Since its separation from the School of Medicine in 2022, YSPH has grappled with having classes and labs scattered across eight different buildings, stretching from the School of Medicine up to near the New Haven Green. A new building, most likely to be constructed on 47 College St., would serve as one of the school’s two main hubs, although a construction timeline has not yet been established.

“Currently, YSPH is scattered across many New Haven buildings, several of which are leased spaces,” Provost Scott Strobel wrote to the News. “We are now in the early stages of planning a facility that matches the excellence of YSPH students, faculty, and staff.”

In September 2023, the school established the space planning committee, consisting of faculty from all six public health departments, multiple staff members and a doctoral student. Since its foundation, the committee has sent out multiple surveys requesting input and feedback from YSPH stakeholders.

In October 2023, the planning committee informed the community of the goal of consolidating most-to-all of YSPH into two buildings: the current Laboratory for Epidemiology and Public Health, or LEPH, and a new building.

The News spoke to current students at YSPH about how the lack of centralization has impacted their experiences and hopes for a future building.

“We are totally separate from main campus,” Yukang Zeng, MPH ’25, said. “We don’t have a sense of belonging because we are totally separated on different sides of different streets.” 

According to Zeng, although individual departments of YSPH tend to have classes in the same building, the core requirements of the degree program and the interdisciplinary nature of public health require students to travel frequently between faraway buildings.

Students also expressed that the environment and lack of natural light in the LEPH building were not conducive to learning, with most classes taking place in the basement. Additionally, they expressed that the disconnected spaces made it more difficult for collaboration, community building and accessing faculty support and resources.

“Right now, the public health building is a little jail-like, and isn’t the most optimal environment for learning as compared to, especially, the school environment or the business school,” Brit Fleck SPH ’25, said.

Students expressed a desire for a more inviting building architecturally, as well as a facility that would allow greater collaboration between students and faculty and provide a stronger sense of belonging. 

Campbell Mitchell SPH ’25 expressed hope that the new building would not be solely an isolated space for public health students, but rather a broader hub for community engagement across Yale.

The Laboratory of Epidemiology and Public Health is located at 60 College St.

The post YSPH plans new facility to consolidate school into two buildings appeared first on Yale Daily News.

The Yale Humanitarian Research Lab analyzes data to detect and document threats to civilians in violations of international humanitarian law. HRL recently joined the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition, a network of organizations working to protect healthcare systems in areas of conflict, especially as healthcare facilities in conflict areas face increasing threats of violence.

“Our lab is at the forefront of this work, doing coverage of damage to healthcare facilities,” said Danielle Poole, director of research for HRL.

According to Poole, HRL uses a combination of satellite imagery and other remote sensing data with open source information, such as social media, in order to document threats to civilians in near real time. Their method of data collection makes it possible to gain a comprehensive understanding of damage done.

By applying their data collection methods to track attacks on healthcare in conflict zones in violation of international humanitarian law, including aerial strikes to hospitals and clinics, as well as attacks on healthcare workers, the HRL creates documentation that can be used in advocacy efforts of the SHCC.

The SHCC includes non-governmental organizations, civil society groups and academic centers concerned with violence against healthcare and conflict. The coalition produces an annual report on attacks on healthcare around the globe and advocates in international forums to engage institutions and create mechanisms to protect healthcare in conflict.

“There has been a real lack of public data in standard systems for documentation,” said Nathaniel Raymond, executive director of HRL. “We want to improve how data is being standardized into official counts so that there is more accountability, and information to help rebuild.”

HRL has already been documenting attacks on health facilities in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan, among other areas in conflict. According to Poole, early analyses from the lab have shown that for certain periods of those particular conflicts, almost two-thirds of health facilities were damaged, demonstrating a clear failure to abide by international humanitarian law.

Reports released from HRL have contributed to criminal indictments from the International Criminal Court in the past. In March 2024, arrest warrants were issued for senior military officials in Russia only days after the HRL released a report identifying 223 incidents of damage to Ukraine’s power infrastructure.

The News spoke to professionals at Yale who had investigated the targeting of healthcare systems in Ukraine during the conflict.

“We are barely understanding the scope of this issue,” said Andrey Zinchuk, assistant professor at the School of Medicine, who has done humanitarian work training healthcare professionals in Ukraine, “they’re systematically targeting hospitals, clinics and medical facilities.”

