A Candid Conversation About Climate Change

Gregory Wellenius is the Beverly A. Brown Professor for the Improvement of Urban Health at Boston University School of Public Health, where he serves as director of the Center for Climate and Health. As an environmental epidemiologist, Dr. Wellenius is dedicated to addressing the health impacts of climate change through research, teaching, and engagement. His research examines how climate hazards like extreme heat affect human health and generates actionable evidence to inform interventions that meaningfully reduce the burden of extreme weather events.

Living in Historically Redlined Neighborhoods May Reduce One’s Ability to Conceive

Living in a historically redlined neighborhood may reduce a person’s ability to become pregnant, according to two new studies led by researchers at the School of Public Health. Published in the American Journal of Epidemiology (AJE) and Epidemiology, the studies found that people residing in redlined neighborhoods—neighborhoods that were subjected to the historic practice of mortgage lending discrimination by the federal government—were less likely to conceive than those who lived in neighborhoods the government deemed favorable for mortgage lending.

Can Design Turn Schools Into the New Third Space?

In modern school design, the most critical spaces for student development may not be classrooms — they may be the areas in between. Third spaces like commons, libraries and even hallways represent an untapped frontier for fostering the youth’s social and mental well-being. They’re crucial for community health, but they are steadily declining. This presents a unique opportunity for educational facilities.

Letter: Need town shelter available 24/7

What a winter this is! With frigid temperatures refusing to budge, I can’t imagine what it would be like not to have a warm home to retreat to, can you? Recalling MATS director Susan Howard’s Ledger-Transcript article of Sept. 5, we cannot look away from the homelessness in our region, especially this winter.

Fact Over Fiction: Medicaid, Immigration, and Health Care Access

In 2025, approximately 52 million immigrants lived in the United States, forming 16% of the population. Health insurance coverage is closely tied to immigration status – including Medicaid. Many groups of immigrants are categorically excluded from federally-funded health insurance programs. Undocumented immigrants, in particular, have long been prohibited from obtaining Medicaid. However, in the last year, inaccurate claims around Medicaid eligibility for immigrants have been used to justify policy changes proposed under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). For example, one false claim was that undocumented immigrants were responsible for increased Medicaid spending. It is crucial to ground any discussions of policy proposals and their potential impacts in evidence.

Pathways to reduce child poverty: Impacts of federal tax credits

On February 5, 2026, the Center for Economic Security and Opportunity (CESO) hosted a briefing on a new report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NAS), “Pathways to Reduce Child Poverty: Impacts of Federal Tax Credits.” The report examines the implementation and effects on child poverty of the temporary expansions of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC) under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021.

Decoding the New Federal Dietary Guidelines

In a stark departure from previous recommendations, the US Departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture jointly released 2025-2030 federal dietary guidelines last month that place an emphasis on consuming red meat, whole milk, and butter, along with fruits and vegetables. Dubbed “the most significant reset of federal nutrition policy in our nation’s history,” by US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the updated dietary guidelines also suggest people limit—or eliminate entirely—highly processed foods, added sugars, and excess sodium. The guidelines also removed daily limits for alcohol consumption and now urge people to just “consume less alcohol.”

Football in sun and without shadow: How extreme heat puts tomorrow’s stars at risk

Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano called football, not only the most popular sport in the world, but “the music of the body, the festival of the eyes”. It is a beloved hobby of hundreds of thousands of children and teenagers worldwide. But extreme heat is putting their well-being at risk. Researchers, coaches and scientists are now racing to find solutions, ranging from early warnings and awareness campaigns to banning synthetic pitches that trap heat.

How local energy networks are saving lives across the world

This microgrid concept is finding footholds in major cities in the United States, as well as isolated communities in the Global South. Often using renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind, microgrids can offer the certainty that when extreme weather events or failures in ageing infrastructure knock out a national grid, communities can still access electricity.