Scholarly Works, Population Health Sciences

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Engaging communities in public health practice: lived experience or lived expertise?
Lee, Lisa M.; Metzler, Marilyn (BioMed Central, 2026-04-10)
Use of the term ‘expert’ implies specialized knowledge, which is the case for scientists as well as people immersed in communities. Naming this expertise signals to all parties the essential value of understanding the context in which public health decisions are implemented. We outline arguments for and concerns about viewing lived experience as a complementary expertise akin to scientific expertise.
Impact of Medicaid Enrollment Timing on Tumor Stage at Diagnosis and Survival in Breast, Colorectal, and Lung Cancer
Benavidez, Gabriel A.; Self, Stella; Alberg, Anthony J.; Probst, Janice; Eberth, Jan M. (MDPI, 2026-03-11)
Background: Medicaid-insured patients experience higher rates of late-stage cancer diagnosis and worse survival than non-Medicaid patients. The impact of Medicaid enrollment timing on cancer outcomes is less clear. This study examines the association between Medicaid enrollment and timing with tumor stage and cancer-specific survival for breast, colorectal, and lung cancers. Methods: We analyzed SEER-Medicaid linked data for 276,755 breast, 104,784 colorectal, and 101,058 lung cancer patients < 65 years of age. Patients were categorized as non-Medicaid enrollees, pre-diagnosis enrollees (≥12 months before), or post-diagnosis enrollees (≤12 months after). Multivariable logistic regression estimated odds ratios of late-stage diagnosis, and cause-specific Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess cancer-specific survival, adjusting for demographic and socioeconomic factors. Results: Compared to non-Medicaid enrollees, post-diagnosis enrollees had the highest odds of late-stage diagnosis (breast cancer: OR: 3.41; colorectal cancer: OR: 3.78; lung cancer: OR: 1.87). Pre-diagnosis enrollees also had increased odds, but the association was weaker than post-diagnosis enrollees. Cancer-specific mortality was higher for both pre- and post-diagnosis enrollees compared to non-Medicaid enrollees for each cancer examined across tumor stage at diagnosis. Among Medicaid enrollees, those enrolled post-diagnosis had higher cancer-specific mortality than those enrolled pre-diagnosis for localized-stage colorectal (HR: 1.82) and lung cancer (HR: 1.30). In contrast, those enrolled post-diagnosis had lower mortality than those enrolled pre diagnosis for distant-stage breast cancer (HR: 0.91). Conclusions: Compared with cancer patients not insured by Medicaid, post-diagnosis Medicaid enrollment was associated with a greater likelihood of late-stage cancer and worse cancer-specific survival across each cancer type examined. Future research is warranted to examine the role of Medicaid enrollment timing in cancer care to better understand its impact on cancer outcomes.
The effect of flooding on low birthweight and preterm birth: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Mendrinos, Antonia; Loyd, Elly; Jagger, Meredith; Comer, C. Cozette; Gohlke, Julia M. (2026-03-05)
Background: Numerous studies have examined pregnancy outcomes following flood events, with the majority focusing on two related outcomes: preterm birth (PTB) and low birthweight (LBW). Summarizing the results of these previous studies and determining remaining data gaps is the main objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: We included publications in English that examined birthweight and/or gestational length related to exposure to floods, or events typically causing flooding (e.g. tropical cyclones). Seven academic databases were searched: CAB Abstracts (CABI), Academic Search Complete and Environment Complete (EBSCOhost), Environmental Science Index & Database (ProQuest), PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science Core Collection. Searches were updated on February 23, 2025. For inclusion in meta-analyses, quantitative estimates of effect size and variance were required, and quality was assessed using the Quality Assessment Tool for Observational Cohort and Cross-Sectional Studies. Random effects regression was used for meta-analyses, and results are presented in forest plots, with potential for publication bias assessed in funnel plots and Egger’s test results. Results: Overall, data from 34 studies were extracted, and 25 studies across 13 countries were included in meta-analyses. Most studies (N = 18) examined tropical cyclone exposure. Meta-analyses indicate increases in LBW (RR = 1.03, 95% CI: 1.00, 1.05) and PTB (RR = 1.10, 95% CI: 1.00, 1.22). The LBW result was not significantly influenced by quality rating, while the PTB result is non-significant when all studies, regardless of quality rating, were included in the meta-analysis (RR = 1.01, 95% CI: 0.97, 1.05). Additionally, the PTB estimate is strongly influenced by one study with a large and highly significant effect size. Additional sub-analyses suggest no decreasing effect following more recent events (after 2005). Conclusions: Results are limited by the range of methods used across studies to estimate exposure to flooding and potential co-exposures related to events that caused the flooding (e.g. wind damage-related health outcomes during tropical cyclones). Regardless, results indicate that adverse pregnancy outcomes may increase following in utero exposure to flood events. Future studies incorporating finer spatiotemporally resolved estimates of exposure to flooding will improve estimates of effect. The study is registered in PROSPERO (CRD42024514540).