The destruction of healthcare facilities in Ukraine not only devastates physical infrastructure but also results in massive loss of life, disrupts medical staff, and presents long-term consequences on the region’s ability to recover, according to Frederick Altice, a professor at the School of Medicine who has done global health work in Ukraine.

Altice described how attackers justify attacks on healthcare facilities by claiming that they are used to harbor hostages, as well as how cuts to USAID will further strain resources and force healthcare providers to make difficult triage decisions in an already fragile system.

The Yale Humanitarian Research Lab is a part of the School of Public Health.

The post Yale researchers document violence on global health systems appeared first on Yale Daily News.

The report highlights rising healthcare costs, workforce shortages and barriers to access, with increasing Medicaid reimbursement rates identified as the top priority. The recommendations include scholarships for healthcare professionals, a mental health insurance scorecard and expanded Medicaid coverage for undocumented residents up to age 26. The report is expected to inform legislative discussions during the current session.

“The 2025 Healthcare Cabinet Report is more than just policy ideas—it’s a roadmap to meaningful change” Scanlon said in a statement. “This year’s report builds on our progress to address Connecticut’s biggest healthcare challenges—focusing on affordability, access, and workforce development.”

Healthcare costs and affordability challenges 

According to the report, Connecticut ranks ninth in the nation for per capita healthcare spending, averaging $12,500 per resident compared to the national average of $10,000. Residents have seen insurance premiums, the amount of money an individual pays to their insurance company every month to keep it active, increase by 41 percent between 2014 and 2023, while hospitals and prescription drug costs remain among the highest in the country.

To address these rising costs, the Healthcare Cabinet’s primary recommendation is increasing Medicaid reimbursement rates, the amount of money a state pays for Medicaid-covered services. The report argues that low reimbursement rates discourage providers from accepting Medicaid patients, leading to longer wait times and increased reliance on emergency rooms for primary care. 

“If you can’t go see a doctor when you have a sore throat, you wait and wait — until you end up in the ER,” Scanlon said. “That costs two or three times more than if you had been seen in a primary care setting.”

Increasing Medicaid reimbursement rates, the report argues, is expected to expand provider participation, reduce wait times and alleviate financial strain on hospitals treating uninsured and underinsured patients. 

Addressing workforce shortages

The shortage of healthcare workers is another critical issue highlighted in the report. Connecticut faces growing gaps in primary care, nursing and mental health services, particularly in rural and underserved communities. 

One proposed solution is expanding the Health Horizons program, which currently provides funding for nursing and social work scholarships. The report recommends broadening it to include pharmacists, lab technicians and other essential healthcare roles. 

“Instead of paying off your loans after school, what can we do to assist you to stay in school or to go to school now? And that’s sort of the way that I look at this.” Scanlon suggested. 

Additionally, the report proposes financial incentives for professionals who commit to practicing in rural or high-need areas. 

Mental health insurance scorecard

One proposal from the mental health subcommittee was the creation of a mental health parity compliance scorecard. This scoreboard would make essential information for receiving mental healthcare easily available for each government and commercial insurance plan offered in Connecticut — including Medicaid and Medicare.

The scorecard would contain the total amount reimbursed for mental health services by each insurance plan, an evaluation of each plan’s adherence to mental health parity laws, consumer complaints and the geographic distribution of providers in each plan’s network. 

“With transparency comes accountability,” said Maria Coutant-Skinner, CEO of the McCall Behavioral Health Network and co-chair of the mental health subcommittee. “If we are an informed citizenry and informed consumers, then we get to make choices about who our healthcare providers are and who insures us.”

In addition to empowering consumers, implementation of the scorecard would increase accountability among insurance providers and inform regulatory policy decisions, according to Coutant-Skinner.

Women’s health and reproductive care

The women’s subcommittee focused on supporting those building families by reducing cost of care, proposing permanent child tax credit and Medicaid reforms.

In addition to the reports’ general recommendation for increased Medicaid reimbursement, the subcommittee proposed that Medicaid extend coverage to include diaper costs and expand the current policy of covering all children up to age 15 below the qualifying income limit, regardless of immigration status, to all individuals below 26.

The women’s subcommittee also proposed laws protecting the current medical standard of fertility health care coverage which is inclusive of LGBTQ+ and single individuals, as well as protecting healthcare providers in institutions offering emergency pregnancy-related care and gender-affirming healthcare.

