Advances

YSPH recently debuted PopHIVE (Population Health Information and Visualization Exchange), a platform that puts near-real-time, reliable health data into the hands of researchers and the public. Codeveloped by Drs. Dan Weinberger, PhD, and Anne Zink, MD, PopHIVE is designed to help people see and act on population health trends, as it did with a recent look at RSV (respiratory syncytial virus). Writing on the PopHIVE Substack, the PopHIVE team explained how—when it looked at RSV, which can cause serious illness (many cases leading to hospitalization) in babies and older adults—the data revealed a hidden story. The team expected to see early signs of the outbreak in wastewater data. Instead, they found “in many states, including Michigan, emergency department visits increased before the wastewater signal did.”

The team expected to see early signs of the outbreak in wastewater data. Instead, they found “in many states, including Michigan, emergency department visits increased before the wastewater signal did.”

The story behind the trend

At first, this was puzzling—until the researchers looked at who was getting sick. Breaking down the emergency department data by age (see the example from New York) revealed the key:

• Young children were getting infected first (who are mostly in diapers, not contributing to sewage/ wastewater data).
• Older adults followed several weeks later.

That timing explains that clinical activity is largely driven by the early increase in cases in young children, while the wastewater signal is being driven by what is happening in the adult population.

This data platform gained national prominence during the government shutdown and continues to expand.

Find more PopHIVE Insights on the PopHIVE substack.

Well after the United States government declared the pandemic emergency over, COVID-19 continued causing about the same number of work absences every month as influenza does in its peak months. Looking to understand the virus’s lingering effects after the pandemic’s official end in May 2023, a team including Yale School of Public Health (YSPH) researchers studied weeklong work absences for health reasons and workers who were out of the labor force the month after such an absence. “We were told COVID is over and we don’t have to worry about COVID anymore, but perturbations in the labor market are persisting over time,” said Dr. Gregg Gonsalves, PhD ’17, YC ’11, associate professor of epidemiology (microbial diseases) and the paper’s senior author. Gonsalves hopes the research can be used to reduce workplace COVID transmissions through, for example, better ventilation and leave policies to prevent sick workers from infecting others.

Post-Pandemic COVID-19 linked with high numbers of workforce absences and exits

Enduring Outcomes of COVID-19 Work Absences on the US Labor Market, JAMA Network Open, October 2025

In the United States, extreme heat exposure has been linked to increases in premature deaths, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, suicide rates, and violent crime. A growing body of research additionally points to a connection between heat and fatal drug overdoses. People who use drugs may be especially vulnerable to the adverse health effects of heat exposure, said the study’s lead author Julia Dennett, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher at YSPH when the study was conducted. Some drug use can directly increase body temperature and impair an individual’s ability to recognize and respond to overheating. For example, respiratory depression associated with opioid use can disrupt the body’s compensatory efforts to cool down. What’s more, drug use can compound adverse effects of overheating. Both heat exposure and stimulant use, for instance, are independently associated with cardiovascular problems. Stimulant use in combination with heat exposure can exacerbate cardiovascular risk. Other coauthors were Dr. Daniel Carrión, PhD, MPH, assistant professor of epidemiology (environmental health), and Dr. Gregg Gonsalves, PhD ’17, YC ’11, associate professor of epidemiology (microbial diseases) and the paper’s senior author.

In the U.S., Rising Temperatures May Increase Overdose Deaths

Heat exposure and drug overdose mortality in the USA, Addiction, October 2025

Chinese doctors were less accurate at diagnoses than three chatbots, notably the popular AI tool ERNIE (Enhanced Representation through kNowledge IntEgration) Bot, a recent study found. ERNIE Bot had a 77.3% accuracy rate, far better than the 25% average for human doctors. The findings offer promise for improving access to care in regions where doctors and resources may be scarce. However, the study authors note that ERNIE Bot ordered unnecessary lab tests in 91.9% of cases and prescribed potentially inappropriate or harmful medications to 57.8% of patients. “Our f indings suggest that integrating AI into health care requires much more than technical accuracy,” said Dr. Xi Chen, PhD, associate professor of public health (health policy) at the Yale School of Public Health and a co-author of the study. “We must prioritize safety, equity, and human oversight if we want AI to strengthen global health systems.”

