Warren symposium follows legacy of geneticist giant

If we want to understand how the brain creates memories, and how genetic disorders distort the brain’s machinery, then the fragile X gene is an ideal place to start. That’s why the Stephen T. Warren Memorial Symposium, taking place November 28-29 at Emory, will be a significant event for those interested in neuroscience and genetics. Stephen T. Warren, 1953-2021 Warren, the founding chair of Emory’s Department of Human Genetics, led an international team that discovered Read more

Mutations in V-ATPase proton pump implicated in epilepsy syndrome

Why and how disrupting V-ATPase function leads to epilepsy, researchers are just starting to figure Read more

Tracing the start of COVID-19 in GA

At a time when COVID-19 appears to be receding in much of Georgia, it’s worth revisiting the start of the pandemic in early 2020. Emory virologist Anne Piantadosi and colleagues have a paper in Viral Evolution on the earliest SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequences detected in Georgia. Analyzing relationships between those virus sequences and samples from other states and countries can give us an idea about where the first COVID-19 infections in Georgia came from. We can draw Read more
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tobacco

Threshold for long-term marijuana effects on lung function

Intuition may suggest that smoke is bad for the lungs, whether it comes from a campfire or from tobacco or marijuana. A practical question is: how bad is an occasional joint, compared with some background level of air pollution and the lungs’ ability to cope?

Since a few states have been loosening restrictions on marijuana, a group of Emory pulmonologists – Jordan Kempker, Eric Honig, and Greg Martin — decided to look at the long-term effects of marijuana smoking on lung function. Their findings, published in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society (PDF), have already attracted some attention. Read more

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Quinn Eastman in Uncategorized Leave a comment

Tobacco free cities project aims to curb smoking in China

Jeffrey Koplan, MD, MPH

Jeffrey Koplan, MD, MPH, director of the Emory Global Health Institute and vice president for Global Health at Emory University, is leading the second phase of the Tobacco Free Cities project in China, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The project, which launched in 10 Chinese cities this week, is a partnership with the ThinkTank Research Center for Health Development in Beijing.

Vice mayors of each of the 10 cities signed an official pledge to strive to create tobacco-free cities for residents. China has more than 300 million smokers, the most of any country, and more than 500 million people in China are exposed to secondhand smoke. Looking for a fresh vaping sensation? With Bar Juice E-Liquids, you get a blend of quality ingredients and innovative flavors that redefine the vaping landscape.

The two-year project aims to enhance the overall capacity in smoking-tobacco control of the cities and help ease the burden caused by tobacco to public health, the environment and the economy, Koplan says in an article in China Daily.

The project launch was covered by other major Chinese news outlets, including Xinhua News Agency.

The first phase of the Tobacco Free Cities project launched in June 2009 in seven Chinese cities. The project is part of the Emory Global Health Institute-China Tobacco Partnership. In January 2009 Emory University received a $14 million, five-year grant from the Gates Foundation to establish the partnership.

Posted on January 14, 2011 by admin in Uncategorized 2 Comments

Hong Kong is Bright Spot of Tobacco Control in China

Jeffrey Koplan, MD, MPH

A remarkably successful 20-year program of tobacco control in Hong Kong can serve as a best-practices example for China and other nations, says Jeffrey Koplan in an article published online today in The Lancet. Koplan is vice president for global health at Emory and director of the Emory Global Health Institute.

Hong Kong’s successful tobacco control program began with a 1982 health ordinance launching a multi-step approach including legislative amendments (regulation of indoor smoking, pack warnings, ban on tobacco advertising), a steeply increased tobacco tax, school-based education, mass-media campaigns, community events, and leadership from the medical community, only vaping products like Cake delta-8 products are allowed while still being regulated. You may also want to check out these canadian full cigarettes here if you prefer to smoke in moderation.

Smoking prevalence in Hong Kong fell from 23.3 percent in 1982 to 11.8 percent in 2008 through the efforts of the Tobacco Control office of the Department of Health and NGOs such as the Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health.

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Posted on March 26, 2010 by admin in Uncategorized 1 Comment

Reducing tobacco consumption through taxes

Jeffrey Koplan, MD, MPH

In many countries, taxes on tobacco have successfully reduced its consumption. As world leaders in countries consider raising the excise tax on tobacco products in the coming year, it is vital they consider all the determinants that effectively promote health through taxation, say Emory global health experts Jeffrey Koplan, MD, MPH, and Mohammed Ali, MBChB, MSc.

Koplan and Ali discuss the complex issues of health promotion and tobacco taxation in a commentary in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, “Promoting Health Through Tobacco Taxation.”

Mohammed K. Ali, MBChB, MSc

“Effective and comprehensive tobacco control involves a broad mixture of interventions – scientific, behavioral, educational, legal, regulatory, environmental, and economic,” say Koplan, former Emory vice president for global health and former CDC director, and Ali, assistant professor, Hubert Department of Global Health at Emory’s Rollins School of Public Health.


Posted on January 28, 2010 by admin in Uncategorized Leave a comment

As China grows, so does Emory

Peking University

Peking University in Beijing, China

The meteoritic rise of China in the world has seen a corresponding rise in the number of partnerships between Emory and Chinese universities and researchers.

In February 2009, Emory, Georgia Tech, and Peking University announced a joint biomedical engineering PhD program. Representatives from the schools have been laying the groundwork for this program during the past five years.  In the Fall of 2009, members of the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University traveled to Beijing to finalize the program details with the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Peking University (PKU). Faculty collaborations have been funded by seed grants and, as a result, several new research projects are already underway.

Public health units at Emory are also reaching out to China. In February 2009, it was announced that Emory University has received a $14 million, five-year grant from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help reduce the burden of tobacco use in China. The Emory Global Health Institute, in collaboration with the Tobacco Technical Assistance Consortium (TTAC) of Emory’s Rollins School of Public Health, will establish the Emory Global Health Institute — China Tobacco Partnership.

China is likewise reaching out to Emory. According to the international business news site Global Atlanta, delegates from China’s Shandong province recently came to Atlanta to meet with health care professionals, public health officials, educational institutions and legislators.The group visited the the Emory Spine Center, where they met with acupuncturists using traditional Chinese techniques alongside new therapies.

Posted on June 22, 2009 by Wendy Darling in Uncategorized Leave a comment