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Drugs such as Wegovy may help reduce waistlines, but they do not lower medical costs, according to an analysis of U.S. health insurance claims shared with Reuters. These findings align with research by DPHS Associate Professor Valerie Smith, DrPH, published in the Annals of Surgery, which also revealed that bariatric surgery patients did not experience a decrease in overall long-term expenses despite having lower medication costs compared to matched controls.

Dr. Katie Collins ’15, the recipient of this year’s Pfeiffer University Presidential Merit Award, has begun uncovering some intriguing answers as a researcher in the Department of Population Health Sciences at the prestigious Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, N.C. The answers support a general philosophy proclaimed on her Duke web page: “The first rule of getting in shape: Don’t quit.”

Duke Department of Population Health Sciences Assistant Professor Charles Muiruri, PhD, has been honored with the 2024 Duke HIV/AIDS Interdisciplinary Research Training Program in AIDS (IRTPA) T32 Outstanding Leadership in Scientific Mentoring Award.

Ben Ncube, MBA, a first-year master’s student in the Duke Department of Population Health Sciences, has been honored with two prestigious awards in Zimbabwe for his groundbreaking work in men’s health and the development of a 9-point system to improve service uptake.  

Elizabeth Rojo's path to the DPHS PhD in Population Health Sciences program has been anything but linear. Born in Mexico and raised between Michoacan and the Bay Area, Elizabeth's background and experiences have shaped her academic and professional journey. She has worked internationally, co-developing and growing projects in Mexico, Tanzania, Ghana, and the U.S. With over a decade of experience within the University of California system, her work has spanned areas such as HIV, emergency medicine, global health education, minority aging, and COVID-19 workforce development training.

Throughout her diverse career in nursing, information technology, and nonprofits, Iori Yamasaki developed a belief that the information contained in medical records could be utilized more effectively. This conviction fueled her journey to the DPHS MS in Population Health Sciences program, where she concentrated on learning methods to manage and analyze large data sets. Underpinning this focus was an interest in the health issues associated with an aging society, a particularly pressing concern in her home country of Japan. Graduating in May 2024, Iori now works for a company in Japan that develops various electronic systems, including electronic medical records. Prior to her MS degree, Iori earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the Japanese Red Cross Kyushu International College of Nursing.

Meet Latesha K. Harris, BSN, RN, an alum of Duke University's Department of Population Health Sciences (DPHS) 2022 BRIDGE Program cohort. As a first-generation college graduate and the first nurse in her family to pursue a doctoral degree, Latesha's journey is a testament to her dedication, resilience, and passion for healthcare. Her story is one of breaking barriers and striving for excellence in nursing and health services research.

Duke University’s Office of Biomedical Graduate Education (OBGE) has announced the results of its annual student feedback analysis on several graduate-level programs administered at the School of Medicine. This year, four instructors and four courses in the Department of Population Health Sciences (DPHS) were recognized for their exceptional performance and commitment.

DPHS' Valerie Smith, DrPH, and her Duke University and Durham Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center co-authors recently found that intervening to reduce alcohol use is associated with a lower likelihood that an individual will receive a new opioid prescription or develop an opioid use disorder.

The following list of publications highlights the breadth and depth of the published research from DPHS experts from February to April 2024. For your convenience, the articles are organized by category and include the names of DPHS co-authors who contributed to the work. Click on the title links to delve into the full articles, and consider sharing these insights with your colleagues.