RWJF Scholars Named 2009-2010 White House Fellows

The White House announced the appointment of 15 outstanding men and women to serve as White House Fellows in 2009-2010, including two current RWJF scholars: Clinical Scholar Anish Mahajan, M.D., M.P.H., and Health & Society Scholar Mehret Mandefro, M.D., M.Sc. Mahajan, an internist and health services researcher, is committed to the ideal that health policy formulation should be informed by scientific evidence and stakeholder engagement. He has led innovative research collaborations between academic, government and relevant stakeholder organizations on an array of domestic and international health policy issues. Mandefro, a primary care physician and HIV prevention researcher, conducts research that addresses the intersection of violence prevention and HIV prevention and the application of digital media in translating research. 

Scholars in Health Policy Research Alums Serving on Council of Economic Advisors

Michael Greenstone, Ph.D., a cohort 5 Scholar in Health Policy Research and professor (on leave) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Scott Adams, Ph.D., a cohort 7 Scholar and professor (on leave) at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, are serving on President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers. Greenstone is serving as chief economist, and Adams is serving as senior economist for Labor, Education and Welfare.

Clinical Scholar and Investigator Awardee Alum Named to Time’s Top 100

Nicholas Christakis, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D., a Clinical Scholar alum (1991-1993) and Investigator Award in Health Policy Research winner alum (2000) was named to Time Magazine’s 100 most Influential People list. Other honorees included President Obama, Sen. Edward Kennedy and Paul Krugman.

Health & Society Scholar Quoted in Washington Post Article about the Projects

Patrick Sharkey, Ph.D., a Health & Society Scholar (2007-2009) and assistant professor at New York University, was quoted in the June 16 Washington Post about how public housing residents are poorer, more isolated and less educated than they were in the 1960s when Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor lived in a Bronx public housing project. Sharkey notes that it is “extremely rare” today to rise out of the projects to become highly successful.

Investigator Award Winner’s Work Cited in LA Times Op-Ed on Pot Legalization

Jonathan Caulkins, Ph.D., a 2005 Investigator in Health Policy Research Award winner and professor at Carnegie Mellon, was cited in a June 7 Los Angeles Times editorial by Kevin Sabet, a consultant who previously worked in the Office of the National Drug Control Policy during the Clinton and Bush administrations. In making his case for why marijuana should remain illegal, Sabet refers to Caulkins’ research finding that more than 85 percent of the people in prison for all drug-law violations were clearly involved in drug distribution, and that only half a percent of the total prison population was there for marijuana possession. As a result, Caulkins’ concludes that marijuana decriminalization would have almost no impact on prison populations.

Investigator Award Winner Quoted in LA Times Article on Deep Brain Stimulation

Joseph Fins, M.D., a 2006 Investigator Award winner and a professor at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, was quoted in the June 1 Los Angeles Times about how the Food and Drug Administration may have acted too soon in approving deep brain stimulation for severe obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Investigator Award Winner Quoted in NYT about Birthing Videos on YouTube

Eugene Declercq, Ph.D., a 2004 Investigator Award Winner and professor at Boston University, was quoted in an article in the June 11 New York Times about the increasing preponderance of birthing videos on YouTube. Declercq notes that women logging onto YouTube to watch birthing videos is a natural inclination, given that up to 150 years ago, women regularly attended their sisters, cousins and neighbors when they gave birth.

Investigator Awardee Pens NYTs Article Comparing 1952 Typhoid Outbreak to Flu 

Barron Lerner, M.D., Ph.D., a 2003 Investigator Award winner and professor at Columbia University Medical Center, wrote a June 16 article published in the New York Times about how the current flu has some similarities to a 1952 typhoid outbreak at a Jewish summer camp outside of New York.