healthcare

The new era of healthcare reform is demanding a new hybrid in leadership: executives who can bridge the worlds of business and public healthcare policy.  To meet the growing needs of an ever more complex health care sector, Washington University in St. Louis is launching a new dual degree program.  The MBA/MPH degree will offer the best in business administration and public health to prepare tomorrow’s leaders in the field of healthcare.

Missouri is getting national attention with the Aug. 3 Proposition C referendum on  federal health care reform. But Timothy D. McBride, PhD, associate dean for public health at the Brown School, says no matter the outcome, the vote will have little impact on the new health care law.

Four WUSTL faculty have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society. The highest honor awarded by AAAS, the rank of fellow is bestowed upon members by their peers in recognition of scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications.

Shin-Ichiro Imai, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of developmental biology and of medicine, remains smiling while receiving a 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine Jan. 7 from Melanie Dill, a registered nurse for the Student and Employee Health Services at the School of Medicine. Despite an early morning snowstorm, many faculty, staff and students turned out to receive a vaccine. A vaccine clinic for Danforth Campus faculty, staff and students is planned for early February.

Families with overweight children are sought for a weight-loss study at the School of Medicine.

Lucie Tang, senior research engineer, died Jan. 11, 2010

Loeb Teaching Fellows applications sought

Obese patients who lost a moderate amount of weight by eating less and exercising more improved their cardiovascular health, new research at the School of Medicine shows.

The United States has attempted to pass major health reform legislation eight times in the last century, starting in the mid 1910s up through 1993-94 with the failed Clinton health reform effort. “Only once in that period was any legislation passed — in 1964-65 when Medicare and Medicaid were passed,” says Timothy McBride, Ph.D., associate dean of public health at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis. “Yet, for many reasons, I feel that it is much more likely that legislation will pass this year.” At this point, McBride believes that President Obama has the political support necessary to make health reform happen, and he has made it his top domestic priority. McBride has been active in testifying before Congress and consulting with important policy constituencies on Medicare, insurance and health policy issues. He is a member of the Rural Policy Research Institute Health Panel that provides expert advice on rural health issues to the U.S. Congress and other policymakers.

As the United States considers major health-care reforms, it may have lessons to learn from Seguro Popular, Mexico’s ambitious plan to improve health care for its estimated 50 million uninsured citizens.