Drivers of rabies virus spillover risk from vampire bats to livestock in Colombia
Van de Vuurst, Paige; Rist, Cassidy; Medina-Rodriguez, Tatiana; Osejo-Varona, Andres Felipe; Soler-Tovar, Diego; Escobar, Luis E. (Public Library of Science, 2025-09-26)
Background: Rabies is an acute and progressive viral zoonotic disease of the nervous system, which widely affects domestic animals in Latin America. Vampire bat-borne rabies virus (RABV) has significant negative impacts on the livestock industry via animal mortality. Nevertheless, the landscape level factors that facilitate or limit RABV transmission from vampire bats to livestock remain elusive. Methods: To determine how abiotic and biotic factors modulate RABV spillover from vampire bats to livestock, we assessed the role of different landscape variables on the occur-rence of RABV spillover from Desmodus rotundus to livestock in Colombia. Using ecological niche modeling as the theoretical and analytical framework, we analyzed ecological and epidemiological RABV data to reconstruct spillover transmission events. Results: Anthropogenic variables including livestock and human density were consistently selected as predictors of RABV spillover from vampire bats to livestock. Cattle density had the highest average relative contribution to final ecological niche models (64.7%). We also found improvement of RABV spillover risk estimates when sampling bias in the form of cattle density was used in the modeling process. High risk for RABV spillover (0.75-0.98) was consistently predicted in the Caribbean region of Colombia. Nevertheless, more widespread moderate RABV spillover risk was predicted more broadly across the country when sampling bias was accounted for. Conclusion: Our modelling effort revealed that variable selection and use of bias surface have tractable impacts on final projections of spillover risk. Our results also indicate that human activity drives RABV spillover risk to a greater extent than ecological or climatological factors. Results from this study provide important information about landscape conditions linked to RABV transmission risk, where livestock vaccination should be prioritized.
MALDI-TOF MS for malaria vector surveillance: A cost-comparison analysis using a decision-tree approach
Karisa, Jonathan; Rist, Cassidy; Tuwei, Mercy; Ominde, Kelly; Bartilol, Brian; Ondieki, Zedekiah; Musani, Haron; Wanjiku, Caroline; Mwangangi, Joseph; Mbogo, Charles; Rono, Martin; Bejon, Philip; Maia, Marta (Public Library of Science, 2025-10-31)
Background: The use of MALDI-TOF MS for mosquito identification and surveillance is routinely used in developed countries as an affordable alternative to molecular methods. However, in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) where mosquito-borne diseases carry the greatest burden, the method is not commonly employed. Using the Kenyan national malaria program (NMCP) as a case study, we compared the costs of current methods used for malaria vector surveillance to those that would be incurred if MALDI-TOF MS were used instead. Methods: A deterministic decision tree analytic model was developed to systematically calculate the costs associated with materials and labour, and time-to-results for two workflows, i.e., current molecular methods versus MALDI-TOF MS. The analysis assumed an annual sample size of 15,000 mosquitoes (representing the average number of mosquitoes analysed annually by the Kenyan NMCP) processed at a local laboratory in Kenya. Findings: We estimate that if the Kenyan national entomological surveillance program shifted sample processing completely to MALDI-TOF MS, it would result in 74.48% net time saving, up to 84% on material costs and 77% on labour costs, resulting in an overall direct cost savings of 83%. Interpretation: Adoption of MALDI-TOF MS for malaria vector surveillance can result in substantial time and cost savings. The ease of performance, the rapid turn-around time, and the modest cost per sample may bring a paradigm shift in routine entomological surveillance in Africa.
