News

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 7, 2021) – Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that seeps up from the ground and into homes, schools, work sites, and other indoor spaces. Radon is colorless, tasteless and odorless and can cause lung cancer; you would have no way of knowing if it has infiltrated your home unless you test for it. Yet, few people test for the radioactive gas.

A group of high school students and their teachers in eastern Kentucky and southern Ohio are hoping to change that.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 15, 2020) — The COVID-19 pandemic introduced many new actions to our daily lives — wearing masks, washing hands more frequently, and watching our distance from others. Add these health behaviors on top of already existing challenges like isolation, transportation and access to health care, and creative solutions are more necessary than ever. 

Vaping is linked to a substantially increased risk of COVID-19 among teenagers and young adults, according to a new study led by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.  As part of our ongoing COVID-19 coverage, Dr. Greg Davis talks about the study with Ellen Hahn, Marcia A. Drake Professor in the UK College of Nursing and Public Health, and Director of BREATHE including the Tobacco Policy Division, the Kentucky Center for Smoke-free Policy (KCSP), and the Radon Policy Division.

“When COVID-19 first started and more of the data started to emerge about the disparities among Blacks and other populations of color, I was really disturbed by some of the narrative. To me, the discussions in articles and opinions in the newspapers seem to blame Blacks for their poor health outcomes.

Lexington, Ky. (July 28, 2020) - Martin County drinking water regularly exceeded U.S. Environmental Protection Agency maximum contamination levels for cancer causing disinfection byproducts and coliform bacteria, according to preliminary findings of a University of Kentucky pilot study.

Lexington, Ky. (July 1, 2020) - Beverly May, Dr.P.H., strives to empower rural communities to address the environmental issues that concern their health. As a family nurse practitioner in Appalachian Kentucky, May witnessed firsthand the environmental health effects caused by coal mining and natural gas drilling in the region.

Click here to read the full article on the NIEHS Partnerships for Environmental Public Health website.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 14, 2020) – Earlier this month, two researchers, Drs. Teresa Fan and Kate Zaytseva, were awarded the 2020 Markey Women Strong Distinguished Researcher Grant.

The researchers, chosen by the UK Markey Cancer Foundation’s Markey Women Strong members, are each awarded a $50,000 grant to fund their proposed cancer research.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 30, 2020) —Jeannette Sutton, an associate professor of communication in the University of Kentucky’s College of Communication and Information, has recently been awarded more than $93,000 in funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study risk communication on Twitter during the COVID-19 pandemic.

She’ll explore how public health, emergency management and government agencies can best communicate about risk and public health in a continuously evolving information landscape.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 29, 2020) — UK Center for Appalachian Research in Environmental Sciences (UK-CARES) is pleased to announce the opening of nominations for the third cohort of Faculty Fellows in Science Communication.

Benefits of Participating in the Program

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 27, 2020) – The University of Kentucky CURE Alliance, in collaboration with the UK Center for Clinical and Translational Science, has issued RFAs for COVID-19 funding in three categories: health, materials and methods and social sciences. Full-time UK faculty in all title series are eligible to apply.