Project Categories

After the Walls Came Tumbling Down: The Health Legacy of the 1960s Civil Rights Era in a Southern Community

Award Year: 2008 Investigator: Sherman James
During the years immediately following the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, gaps in health and access to medical care between black and white Americans began to narrow. How did civil rights legislation and newly created social programs help lead to those health improvements? Sherman A. James, Ph.D. probes this question in his project, After the Walls Came Tumbling Down: The Health Legacy of the 1960's Civil Rights Era in a Southern Community.

The Sweetening of a Nation: The History, Politics and Health Effects of Sugar and High-Fructose Corn Syrup

Award Year: 2008 Investigator: Gary Taubes
Over the last 150 years, Americans have increased their intake of sugar and high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) dramatically, so that caloric sweeteners now comprise 20 to 25 percent of the calories we consume. While most experts agree that such large amounts of either sugar or HFCS are bad for our health and should be avoided, we still don't know if they can lead to obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Gary Taubes, M.S.E., M.A.

History Informing Public Health Preparedness Policy in the 21st Century: A Qualitative Study of Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions and Community Experiences during the 1918-1919 Influenza Pandemic

Award Year: 2007 Investigator: Howard Markel, Alexandra Minna Stern
The influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 was the deadliest contagious calamity in human history, killing 650,000 people in the United States and 50 million worldwide. But the pandemic's effects varied geographically - some communities were devastated while others suffered few if any deaths. To learn why, Howard Markel, M.D., Ph.D., F.A.A.P. and Alexandra Minna Stern, Ph.D., conduct a comprehensive review of the strategies used by 43 U.S. cities during the 1918-1919 flu epidemic.

Hospitalists and American Medicine: A Quantitative History of a New Medical Specialty

Award Year: 2007 Investigator: David Meltzer
The emergence of hospitalists - physicians who specialize in the medical care of hospitalized patients - represents a major transformation in the practice of modern American medicine. Over the past decade, the field has grown from a few hundred physicians to more than 20,000. David O. Meltzer, M.D., Ph.D.