Hotspots of bacterial pathogen abundance and exposure risk in soils of the contiguous United States
Matthews, Emily A.; Goh, Ying-Xian; Hepp, Shannon L.; Liao, Jingqiu; Calder, Ryan S. D. (American Geophysical Union, 2025-12-11)
Soils are reservoirs of pathogenic bacteria that cause human illness, particularly after mobilizing events such as extreme rain. Land-use patterns (e.g., proximity to agriculture) and soil properties (e.g., moisture) are associated with abundance of individual pathogenic bacteria. However, there are major uncertainties in (a) the importance of local/regional land-use decisions relative to overall natural variability of pathogenicity and (b) the correlations among pathogen abundance, climate-linked physical processes increasing pathogen mobility, and the vulnerability of human receptors. This impairs identification of priority areas for outbreak surveillance, which has traditionally focused on food and water distribution networks, and the development of process-based risk screening models. Here, we analyze a novel data set of 622 soil samples covering 42 of the 48 contiguous United States. We describe (a) the relationship between putative pathogenicity and natural and land-use drivers and (b) how hotspots of putative pathogen abundance intersect with climate-linked hazard of mobilization via fire, floods, wind, and fluvial transport, and the social vulnerability of local human populations. Variability in putative pathogenicity can be partially explained by known drivers, with natural variables having greater explanatory power than land-use variables. Relative abundance of putative pathogens is generally higher in forested ecoregions, notably in the eastern and southeastern United States and in proximity to surface waters. Higher relative abundance of putative pathogens, climate risks promoting pathogen mobility, and a relatively vulnerable rural population intersect in the southeastern United States. Integrated sampling and modeling are needed to monitor and forecast health risks from soilborne pathogens.
Comparing in-home and bottled drinking water quality: regulated and emerging contaminants in rural Central Appalachia
Albi, Kate; Krometis, Leigh-Anne H.; Ling, Erin; Cohen, Alasdair; Xia, Kang; Gray, Austin D.; Dudzinski, Emerald; Ellis, Kimberly P. (IWA Publishing, 2025-09)
An increasing number of Americans rely on bottled water for household use, citing perceptions of poor in-home water quality and/or distrust of public water utilities. We analyzed in-home (n = 23), roadside spring (n = 4), and bottled drinking water (n = 36) in Central Appalachia. All samples were analyzed for regulated (bacteria, inorganic ions) and emerging (PFAS, microplastics) contaminants. Study survey results indicated the majority (83%) of participants viewed their in-home water quality as satisfactory or poor due to negative organoleptic perceptions. Coliform bacteria and sodium levels exceeding recommended levels were detected in 52% of home water samples, though detections varied by source, i.e., high sodium was more often observed in municipal water, while bacteria were more often observed in private system water. Bottled water samples did not exceed any regulations, though median microplastic concentrations were statistically higher (p = 0.001, Wilcoxon rank-sum test) than those recovered from in-home samples. PFAS compounds were detected in some in-home and bottled water samples at very low levels. While in general bottled water appears to be a safe drinking water source in these areas, the associated costs in time and money for lower-income households are considerable, and were estimated by participants as $68–400/month.
Housing Insecurity and Threats of Utility Shut-Offs Among Cancer Survivors in the United States, BRFSS 2022-2023
Nguyen, Tina Duong; Eberth, Jan M.; Ezenwankwo, Elochukwu; Schwartz, Gabriel L. (Wiley, 2025-12)
Background: The financial burden of cancer treatment can increase the risk of housing insecurity for patients undergoing treatment and survivors. Objective: To evaluate the burden of housing and utility insecurity among cancer survivors compared to individuals without a cancer history, examine outcome differences by housing tenure (renters vs. homeowners) and treatment status (active vs. posttreatment), and identify predictors of housing insecurity. Methods: We analyzed data from 14 states that completed the Social Determinants and Cancer Survivorship modules of the 2022 and 2023 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), yielding 5499 respondents with a previous cancer diagnosis (excluding skin cancers) and 61,883 respondents without a cancer diagnosis. We estimated prevalences and fit logistic regressions. Key results: Cancer history was associated with greater odds of housing (AOR 1.43, 95% CI: 1.18-1.74) and utility (AOR 1.36, 95% CI: 1.09-1.69) insecurity, but this varied by treatment timing and housing tenure. Patients currently undergoing treatment were more likely to report housing and utility insecurity (AOR 1.96, 95% CI: 1.28-3.01 and AOR 1.67, 95% CI: 1.06-2.61, respectively) than individuals without a history of cancer. Such insecurity was elevated even after treatment for renters, but not for homeowners. In absolute terms, 34.7% of renters with a cancer history reported housing insecurity, compared to 7.1% of their homeowner counterparts. Conclusions: Cancer diagnosis and treatment can contribute to housing and utility insecurity during and after treatment. Addressing this through targeted interventions within both healthcare systems and social policy may mitigate hardship and improve well-being.