Legislative and federal considerations 

The women’s subcommittee’s recommendations to protect reproductive and fertility health care came in light of recent federal actions threatening both those seeking and providing care. 

“We know that there are threats coming, not just to reproductive health care providers, but health care providers and agencies, from the federal government. It’s up to our state lawmakers to take meaningful action,” Gretchen Raffa, chief policy and advocacy officer at Planned Parenthood of Southern New England and co-chair of the women’s subcommittee, said.

As the Connecticut General Assembly takes up these proposals, lawmakers will also need to navigate shifting federal healthcare policies, including potential changes to Medicaid funding, new pharmaceutical pricing rules, and ongoing debates over reproductive health regulations.

Scanlon emphasized the importance of ensuring that the recommendations laid out in the 2025 Healthcare Cabinet Report translate into real policy action.

“I didn’t want this to be a report that collects dust on the shelf. I wanted it to be a roadmap for legislators, for the governor, for policymakers — to hear from experts and then go out and do these things,” said Scanlon. 

The legislative session will be a critical period for determining how many of these proposals gain traction. Coutant-Skinner and Raffa both expressed optimism towards the potential for passage of their proposals in the Connecticut legislature, with broad support from the legislature as well as the governor for increasing Medicaid rates. 

Beyond state-level decisions, advocates and policymakers are closely monitoring federal developments, particularly those related to Medicaid funding stability, reproductive healthcare regulations, and potential pharmaceutical pricing shifts.

Scanlon signaled his willingness to work with federal officials when possible but emphasized the importance of Connecticut taking its own steps to address healthcare challenges when needed.

“I am more than happy to work with Washington if we have a shared goal of lowering costs,” Scanlon said. “But if policies come out that raise prices — whether it’s Medicaid cuts or higher drug tariffs — I will speak up.”

Scanlon ran for comptroller in 2022.

Correction, Feb. 28: Article has been updated with corrected spelling of Coutant-Skinner’s name.

The post Comptroller calls for Medicaid increases, workforce investments appeared first on Yale Daily News.

H5 Bird Flu, a strain of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, has become widespread in wild birds worldwide and has caused sporadic outbreaks in U.S. poultry flocks and dairy cattle. It is transmitted through contact with infected birds or their droppings.

According to the experts interviewed by the News, bird flu does not pose a major risk to humans, but recent health communications freezes have hampered the ability to combat it.

“Right now for humans, bird flu is not a huge risk unless you work in an occupational hazard area,” said Stephanie Perniciaro, a research scientist in epidemiology at the School of Public Health. “But it’s something that we definitely need to keep a close eye on.”

In the U.S., there have been 67 confirmed human cases of bird flu since 2024, with one associated death. There have been no reports of person-to-person spread. Human infections with avian influenza viruses most often occur after lengthy unprotected contact with infected birds or surfaces that sick birds or their saliva, mucus or feces have touched.

In Connecticut, outbreaks have been reported in commercial and backyard chicken flocks. Several human cases in U.S. dairy and poultry workers have also been reported.

Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport reported a case of bird flu following testing of a deceased goose found on its grounds. 

In accordance with federal and state guidelines, the zoo restricted public access to birds, enhanced safety measures for staff and euthanized the remaining birds in the pond community that may have been exposed to the virus. Birds in nearby exhibits without direct contact with the affected flock were quarantined and tested.​

“Preliminary results received last week were negative for HPAI,” Rowena White, a representative of Beardsley Zoo, wrote to the News. “To be clear and reiterate, these birds are currently remaining in a separate safe space while being monitored for their protection.”

The Connecticut Department of Agriculture also confirmed an outbreak within a backyard flock in New Haven County on Jan. 24.

Backyard flock owners are recommended to take extra security measures to ensure the safety of themselves and their poultry by minimizing contact with wild birds and rodents and increasing hygiene and disinfection.

“In the past, we would have let them out to be around the yard when we were out working in the yard,” Steve Machesney, a New Haven local who keeps a backyard coop of six chickens, said. “We’re not doing that anymore, so they don’t have the opportunity to interact with wild birds or with wild bird excrement.”

Disruptions to health communication have impacted the nation’s response to bird flu since President Donald Trump took office.

According to Perniciaro, the Centers for Disease Control had some of their data sets taken down and have been prohibited from making external communication.

“Having no signal means that we have no real way to gauge our risks of exposure and thus no real idea how much of a response to deploy,” Perniciaro said.

The CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the agency’s primary vehicle for distributing public health information and recommendations, took an unprecedented three-week pause after the Trump administration halted all external communications for federal health agencies.

The report resumed on Feb. 6.

“Not having public data availability isn’t just a population-level health problem. It’s also preventing doctors from being able to treat their patients most effectively,” Perniciaro said. “This affects lives, this affects dollars, and we should care.”

As of Feb. 6, bird flu has been detected in over 150 million poultry.

The post Connecticut bird flu cases rise as federal health communications flounder appeared first on Yale Daily News.

On Jan. 24, the Department of Justice released a memo directing federal prosecutors to limit enforcement of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act at the direction of the Trump administration. The FACE Act provided federal protection to abortion, reproductive health and pregnancy resource centers. Under the new directive, the FACE Act will be enforced “only in extraordinary circumstances” and otherwise left for state or local law to address. The day before, President Trump pardoned 10 defendants charged with violating the FACE Act after forming a blockade at a reproductive healthcare center in 2020.

“There’s a long history in our country of violent attacks on reproductive health care providers and abortion providers,” Gretchen Raffa, the chief policy and advocacy officer for Planned Parenthood of Southern New England, said. “Everyone should have the ability to access healthcare, free from fear of intimidation, of harm, of violence. We absolutely condemn this violent act and this pardon of violent actors.”

A violent history

The FACE Act initially passed in 1994, in response to decades of increasing violence by anti-abortion extremists towards providers and patients of reproductive health services, culminating in the murder of the physician Dr. David Gunn in 1993 during a demonstration outside his clinic.

The law created federal jurisdiction for harming, threatening or interfering with individuals attempting to access reproductive health services, and for intentionally damaging reproductive health facilities. These jurisdictions apply to all facilities providing reproductive health services, including pro-life pregnancy counseling services and any other pregnancy support facility providing reproductive health care.

“The agencies that should have been enforcing the new law often didn’t do so.” said Megann Licskai, who teaches History of Science and Medicine at Yale and is writing a book on North American anti-abortion movements. “Sometimes, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, would just not investigate clinic fires.”

Though imperfect, The FACE Act still amounted to a significant decrease in the levels of violence directed towards abortion clinics. According to Licskai, at the time of its authorization in 1994, half of all clinics in the nation had reported experiencing one or more incidents of violence, while by 1999, less than one-quarter of clinics filed similar reports.

“This question of who is enforcing [the FACE Act] has always been a challenge. In states where law enforcement was less receptive to abortion, you have less enforcement, but I think we can still see a real impact,” Licskai said. “The FACE Act gives people a chance to be more proactive about protecting clinic spaces.”

Effects of limited enforcement

The memo released under President Trump calls the Biden administration’s application of the FACE Act a “prototypical example” of weaponization of the federal government. The memo states that nearly all prosecutions under the act have been disproportionately enforced against pro-life protesters.

The new directive instructs prosecutors to enforce the law only in cases presenting “significant aggravating factors,” or in instances when death, extreme bodily harm or significant property damage result. 

“I think there’s going to be an increase in violence,” Génesis Luigi Bravo, a Ph.D. student at Yale specializing in work with sexual and reproductive health issues, said. “When they resign this act, what they are communicating is that this harassment is not serious enough.”

A reduction in the enforcement of the act limits the amount of protections that abortion clinics have against protesters. This reduction may have far-reaching consequences, across both red and blue states. 

Licskai foreshadows further lack of access to reproductive health centers in pro-life states, resulting in pro-life protesters concentrating on the few abortion clinics left in red states, or moving on to target clinics in neighboring blue states.

“Many of the states that are the most hostile to abortion already have very few clinics or no clinics, and so if the state policy enforcers do not want to spend resources on that, they won’t, which is just going to make access that much more difficult,” said Licskai. “As fewer states offer abortion, we may see a kind of organized [pro-life] movement to fly in and bus in protestors to clinics in states where abortion is allowed.”

Concerns over the upcoming administration

Planned Parenthood of Southern New England raised additional concerns over the Trump administration’s shift towards anti-abortion sentiment and policy, especially regarding defunding abortion access. They are  expecting the new administration to make attempts at decertifying Planned Parenthood as a Medicaid provider. Additionally, they expect the Trump administration to remove Planned Parenthood from the federal Title X family planning program, the only federal public health program providing free reproductive healthcare for low-income patients, which also occurred during his first administration.

