Health and Well-being

This domain is hosted by Professor Maurizio Trevisan who is the Dean of Health Sciences at VinUniversity. Here he will share his recommendation of the must-read-knowledge distributed into two sections: Latest Highlights and Foundational Knowledge. Let’s explore what he recommends for us this month!

Health and Well-being
Professor David Bangsberg, MD, MPH
Public Health, HIV/AIDS, Behavioral Science, Academic Leadership
"My students’ success will be my greatest reward." David Bangsberg.

Hosted by Professor David Bangsberg, MD, MPH

Professor Dr. David Bangsberg will assume the position of Provost cum Dean of the College of Health Sciences at VinUniversity, starting from the 2023-2024 academic year.

Dr. David Bangsberg most recently served as the founding Dean of the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health in his hometown, Portland, Oregon. Under his direction, the school has made great strides in helping to expand community knowledge, understanding and interest in the importance of public health. Of note, enrollment in the school’s MPH program has increased by more than 76%. This helps to expand Oregon’s public health workforce — a crucial need as the state continues to respond to the unique impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As Dean, Dr. Bangsberg implemented several programs to increase public health awareness and education. He established the School of Public Health Dean’s Scholarship Fund to help support a good and diverse student body. The fund has distributed more than $500,000 in tuition support to 54 first-generation public health students. With his influence, Dr. Bangsberg has attracted significant funding from local and federal sources for research activities at OHSU-PSU. As of 2022, the school has received over $26 million in funding to support research on health, healthcare reform, and social aspects.

Previously, Professor Bangsberg was the director of MGH Global Health at Massachusetts General Hospital, the largest teaching hospital of the Harvard Medical School. Under his leadership, MGH Global Health has transformed from a single program to an institution-wide global health initiative that now includes programs in medical technology innovation, global disaster response, cancer care, obstetrics/gynaecology, radiology, pathology, infectious diseases, and community health.

As a physician scientist, he has raised over $70 million in research and programmatic funding from federal, foundation and philanthropic sources. In 2007, he was recognized in science as the second-highest RO-1 funded HIV/AIDS researcher globally. His 498 publications on social, behavioural, virologist and immunologic aspects of HIV/AIDS have been cited over 54,000 times and earned an h-index of 116 per Google Scholar. He received the Clifford Barger mentoring award given annually to 5 of 11,000 Harvard Medical School Faculty. He has been recognised as one of the world’s top medical scientists and is among the most outstanding HIV researchers.

Public Health, HIV/AIDS, Behavioral Science, Academic Leadership
"My students’ success will be my greatest reward." David Bangsberg.

Latest Highlights

This week's articles focus on Covid and the importance of vaccines in the fight against this pandemic.
One article reports on the effectiveness of the mRNA vaccines and the other on the critical aspect of acceptance of the vaccine in the US population.

Exercise in Obesity—the Role of Technology in Health Services: Can This Approach Work?
Editor(s): Laurence J. Dobbie, Abd Tahrani, Uazman Alam, Jennifer James, John Wilding & Daniel J. Cuthbertson
First published: 17 November 2021
Category: Article
Tumors partially destroyed with sound don’t come back
Editor(s): University of Michigan
First published: April 18, 2022
Category: Article
Potential benefits and limitations of machine learning in the field of eating disorders: current research and future directions
Editor(s): Jasmine Fardouly, Ross D. Crosby & Suku Sukunesan
First published: May 08, 2022
Category: Article
Effect of Ivermectin on Time to Resolution of Symptoms Among Adults With Mild COVID-19
Editor(s): Eduardo López-Medina, MD, MSc; Pío López, MD; Isabel C. Hurtado, MD; et al
First published: March 4, 2021
Category: Article
What We Know about Omicron’s BA.2 Variant So Far
Editor(s): Charles Schmidt
First published: April 4, 2022
Category: Article
PSYCHOSOCIAL RISK FACTORS AND CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE AND DEATH IN A POPULATION-BASED COHORT FROM 21 LOW-, MIDDLE-, AND HIGH-INCOME COUNTRIES
Editor(s): Ailiana Santosa et al.
First published: December 15, 2021
DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.38920

Foundational Knowledge

"Atul Gawande is a surgeon and this book is a personal reflection on life as he helps his father go through a challenging and difficult cancer diagnosis. The book is an important contribution to the issue of aging. Dr. Gawande's reflection is focused both on what we can do to manage illness and frailty as we age and we approach death, and on our health care system that is limited by its focus on survival and often on treatment at all costs and not focused on enabling wellbeing."

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Editor(s): Rebecca Skloot
First published: December 22, 2021
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End
Editor(s): Atul Gawande
First published: October 07, 2014