Social, mobility and contact networks in shaping health behaviours and infectious disease dynamics: a scoping review
Cheng, Zhifeng; Ruktanonchai, Nick W.; Wesolowski, Amy; Pei, Sen; Wang, Jianghao; Cockings, Samantha; Tatem, Andrew J.; Lai, Shengjie (2025-12-03)
Background: The interconnectedness of human society in this modern world can transform localised outbreaks into global pandemics, underscoring the pivotal roles of social, mobility and contact networks in shaping infectious disease dynamics. Although these networks share analogous contagion principles, they are often studied in isolation, hindering the incorporation of behavioural, informational, and epidemiological processes into disease models. This review synthesises current research on the interplay between social, mobility and contact networks in health behaviour contagion and infectious disease transmission. Methods: We searched Web-of-Science and PubMed from January 2000 to June 2025 for research on health behaviour contagion and information dissemination in social networks, pathogen spread through mobility and contact networks, and their joint impacts on epidemic dynamics. This was first done by a preliminary literature screening based on predefined criteria. With potentially relevant publications retained, we performed keyword co-occurrence network analysis to identify the most common themes in studies. The results guide us to narrow down the reviewing scope to the social, mobility and contact network impacts on informational, behavioural, and epidemiological dynamics. We then further identified and reviewed the literature on these multidimensional network influences. Results: Our review finds that each network type plays a distinct yet interconnected role in shaping behaviours and disease dynamics. Social networks, comprising both online and offline interpersonal relationships, facilitate the dissemination of health information and influence behavioural responses to public health interventions. Concurrently, mobility and contact networks govern the spatiotemporal pathways of pathogen transmission, as demonstrated in recent pandemics. While traditional population-level models often overlook individual discrepancies and social network effects, significant efforts have been made through developing individual-level simulation-based models that integrate behavioural dynamics. With emerging new data sources and advanced computational techniques, two promising approaches—multiplex network analysis and generative agent-based modelling—offer frameworks for integrating the complex interdependencies among social, mobility and contact networks into epidemic dynamics estimation. Conclusions: This review highlights the theoretical and methodological advances in network-based infectious disease modelling and identifies critical knowledge and research gaps. Future research should prioritise integrating multi-source behavioural and spatial data, unifying modelling strategies, and developing scalable approaches for incorporating multilayer network data. The integrated approach will strengthen public health strategies, enabling equitable and effective interventions against emerging infections.
Generative Modeling of Land Cover Data for Spatial Simulation
Krapu, Christopher; Borsuk, Mark; Calder, Ryan S. D. (ACM, 2025-11-03)
Land use/land cover (LULC) data are used in climate change studies to understand how urbanization and agricultural conversion impact carbon emissions. Quantifying the impact of land use decisions is challenging due to the complex response between spatial land cover patterns and quantities of interest such as carbon storage. We use generative models to produce rich counterfactual LULC simulations. This work explores the creation of an autoregressive decoder-only model as an effective strategy for modeling spatially resolved land cover data. We quantify the information content within gridded land cover data, measure 0.8 bits/pixel, and use this statistic to size and construct an order-agnostic GPT-based model trained on approximately 1 billion tokens derived from the National Land Cover Dataset. The model contains 13.6 million parameters and is trained to perform both unconditional and conditional land cover simulation. When tasked with inpainting 25% of pixels in the image interior, the model achieves a log loss of 1.04 and a pixel-wise accuracy of 0.61.We further show how to use this generative model to assess the probability of urbanization for a case study at Fort Hood, Texas.
Identifying counter-urbanisation using Facebook's user count data
Duan, Qianwen; Steele, Jessica; Cheng, Zhifeng; Cleary, Eimear; Ruktanonchai, Nick W.; Voepel, Hal; O'Riordan, Tim; Tatem, Andrew J.; Sorichetta, Alessandro; Lai, Shengjie; Eigenbrod, Felix (Pergamon-Elsevier, 2024-08-01)
Identifying the growing widespread phenomenon of counter-urbanisation, where people relocate from urban centres to rural areas, is essential for understanding the social and ecological consequences of the associated changes. However, its nuanced dynamics and complex characteristics pose challenges for quantitative analysis. Here, we used near real-time Facebook user count data for Belgium and Thailand, with missing data imputed, and applied the Seasonal-Trend decomposition using Loess (STL) model to capture subtle urban and rural population dynamics and assess counter-urbanisation. We identified counter-urbanisation in both Belgium and Thailand, evidenced by increases of 1.80% and 2.14% in rural residents (night-time user counts) and decreases of 3.08% and 5.04% in urban centre night-time user counts from March 2020 to May 2022, respectively. However, the counter-urbanisation in Thailand appears to be transitory, with rural users beginning to decline during both day and night as COVID-19 restrictions were lifted. By contrast, in Belgium, at the country level, there is as yet no evidence of a return to urban residences, though daytime numbers in rural areas are decreasing and in urban centres are increasing, suggesting an increase in commuting post-pandemic. These variation characteristics observed both between Belgium and Thailand and between day and night, extend the current understanding of counter-urbanisation. The use of novel social media data provides an effective quantitative perspective to comprehend counter-urbanisation in different settings.
