Threats to health insurance gains in the U.S.: What’s ahead and what can we do?
Progress toward equitable healthcare in the United States is threatened by the expiration at the end of 2025 of marketplace subsidies, and proposals likely to come from the new administration to reduce eligibility for Medicaid coverage. Come to this joint SBS and HPM session to learn more about these threats and what can be done to protect health insurance coverage.
Our speakers will be John McDonough, Professor of the Practice of Health Policy in the Department of Health Policy and Management, and Amy Rosenthal (MPH ’01), Executive Director of Health Care for All, the Massachusetts consumer organization that advocates for health justice by working to promote health equity and ensure coverage and access for all.
Speaker Information
John McDonough
Amy Rosenthal
Organizers
Generative AI in Action: Pathways to Health Equity
Join us for an SBS seminar exploring the integration of generative AI in public health and its potential to advance health equity. This event will feature Mollie Williams (Executive Director, The Family Van and Mobile Health Map) who will discuss her work providing healthcare to underserved communities; Deane Eastwood (Chief Information Officer at HSPH), who will share insights on the use of Generative AI tools at Harvard, and Melinda Mastan (HSB-65 student, HSPH), will present on her work supporting an AI chatbot initiative focused on maternal and child health.
Speaker Information
Mollie Williams
Deane Eastwood
Melinda Mastan
Organizers
The Global Flourishing Study
Abstract: The Global Flourishing Study is a longitudinal panel study of over 200,000 participants in 22 geographically and culturally diverse countries, spanning all six populated continents, with nationally representative sampling and intended annual survey data collection for 5 years to assess numerous aspects of flourishing and its possible determinants. The study is intended to expand our knowledge of the distribution and determinants of flourishing around the world. Relations between a composite flourishing index and numerous demographic characteristics are reported. Participants were also surveyed about their childhood experiences, which were analyzed to determine their associations with subsequent adult flourishing. Analyses are presented both across and within countries, and discussion is given as to how the demographic and childhood relationships vary by country and which patterns appear to be universal versus culturally specific. Brief comment is also given on the results of a whole series of papers in the Global Flourishing Study Special Collection, employing similar analyses, but with more-specific aspects of well-being. The Global Flourishing Study expands our knowledge of the distribution and determinants of well-being and provides foundational knowledge for the promotion of societal flourishing.
Bio: Tyler J. VanderWeele, Ph.D., is the John L. Loeb and Frances Lehman Loeb Professor of Epidemiology in the Departments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Director of the Human Flourishing Program and Co-Director of the Initiative on Health, Spirituality, and Religion at Harvard University. He holds degrees from the University of Oxford, University of Pennsylvania, and Harvard University in mathematics, philosophy, theology, finance, and biostatistics. His methodological research is focused on theory and methods for distinguishing between association and causation in the biomedical and social sciences and, more recently, on psychosocial measurement theory. His empirical research spans psychiatric and social epidemiology; the science of happiness and flourishing; and the study of religion and health. He is the recipient of the 2017 Presidents’ Award from the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies (COPSS).
Speaker Information
Tyler VanderWeele, PhD
Organizers
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Quantitative Bias Analysis: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Abstract: Quantitative bias analysis encompasses all methods used to estimate the direction, magnitude, and uncertainty from non-randomized research. Many of these methods have been well known for decades, but are still not routinely implemented. This talk will review the methods, their utility, where there are shortcomings, and how they are sometimes used (intentionally or unintentionally) against their best purposes.
Bio: Timothy L. Lash is the O. Wayne Rollins Distinguished Professor of Epidemiology and Chair of the Department of Epidemiology at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, and Associate Director of Population Science at Emory’s Winship Cancer Institute. His research focuses on predictive and prognostic markers of breast, prostate, and colorectal cancer recurrence. His longstanding collaborations in Denmark have involved multiple projects to study molecular markers of recurrence and to study whether concomitant use of prescription drugs affect recurrence risk. He is currently funded by the US NCI to begin adding recurrence data to the Georgia Cancer Registry. Dr. Lash’s methodological interest focuses on developing and implementing methods to quantify the influence of systematic errors on epidemiologic research. Funding from the National Library of Medicine supports his work to develop methods that quantify the influence of systematic errors on the reproducibility of epidemiologic study results. He teaches a course on quantitative bias analysis and leads the doctoral students’ journal club. He is Editor-in-Chief of EPIDEMIOLOGY, a leading general interest epidemiology journal, and coauthor of multiple editions of two epidemiology textbooks: Applying Quantitative Bias Analysis to Epidemiologic Research, 2nd edition and Modern Epidemiology, 4th edition.
