Health Impact Summer/Fall 2024

Welcome to the latest issue of Health Impact. I’m excited to share with you developments happening at UB and our School of Public Health and Health Professions in the field of artificial intelligence (AI).

The innovative collaboration between UB’s Center on Health in Housing and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has been a source of productive research and action for years now. But earlier this year, UB took center stage during a PAHO-sponsored webinar, streamed Americas-wide. 

Professor of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences David Hostler, PhD, doesn’t shy away from intensity. From the heat that firefighters face to the intense pressure under which many divers operate, the research he directs at the Center for Research and Education in Special Environments (CRESE) has always aimed to understand how people can stay safe and productive even in extreme surroundings.

As artificial intelligence shakes up the world, the University at Buffalo—and the School of Public Health and Health Professions—are gearing up to harness and advance this powerful technology for the greater good. The effort is benefiting from a major New York State initiative that places UB at the center of an innovative AI research program, which, ultimately, positions social good firmly as its baseline.

Elisa Bandera, MD, PhD, the 17th annual Saxon Graham Lecturer, has had her eye on the history of cancer prevention recommendations pretty much since her arrival in Buffalo–and the United States–in the early 1990s.

As Ginny Stoffel, PhD, transitioned from student to teacher, instructing occupational therapy students at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for the past 40 years, she realized compassion was vital to her success.

Energy drinks, artificial intelligence and allergy attacks were just some of the topics presented at this year’s Statistics Program Competition for high schoolers.

His interweaving of clinical practice, research and teaching might be the reason that Christopher Stavisky, PhD, was the recipient of SPHHP’s 2024 Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Read about the distinguished awards received by four SPHHP faculty members.

Rachel Hoopsick, PhD ‘19, MPH ‘13, MS ’12, always had an interest in human health, but her perspective shifted when she discovered public health during her undergraduate years.