The Mailman School of Public Health Reaches Out

Among an array of community initiatives from the Bronx to Brooklyn:

• Assessment of environmental hazards in northern Manhattan and the South Bronx, from exposure to lead, pesticides, and asbestos in homes to fumes and waste from diesel bus depots and West Harlem’s North River sewage treatment plant

• Studies of the effects of pollutants from the destruction of the World Trade Center on pregnant women and their infants in lower Manhattan

• Asthma education and services in northern Manhattan, where asthma rates are two to three times higher than the New York City average, through collaborations with community organizations and Columbia-affiliated Harlem Hospital

• Primary health care and reproductive health services for women and adolescents at family-planning clinics

• School-based education on topics from HIV prevention and overcoming substance abuse to decreasing early sexual activity and improving parenting

• Promotion of breast and colorectal cancer screening in underserved communities

• Research on the relationship between cancer and factors including diet, exercise, genetics, and the environment