According to Raffa, Planned Parenthood is working with politicians and advocates at the state level in order to strengthen Connecticut state laws to ensure access to abortion care, birth control, fertility and health care is legal and accessible for all.

“We are deeply concerned about their efforts to defund Planned Parenthood health centers,” Raffa said. “These are things that we are watching and know are coming, and they’re coming quickly.”

The Planned Parenthood clinic in New Haven is located on 345 Whitney Ave.

The post Under Trump, New Haven’s reproductive care is a federal target appeared first on Yale Daily News.

“I wanna talk about how [my condition] makes me feel,” she told Yale researchers, “not rehearse my diagnosis.”

Katie Wang, associate professor of public health, led a study at the School of Public Health this month revealing the discrimination faced by people with disabilities like Pam when seeking mental healthcare. 

According to interviews with disabled individuals, ableism causes and exacerbates the disparities in mental health care.

Mental health care is a sector that Wang believes especially typifies discrimination people with disabilities face. She hopes that her research inspires changes in mental health practices that prioritize treating individuals no matter their disabilities.

Healthcare settings are commonplace for people with disabilities to face discrimination. Previous research has indicated that disabled individuals experience higher rates of mental health distress, including depression and anxiety, and are usually left unsatisfied with their care. Wang wanted to understand why this was the case and what barriers people with disabilities were facing when trying to access psychotherapy services.

Wang and her team interviewed 20 adults in the United States with disabilities in fall 2022 about their experiences with the American mental health care system. The interviewees came from various backgrounds, including race, gender and sexual orientation. They also had a range of disabilities, ranging from physical to mental.

The team asked the individuals about the barriers that they experienced when seeking mental health care as well as if they experienced ableism when talking to their providers. 

“They showed a lot of resilience and shared deeply personal stories and were brave about it,” Sarah Fodero SPH ’23, a co-author of the study, told the News. “We asked a lot of really direct questions about their experiences and how providers treat them. But I think folks were happy to share the negative experiences. Many articulated that they wanted to participate in the study in order to help other people.” 

Interviewees expressed annoyance with psychologists either overemphasizing or ignoring the role their disability played in their mental health. One participant with autism trying to access mental health care was redirected to disability services even though her main concern was not related to her autism. Participants in the study also felt that providers frequently invalidated their experiences and needs.

“One of the most difficult barriers to remove is the attitude of people towards people with mental disabilities,” Carmen Correa-Rios, the operations director of the CT Center for Disability Rights, told the News. “We have people walking in when they’ve been accused of different things, and they feel everything is in their head. It’s not only in their head.”

Instances of interpersonal ableism between patients and psychologists, uncovered by the study, included various microaggressions directed toward people with disabilities — for example when psychologists addressed the family members instead of the patients themselves. According to Joan Ostrove, professor of psychology at Macalester College and co-author of the study, this can make patients feel unsafe, unseen, invalidated and frustrated.

Systemic ableism refers to the institutional barriers that make it difficult for people with disabilities to access mental health care. 

Some hospitals’ harsh cancellation policies negatively impact people with disabilities, for example, because they might need to cancel appointments at the last minute due to unpredictable disability conditions.

Another example of systemic ableism, according to the study, is the use of telehealth.

“The lack of universal design features or accessibility features are in a lot of the telehealth software people are using,” Wang told the News. “Telehealth software really does need to be accessible, both for screen reader users and for people. But there are others who have disabilities that make it more difficult to use telehealth altogether.” 

Lastly, some people with disabilities experience compounding discrimination because of their race or sexual orientation. They found it difficult to not only find providers who understood what it is like to live with both identities but also couldn’t understand if the discrimination they received was based on their disability or their other identities.

Though the study did not interview many individuals with intellectual disabilities or those above the age of 60, Wang believes that her research clearly lays out various ways that people with disabilities experience ableism in their mental health care.

According to Fodero, who’s also visually impaired, hearing the stories of these individuals was not only sad but deeply validating, as she could relate to the many experiences of the individuals she interviewed.

Fodero shared that some people with disabilities believe that the current U.S. medical system is not geared to treating individuals with disabilities, which exacerbates the problem. The system sees people with disabilities as a medical anomaly more than a minority population. This creates a lack of disability competency training among physicians, a lack of flexible health insurance plans and other systemically ableist policies.

