School of Public Health and Health Sciences

Public Health Faculty Present at 135th APHA Annual Meeting

Three faculty members from the Department of Public Health, Division of Community Health Studies, presented their research at the 135th annual meeting of the American Public Health Association, held Nov. 4-7 in Washington, D.C.

Rosa Rodríguez-Monguio, Assistant Professor of Public Health, gave a paper focused on the analysis of the patent and pediatric exclusivity life of antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) and new molecular entities (NMEs) approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from 1987 to 2006.

The analysis was performed for the first and last patents listed in the Orange Book for each NME. The study found a statistically significant different in effective patent life of ARVs versus other therapeutic classes. ARVs had an average of 2.9 years more effective first patent life than other therapeutic classes. ARVs had an average of 2.8 years more effective last patent life than other therapeutic classes. Pharmaceutical companies marketing ARVs have more years of patent protection than other therapeutic classes in the U.S. and therefore a longer period without generic competition. The study was conducted in collaboration with Enrique Seoane-Vázquez, assistant professor at Ohio State University.

Michael Begay, chair and Associate Professor of Public Health, presented his research at a scientific session panel on “National Health Care: Heating Up in an Election Cycle,” sponsored by the Socialist Caucus. His research examined the politics of a failed effort by President Harry Truman from 1945-49 to enact compulsory health insurance. According to Begay, looking at what happened to Truman’s effort might further understanding of what conditions could have brought about national health insurance. To most individuals, the American policy process seems incomprehensible and partisan. But learning more about the past might help public health professional and advocates to move the nation toward enacting national health insurance, he said.

María Idalí Torres, Associate Professor of Public Health, was one of four speakers in a session sponsored by the APHA Equal Opportunity Committee. Presenters discussed the politics and policies of health disparities. Torres focused on the politics of culture in public health practice-based research and the relevance of anthropology and other social sciences in the production of new knowledge necessary for eliminating health disparities. She described the value of the structuralist approach as an integrated theoretical and methodological framework for participatory action research designed to capture the cultural, socio-historical and politico-economic dynamics of those affected by health disparities. Parts of her presentation are included in a paper scheduled to be published this year in Health Promotion Practice.