Rewards, risks with AI chatbots in chronic disease care

Quality safety and disparity of an AI chatbot in managing chronic diseases: simulated patient experiments, NPJ Digital Magazine, September 2025

In Sept. 2025, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. issued a warning about a potential link between acetaminophen (Tylenol) and autism. Yale School of Public Health Associate Professor Dr. Zeyan Liew, PhD, MPH, has spent years investigating contributors to neurodevelopmental disorders. He says that there is no proven causal relationship between acetaminophen use and autism. While prolonged use of acetaminophen during pregnancy may potentially be a risk to the fetus, the dangers of untreated maternal fevers and pain may pose a greater risk to the pregnancy and child development. “While we continue doing research, we also should not scare women away from taking needed medications,” Liew said.

What the research says about autism and acetaminophen use during pregnancy

Breastfeeding is the responsibility of society and not only the responsibility of women, said Dr. Rafael Pérez-Escamilla, PhD, an international expert on breastfeeding who co-authored a new National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) report that calls for an evidence-based national strategy to increase breastfeeding rates in the United States. The report provides the U.S. government with a roadmap for strengthening the implementation of such a strategy with strong input from diverse communities. According to Pérez-Escamilla, breastfeeding boosts an infant’s immune system and lowers the mother's risk of heart disease and diabetes. Although 85% of mothers in the U.S. choose to breastfeed, fewer than half manage to breastfeed for as long as they initially planned. Pérez-Escamilla’s report suggests that implementing an evidence-based national strategy would be the most effective way to increase breastfeeding rates in line with recommendations.

Report recommendations align with government effort to increase U.S. breastfeeding rates

To Improve Breastfeeding Rates in U.S., Report Recommends Creating National Strategy, Enacting Paid Federal Family and Medical Leave, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, September 2025

A report in the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Working Paper Series found that patient fees increased from 2008 to 2016 as hospital systems purchased more independent physician practices. This vertical integration has changed the structure of health care and, as a result, the ways in which insurers and patients pay for their services. Study co-author Dr. Zack Cooper, PhD, associate professor of public health (health policy); associate professor of economics; and associate professor in the Institution for Social and Policy Studies, spoke with Medical Economics about the findings. “There's really been a reshaping of the physician industry in the U.S.,” Cooper said. “Over the last two decades, [you see] more than a doubling in the share of physicians working for hospitals. And the question is, what impact is that having?”

Are Hospital Acquisitions of Physician Practices Anticompetitive? NBER, July 2025

Integration, negotiation, patient costs — What happens when hospitals integrate independent physician practices? Medical Economics, August 2025

Over 200 health sector and business leaders came together at the second annual Health Systems Implementing Climate Action event during Climate Week NYC 2025. The event featured 28 speakers across five panels hosted by the Yale Center on Climate Change and Health (YCCCH) and the New York Academy of Medicine, and co-chaired by Dr. Jodi Sherman, MD, director of the Yale Center on Climate Change and Health’s Program on Health Care Environmental Sustainability. Themes from the panels included applying ecological economics to health care, rethinking universal access to medicine, and tackling health care pollution and carbon emissions.

Illuminating innovation in sustainable health care at Climate Week NYC

An event co-hosted by the Yale Center on Climate Change and Health  (YCCCH) and the Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) in September explored evidence on climate risks, challenges posed to human health, and ways to protect residents at risk. YCCCH Faculty Director Dr. Kai Chen, PhD, and DPH Director of Climate and Health Hannah Beath, MPH ’23, discussed avenues for partnership and action in the face of a difficult federal political landscape. The various panels discussed building resilience in the face of extreme climate events, partnering with local health departments, and prioritizing support for individuals vulnerable to climate change.

Building resilience in the face of extreme climate