Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies

Current COVID-19 Related Research and Initiatives
IHPS faculty are responding to policy challenges raised by the COVID-19
 pandemic with rapid-cycle research and technical assistance.
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Harold S. Luft Mentoring Award
We are delighted to announce that Mary Whooley, MD has been selected as this year's recipient of the Harold S. Luft Award for Mentoring in Health Services and Health Policy Research, awarded by the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies.
Harold S. Luft Mentoring Award
New IHPS Fellow
Sarah B. Garrett, PhD, is a new Fellow at the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies. As a Fellow, Sarah will focus on the implementation and effects of interventions intended to reduce maternal mortality in the U.S., particularly among communities disproportionately affected by it.
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Featured Story -

One-third of young adults may be at risk of severe COVID-19, especially if they smoke or vape

Image of Smoke from CigarettesOne-third of young people across the country may be at risk of getting seriously sick with COVID-19, especially if they smoke or vape, according to a UCSF study that was published in the Journal of Adolescent Health by authors Sally H. Adams, M. Jane Park, Jason P. Schaub, Claire D. Brindis, and Charles E. Irwin Jr.

Smoking was the most common risk factor for severe COVID-19 complications among otherwise largely healthy young people, the study found.

“I think most young adults don’t think they’re at risk,” said senior author Dr. Charles Irwin Jr., director of the UCSF Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine. “To me, that was shocking to find that smoking contributed so much to being at risk. ... It’s a message that you might be able to do something about.”

Read more: https://www.sfchronicle.com/health/article/One-third-of-young-adults-may-at-risk-of-severe-15403103.php

Sponsoring Institution Interests, Not National Plans, Shape Physician Workforce in the United States

Family Medicine Abstact

Diane R. Rittenhouse, Alexandra S. Ament, Kevin Grumbach

Family Medicine
Published Online: 7/16/2020

Graduate medical education (GME) determines the composition and distribution of the physician workforce in the United States. Federal and state governments heavily subsidize GME but in most cases do not tie subsidies to national or state physician workforce goals. As a result, GME sponsoring institutions (eg, teaching hospitals, schools of medicine, federally qualified health centers) decide how many and what type of physicians to train. The objective of this study was to better understand the factors that influence decision-making by sponsoring institutions.

Read more: https://journals.stfm.org/familymedicine/online-first/rittenhouse-2020-0088/

Transnational corporations, obesity and planetary health

lancet journal abstract imageLaura Schmidt, Melissa Mialon,
Cristin Kearns, and Eric Crosbie

The Lancet (July, 2020)

 The Lancet Commission on obesity calls for a reframed understanding of obesity, undernutrition, and climate change as a global syndemic of interconnected crises with common societal drivers. Within low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), research and advocacy on how transnational food and beverage corporations are impacting obesity and undernutrition is growing. These discussions should be expanded to include the industry's impacts on environment. Internal industry documents found in the University of California San Francisco's Food Industry Documents Library, in combination with publicly available ones, show that Coca-Cola is almost as concerned about its role in water scarcity as it is about obesity in LMICs, especially Colombia. Although keeping these two issues separate is in the company's interests, linking them is in the best interests of public health.

Read more: https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lanplh/PIIS2542-5196(20)30146-7.pdf