Addressing the problem 

According to Correa-Rios, one of the easier ways to address ableism in mental health care is by increasing disability competency training in the standard curriculum of medical students and psychologists. Exposure to topics they might not understand helps professionals to see people with disabilities as not incompetent or medical phenomena but as actual patients who need mental health care. 

Roger Jou, an instructor of clinical child psychiatry at the School of Medicine, also believes this shouldn’t be a one-and-done; physicians should learn about disabilities throughout their careers.

“[Physicians] need to understand it’s not always one size fits all,” Correa-Rios said. “You can have two people with the same disability who need a completely different approach. So by asking ‘How can I help you?’ the person will in one way or another let you know what is the best way to help them.”

Wang believes that increasing the number of psychologists who have disabilities themselves — through recruitment and ensuring workplace accessibility —  “will do wonders” in reducing ableism in the mental health care experience.

She also suggested that healthcare institutions should be more flexible with appointment and cancellation procedures. 

It could also mean further community-based participatory research to continue to uncover deeper analysis of ableism in the mental health space.

Further community-based participatory research on ableism and other forms of discrimination is needed, Ostrove believes. 

However, during Donald Trump’s presidency, Fodero fears it will be harder for people with disabilities to gain equal access to mental health care in various ways.

Trump’s removal of diversity, equity and inclusion programs at various agencies will make it harder for clinics and institutions to hire psychologists with disabilities. The possible removal of certain research funding may make it difficult to conduct more research into ableism in the future. 

By providing a voice to people with disabilities, Fodero hoped to inspire conversations about the needed structural changes.

“First seek to understand, then to be understood,” Jou wrote to the News when asked what psychologists can do to fight ableism in mental health care. “Apologize and commit to doing better. Quoting Maya Angelou, ‘Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.’”

According to the CDC, adults with disabilities report experiencing frequent mental distress almost five times as often as adults without disabilities.

The post ‘Not in My Head’: Addressing ableism in mental health services for people with disabilities appeared first on Yale Daily News.

The Bright Bodies Program, which runs multiple 10 to 12-week sessions annually, engages both children and their families. The program utilizes the Smart Moves Weight Management Curriculum, an approach to weight loss prioritizing knowledge-based behavioral change rather than dieting.

“We want to teach kids how to make permanent, healthy lifestyle changes,” said Mary Savoye-DeSanti, founder of the Bright Bodies Program and author of the Smart Moves curriculum. “We really respect where each family’s coming from, and work with the resources they have.”

The Smart Moves curriculum consists of four components: nutrition education, behavioral modification, physical activity and parental support. Children enrolled in the program meet twice per week to exercise and attend classes. When suitable, caregivers are encouraged to attend classes with their children and parental support groups.

The program’s non-diet approach to weight management focuses on teaching skills and behaviors that allow kids to develop healthy habits and make better food choices in any situation. Nutrition lessons are taught with the understanding that different families have different resources and foods available — the priority is placed on flexibility and improvement over perfection.

“There’s lots of parent support which is excellent,” Mark Ceneri, whose son is enrolled in the program, said. “It’s hard enough raising kids anyways, and this is one more layer that’s woven into that complexity. It’s nice to be sharing that with other parents and to bounce ideas and strategies off other individuals.”

The last meeting of the past year was divided into two parts — for the physical activity portion, kids played classic physical education games, like tag or sharks and minnows. In the nutrition education portion, kids and caregivers learned how to read and interpret nutrition labels.

Kids were excited to be running around with their peers and equally enthusiastic about answering questions during the class section, with no shortage of hands raised in response to every question. 

Caregivers said that the program had positively impacted their own parenting styles and their children’s approaches to food and healthy eating.

“He’s a lot more conscious about what he eats and the content of what he’s eating,” Willian Whitehead, describing his 11-year-old grandchild enrolled in the program, said. “He loves this. He’s the one that gets on me about being on time getting here. He enjoys it immensely.”

The meetings take place at the medical center on 1 Long Wharf Drive.

The post Bright Bodies program promotes healthy lifestyle choices for children appeared first on Yale Daily News.

Urology has traditionally been a male-dominated field. Women have been underrepresented in urology in both practice and research, with very few practicing female physicians compared to male physicians and research in the field largely centered on the male urinary tract.

Rickey has spent her career fighting against this underrepresentation on both fronts. She specializes in urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic surgery, a relatively young field combining urology and gynecology to gain more comprehensive insight into the female pelvic floor as a whole. 

