The Burness Effect Blog

In this first-ever issue of a major public health journal devoted to Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander populations, an array of new research highlights alarming disparities.

One thing about the transformed world of news and information that is quite different from the past: you now have more opportunity than ever to get your story out. This is good news, and all it takes is a brief blog post—ideally with some photos or video. Check this out: The New York Times has started a blog, Scientists at Work allowing you to report about your own research in the field.

"It’s just one sign of many that U.S. government attitudes towards global health are changing. Like many at the second Partnering for Global Health Forum, I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next."

This month, the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement recognized two extraordinary conservationists grappling with precisely these issues. Dr. Laurie Marker of the Cheetah Conservation Fund and Dr. Stuart Pimm of Duke University will join environmental superstars like E.O. Wilson and Jane Goodall as Tyler Prize Laureates. (Burness works with the Tyler Prize.

Confronting America’s Primary Care Shortage

The shortage of primary care providers is well-publicized. But, as studies in the May issue of the health policy journal Health Affairs point out, recruiting more primary care doctors, nurse practitioners, and physician's assistants to fill that void is only part of the solution.

Next time you’re at a cocktail party and someone asks you “where do you work?” make sure you have a great answer—a memorable message about what your work means to me.

In a cleverly named piece ("We Have Met the Enemy and He Is PowerPoint"), Elisabeth Bumiller looks at the now infamous PowerPoint diagram of the United States' strategy in Afghanistan and the strong feelings about PowerPoint among the officers leading efforts abroad.

In Kenya, a New Media Generation

While many in Kenya still lack access to electricity, a vibrant blogging and social networking scene is emerging from Nairobi.

“We have to start seeing health information systems as a mainstream technology that is part and parcel of medical practice, not something that is appended to it as an afterthought, not something that’s imposed on it, but something that will very soon be integrated into it and indistinguishable from all the other work that physicians and other health professionals do every day.”

Two decades ago, the controversial decision to allow patents on human genes sparked a genetic gold rush. Corporations and universities rushed to file a flurry of claims on genes linked to specific diseases like breast cancer and Alzheimer's. Since then, the patents themselves have invited plenty of criticism, but recently it’s the exclusive licenses often granted to companies developing diagnostics tests that have come under fire as anticompetitive – and damaging to patient care.