Speaker Information
Timothy L. Lash, DSc, MPH
Organizers
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Dementia Risk and Prevention – Lessons from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Cohort
Abstract: Dementia is one of the leading threats to the health of our aging population. The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study contributed major insights by observing over 15,000 US adults since the late 1980s. We will discuss observations on the lifetime risk of dementia, the relationship of risk to vascular risk factors, insights into the to the biology of dementia by proteomics, brain imaging and blood brain biomarkers and their implications for prevention.
Bio: Dr. Coresh is the Founding Director of the Optimal Aging Institute and the Terry and Mel Karmazin Professor of Population Health and Medicine at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. The institute leverages epidemiologic cohorts to advance discovery, prevention and treatment of aging related diseases. Dr. Coresh continues to co-lead of the ARIC Neurocognitive Study (MPI: Coresh/Mosley. Chair: Gottesman) renewal (2023-2028) and CKD Prognosis Consortium (2023-2028; MPI: Coresh/grams) as well as start new initiatives. Dr. Coresh is an international expert in aging and vascular disease epidemiology of the brain, heart and kidney, using a range of epidemiology and data science methods. Dr. Coresh is among the most cited researcher having co-authored articles cited over 300,000 times according to Google Scholar. He received the top scientific and patient impact awards of the US National Kidney Foundation (Eknoyan and Hume awards) and American Society of Nephrology (Belding Scribner award). His devotion to mentorship was recognized by awards from Johns Hopkins University and the American Heart Association.
Speaker Information
Josef Coresh, MD, PhD
Organizers
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Excess Deaths: History of a Contested Concept
Abstract: The measure of “excess deaths” has become a familiar and important concept in epidemiology and health statistics, especially during crises when direct counts of mortality are complicated (e.g., COVID-19, heat waves and other natural disasters, etc.). While the measure is useful, and can be politically powerful, it is also problematic: methodological compromises inevitably expose the reported counts to contestation that often seeks to deny the seriousness of the health threat. I will explore the history of the concept of “excess deaths,” describing the challenges it hoped to solve, some of the competing measures (e.g., expected deaths), and the persistent debates. By understanding the history of the concept and the debates, it is possible to develop strategies for using the concept most effectively.
Bio: Trained in psychiatry and history of science, David Jones teaches history of medicine, medical ethics, and social medicine at Harvard University. His research has ranged from the history of epidemics to heart disease, cardiac therapeutics, race, air pollution, and the health effects of the climate crisis.
Speaker Information
David S. Jones, MD, PhD
Organizers
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We Are One: Learnings from Community Engagement
In this session, Dr. Balsari shares key findings from the research that inspired an interdisciplinary team of graduate students from across campus to explore novel ways of knowledge dissemination. Engagement with these poor, disadvantaged, but extremely empowered women set in motion a series of projects where scientists and policy makers responded to research priorities set by the community. Hum Sab Ek (We Are One) is the rallying cry of the 3 million strong organization, Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), comprising street vendors, home-based artisans, farmers, salt pan workers, ship breakers, and construction workers, amongst many others. It is also the name of the traveling exhibit that is now invited to the World Bank in DC and the ILO in Geneva.
Speaker Information
Dr. Satchit Balsari
Organizers
US Social Policies to Address Health Equity: Motivations, Impacts, and Challenges
Social policies have the potential to address health equity at the population level. This presentation describes the theoretical and practical motivations for studying the health impacts of social policies. It provides rigorous quasi-experimental evidence of the health impacts and implementation challenges of poverty alleviation and educational policies in particular. It additionally discusses the immediate policy implications of this research.
Speaker Information
Dr. Rita Hamad
Organizers
Complex Mixtures Working Group
Join the Harvard Chan NIEHS Center’s working group on complex mixtures, held the last Monday of each month in HSPH Bldg. 1, 1302!
This monthly working group meeting is held in person. Members discuss a wide range of issues related to analyzing health effects of complex mixtures of exposures in environmental health. During the 2025-2026 academic year, the group will also work through complex mixtures challenges faced by individual members.
Please email niehsctr@hsph.harvard.edu to RSVP!
Speaker Information
Organizers
Complex Mixtures Working Group
Join the Harvard Chan NIEHS Center’s working group on complex mixtures, held the last Monday of each month in HSPH Bldg. 1, 1302!
This monthly working group meeting is held in person. Members discuss a wide range of issues related to analyzing health effects of complex mixtures of exposures in environmental health. During the 2025-2026 academic year, the group will also work through complex mixtures challenges faced by individual members.
Please email niehsctr@hsph.harvard.edu to RSVP!