Having been the only female faculty member in multiple urology departments, Rickey emphasized the importance of having women on staff in any workplace. Her path to professorship has been shaped by hard work, support from friends, family, colleagues and mentors and a willingness to throw herself into new things with full force.

“She was a terrific clinical urologist and a very good surgeon,” said Robert Flanigan, the chair of Rickey’s urology residency training program. “But the most remarkable thing that all of us saw about Leslie was her ability to develop tremendous relationships with her peers and patients and all the people she comes in contact with.”

Rickey did not always imagine herself going into healthcare. When receiving her undergraduate degree at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, her interests in volunteer work and biology had steered her towards public health. The idea of becoming a doctor and taking responsibility for the lives of others seemed daunting and foreign. 

However, when a friend asked her if she would consider it, she said she found herself thinking, “maybe I can do this.”

She went on to receive a dual masters’ and doctorate from the Tulane School of Public Health. Though she went in with the intention of studying medicine or pediatrics, she found herself drawn to procedural and surgical specialities, especially enjoying her time spent in her clinical rotation doing urology.

“My mindset is always first, I’ll try it,” Rickey said. “If I don’t like it, I can switch. If it doesn’t go well, I’ll find something else, but I think I can do this, and I’m just going to try it, I’m going to give it my best, and we’ll see how it goes. And I think that’s how I’ve approached most of these things.”

Rickey emphasized that seeing the kind and supportive people around her while training in urology was a large part of why she chose to specialize in the field. She completed her residency at Loyola University in Chicago, noting that Loyola’s track record for training women caused her to gravitate towards the program and that the experience of being surrounded by female colleagues made her residency experience a positive one. 

After finishing residency, Rickey remained at Loyola for their urogynecology reconstructive surgery fellowship, which would be her first exposure to the multispecialty field of urogynecology. 

“She really distinguished herself with her ability to work collaboratively with people and to deflect conflicts that can easily arise when under stress,” said Linda Brubaker, the division chair of the urogynecology fellowship training program. “She gravitates towards solutions, not towards conflicts.”

In Rickey’s view, having gynecology and urology specialists working together in the same division is essential for treating women. Many treatments for urinary issues had been developed considering only men, then applied to women without fully considering the differences in pelvic structures. The combined division allowed Rickey and her colleagues to approach women’s urinary issues with a more comprehensive perspective on women’s pelvic regions as a whole.

Upon completing her fellowship, Rickey began working in the University of Maryland’s urology department. There, she pioneered treatment for women with pelvic prolapse using robotic surgery. 

“No one was doing it. I was not even doing that. So she sort of took it upon herself to go at what, at that time, was a fairly new thing,” Toby Chai, who mentored Rickey at the University of Maryland, said.

In 2013, Rickey joined Yale’s urology department. When she joined, she was again the only female faculty in the department, but in the years since has seen multiple other women join the department. 

At Yale, she continues her intersectional work between urology and gynecology as the director of the Urogynecology and Pelvic Reconstructive Surgery fellowship program.

She continues to make progress in the prevention of lower urinary tract symptoms for women, an area in which there has been very little preventative research as well as very little education — resulting in many women suffering in silence. Rickey is working towards finding treatments and making the discussion of women’s urinary health more accessible and open. 

“I really love every single part of what I do, so that makes it easier to put in the long days and the hard work,” Rickey said.

Urology officially became a department within the School of Medicine in 2012.

Correction, Jan. 15: An earlier version of this story misstated Dr. Rickey’s undergraduate institution.

The post PROFILE: Leslie Rickey, Yale’s first female urology professor appeared first on Yale Daily News.

The New Haven line of the Metro-North Railroad carries passengers from the State Street and Union stations down the coast of the Long Island Sound to Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan. The new SC42-DM locomotives will upgrade and replace the railroad’s existing P32 models currently used for trains serving Poughkeepsie, Southeast, Danbury and Waterbury. The MTA promises increased reliability and decreased environmental impact with the introduction of the new models.

“I think it’s a good thing,” Pat McGovern, who takes the Metro-North multiple times a week in order to get to work in New York, said. “I assume other countries have done this with some success, so I’m sure it will work here. Any improvement is good.”

The new models will operate on electric power through all 102 miles of the line’s third rail territory — which extends to Croton-Harmon, Southeast and Pelham — while previous models only operated in electric mode in the four miles through the Grand Central Terminal tunnels. Additionally, when operating in diesel mode, the new models will cut airborne pollutants by over 85 percent.

