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Our mission is to understand and intervene on the social determinants of health and health equity across the life-course.

Email sbs@hsph.harvard.edu

Phone 617-432-1135

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677 Huntington Avenue, Kresge Building
Boston, MA 02115

News

Child & Maternal Health March 18, 2015

Advertising’s toxic effect on eating and body image

March 18, 2015 — People often claim to ignore advertisements, but the messages are getting through on a subconscious level, pioneering author and ad critic Jean Kilbourne told an audience…
Global Health November 22, 2013

‘Widowhood effect’ greatest in first three months

New research led by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) found that the so-called ‘widowhood effect’—an increased chance of dying after a spouse dies—is greatest in the first three months…

In the Media
May 5, 2013

Q&A: The science of irrationality

[ Spring 2013 ] Why we act against our own best interests Human beings act irrationally. This long-established observation, corroborated now by the burgeoning field of behavioral economics—which studies the…
Child & Maternal Health May 18, 2011

Selective abortion of girls appears common throughout India

Over the past decade, an increasing number of families in India appear to be aborting their second child if prenatal tests indicate the child is female, presumably to ensure that…

In the Media
Chronic Diseases December 15, 2010

Happiness & health

[ Winter 2011] The biology of emotion—and what it may teach us about helping people to live longer. Could a sunny outlook mean fewer colds and less heart disease? Do…
Health Policy May 15, 2008

Guns and suicide: A fatal link

[ Spring 2008 ] In the United States, suicides outnumber homicides almost two to one. Perhaps the real tragedy behind suicide deaths—about 30,000 a year, one for every 45 attempts—is…