said John Schrader, Assistant Dean for Student Academic Affairs.

Center for Sexual Health and Promotion launches campus survey

In January, the Indiana University School of Public Health Center for Sexual Health and Promotion launched the Campus Sexual Health Survey, a voluntary survey designed to address a wide range of sexual health issues relevant to current college students. With over thousands of surveys completed in just a few weeks, the center and its researchers are well on the way to better understanding a variety of topics ranging from STI testing, to contraception and condom use. 

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IPRC receives $3 million grant to continue services for addictive behaviors and mental health

The Indiana Prevention Resource Center at the Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington has been awarded a two-year, $3,045,375 grant by the Indiana Division of Mental Health and Addiction to help further develop programs in Indiana communities for substance abuse and problem gambling.

The grant calls on the IPRC to conduct activities beyond its traditional prevention focus, placing more of an emphasis on mental health promotion. Specifically, the IPRC will develop an integrated pilot project by researching and recommending evidence-based mental health promotion programs and strategies to be implemented in select Indiana communities.

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Juhua Luo to receive the 2015 Outstanding Early Career Scholar Award

Juhua Luo

Juhua Luo, an assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, has been selected as the recipient of the 2015 School of Public Health Outstanding Early Career Scholar Award. 

Luo's research and training have focused on lifestyle and environmental factors in relation to cancer risk and cancer prognosis, particularly for breast, lung, and pancreatic cancer. She has been involved in the Women's Health Initiative, a large prospective cohort, since 2005. Her current research interest includes diabetes and cancer incidence and mortality; environmental pollutants and breast cancer risk.

IU School of Public Health-Bloomington receives Community Impact Grant to help local school district

The Community Foundation of Bloomington and Monroe County, in partnership with the Smithville Charitable Foundation, recently awarded the Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, the Bloomington Hospital Foundation, and other community partners  a Community Impact Grant. The grant will assist in launching a Coordinated School Health Program to connect physical, emotional, and social health with education. 

The program will assist the Monroe County School Corporation in implementing school health initiatives such as teaching children how to make healthy choices and coordinating with parents, schools, and communities to make schools healthy environments.

Debby Herbenick "co-produces" Sundance documentary

Debby Herbenick

Debby Herbenick, associate professor in the Department of Applied Health Science at the Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington and Bryant Paul, associate professor in the Department of Telecommunications at IU’s Media School served as co-producers on a documentary that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 24.

Though Herbenick and Paul don’t appear on-screen, their research was an integral part of the film’s content, which gained each of them the title of “co-producer.” Another notable producer of the film is Rashida Jones, “Parks and Recreation” actress and daughter of musician and honorary IU Doctorate of Music recipient Quincy Jones.

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