Reliability will also be upgraded through “new state-of-the-art monitoring and diagnostic systems,” which will allow crews to spot possible problems more quickly, according to a Metropolitan Train Association press release.

“The change to electric, I think it’s wonderful,” Susan MacDonald, who lives in Branford and is an occasional rider on the Metro-North, said. “I don’t know all the ins and outs of trains, but I’m thinking it will be better, cleaner.”

Residents in New Haven rely on the Metro-North railroad for transport to and from New York, with an annual ridership of approximately 28.7 million in 2023.

Many passengers were unaware of the planned implementation of the new models, and some passengers expressed concerns about the changes.

“I’m wondering, will there be any safety issues with regards to storms if they’re going electric?” Kayann Anthony, a New Haven resident who rides the Metro-North every weekday to get to work, said. “I’m not a fan of electric anyway, I don’t really feel like it saves the environment.”

In total, 33 locomotives will eventually be used on the railroad. 27 of these will be funded by the MTA, while the remaining six will be funded by the Connecticut Department of Transportation. The dual-mode locomotives are being built by Siemens Mobility in Sacramento, California under a $414 million contract awarded in March 2021.

The first two of the new locomotives are expected to be placed into passenger service in early 2025.

The post Riders anticipate Metro-North Railroad electric trains appeared first on Yale Daily News.

Yale New Haven Hospital’s — YNHH’s — Mobile Mammography and Breast Imaging Unit was the first mobile unit in the country to offer both 3D mammography and breast ultrasound screening services. The three-room van contains state-of-the-art machinery, delivering the same quality of care as the hospital directly to patients across Connecticut. It provides screening services five days a week, each day from a different location. 

“We knew there were disparities that continue today, which is why we offer this service to patients in the community,” Jacquelyn Crenshaw, manager of the mammography unit, said. “We are actually out in the community, and also allow patients a shorter wait to get an appointment.”

The American Cancer Society recommends women to start mammogram screening at age 40 — or younger if the patient has a strong family history of breast cancer — and get one at least every two years. However, one in four women do not receive their recommended biannual mammogram. Barriers to receiving mammograms include social isolation, job loss, food or housing insecurity, health care costs and lack of reliable transportation. 

The mammography van intends to reduce the burden of transportation by providing access to breast cancer screening from more accessible locations. The van is often stationed outside of Stop & Shop locations and community centers. It also partners with corporations, allowing employees to easily schedule appointments during breaks in the workday. It has also provided its services to the women’s prison in Danbury.

Dr. Andrea Silber, a professor at the School of Medicine and associate director for clinical research at the Center for Community Engagement and Health Equity, emphasized the importance of the mammography van providing communities with the same level of care as provided by the hospital.

“A lot of times mammography units will just have mammography without ultrasound,” Silber said. “If someone has dense breast tissue, they need an ultrasound as well. If you’re not going to do that out in the community, people aren’t getting as thorough an exam as they would if they came to the hospital.”

The hospital had had a mobile mammography program since 1987 but only provided 2D mammography until 2020 when it was outfitted with 3D mammography and breast ultrasound machinery. 

The News spoke with multiple patients after their appointments in the mobile unit, while the van was stationed in the parking lot of the IKEA on Sargent Drive. Many expressed satisfaction with the convenience in location as well as the speed of appointments carried out in the mobile unit, in comparison with typical hospital wait times.

“I’m in and out in no time. I don’t have to wait at Smilow. I don’t have to drive far. It’s nice and close and convenient,” Tara Kelly, a New Haven resident in her third year of receiving mammograms from the mobile unit said. “When I call [to schedule a mammography], I always request the van.”

Jeanne Tinari, who works at the School of Medicine, described the ease of parking outside the mobile unit compared to the hospital parking lot and the convenience of getting her mammography so close to her workplace. Linda Greene, from New Haven, remarked that she would be able to make her first meeting of the day thanks to the speed of the appointment. 

In addition to providing screening services, the mobile unit also serves as a vessel for breast cancer prevention education and outreach, advertising a monthly “Ask the Doctor” event hosted over Zoom by Silber that allows patients to freely inquire about breast cancer risks and effective prevention.

About 40 million screening mammograms are performed each year in the United States.

Correction, Nov. 16: The article has been updated with a corrected date and screening recommendations.

The post “Mammo-van” provides quick and accessible breast cancer screening appeared first on Yale Daily News.