What Does That Head Tilt Mean? Brain Lateralization and Sex Differences in the Processing of Familiar Human Speech by Domestic Dogs
Buckley, Colleen; Sexton, Courtney L.; Martvel, George; Hecht, Erin E.; Bradley, Brenda J.; Zamansky, Anna; Subiaul, Francys (MDPI, 2025-10-31)
Does the head tilt observed in many domesticated dogs index lateralized language processing? To answer this question, the present study evaluated household dogs responding to four conditions in which owners provided an increasing number of communicative cues. These cues ranged from no communicative/affective cues to rich affective cues coupled with dog-directed speech. Dogs’ facial responses were first coded manually using the Dog Facial Action Coding System (DogFACS), followed by an in-depth investigation of head tilt behavior, in which AI-based automated analysis of head tilt and audio analysis of acoustic features extracted from communicative cues were implemented. In a sample of 103 dogs representing seven breed groups and mixed-breed dogs, we found significant differences in the number of head tilts occurring between conditions, with the most communicative (last) condition eliciting the most head tilts. There were also significant differences in the direction of the head tilts and between sex groups. Dogs were more likely to tilt their heads to the right, and neutered male dogs were more likely to tilt their heads than spayed female dogs. The right-tilt bias is consistent with left-hemisphere language processing in humans, with males processing language in a more lateralized manner, and females processing language more bilaterally—a pattern also observed in humans. Understanding the canine brain is important to both evolutionary research through a comparative lens, and in understanding our interspecies relationship.
Developing, implementing, and transferring a faculty-led RCR training program
Trott, Kory; Lee, Lisa M. (Taylor & Francis, 2025-06)
Responsible conduct of research (RCR) education became a requirement for conducting federally sponsored research in the 1980s. Goals of RCR training include developing and fostering a culture of integrity in science as well as informing researchers about regulations that govern research. As happens with many federal mandates, satisfaction of NIH’s in-person RCR training requirement has become an exercise in check-the-box compliance training at many institutions. Completing RCR education to satisfy a regulatory requirement has subverted the more aspirational goals of RCR education. Virginia Tech’s division of Scholarly Integrity and Research Compliance developed an innovative RCR education program that focused on RCR training goals like increasing knowledge of and sensitivity to ethical issues related to research. The Virginia Tech Investigator Series invites members of the research community to engage in conversations about ethical research and innovation. The faculty-led presentations inspire conversations that reach beyond research methods and materials. The purpose of this paper is to describe the process and administrative structure that enabled us to create a community-led RCR program that increased voluntary participation while satisfying regulatory RCR education requirements. We highlight the transferrable nature of the program by describing its implementation at another very-high-research-activity university.
Decentralised drinking water regulation: Risks, benefits and the hunt for equality in the Canadian context
Calder, Ryan S. D.; Schmitt, Ketra A. (Inderscience Publishers, 2015-07-29)
Drinking water management in Canada is based on the intervention of provinces and territories. This contrasts with the American and European approach of uniform, legally enforced regulation at the federal or super-federal level. The Canadian model has been widely criticised for the unequal level of regulation between provinces and territories and the passive role taken by the federal government. This paper: 1) puts calls for greater centralisation in the context of Canada's social and political climate; 2) reviews government, academic and environmental advocacy literature on competing drinking water regulation paradigms; 3) evaluates strengths and weaknesses of centralised and decentralised frameworks for drinking water regulation in the context of risk management theory and practical challenges. Notably, we evaluate drinking water decision-making as one of many competing opportunities for public spending on risk abatement and posit that increasing the uniformity of drinking water quality does not necessarily increase overall equality.
Dog and owner demographics impact dietary choices in Dog Aging Project cohort
O'Brien, Janice S.; Tolbert, M. Katherine; Ruple, Audrey (Amer Veterinary Medical Assoc, 2024-12-01)
OBJECTIVE To describe the demographic factors of owners and their dogs associated with owner feeding choices and the regularity with which those diets were fed to a US-based population of dogs. METHODS This cross-sectional analysis examined 40,367 initial survey responses from US dog owners participating in the Dog Aging Project. The surveys were collected from January 2, 2020, to December 31, 2022, and included primary and secondary diet component types and dog and owner demographic variables. Each demographic variable was compared across diet type choices with a chi 2 test of independence. RESULTS Most owners (82%) fed a commercially prepared extruded dry diet (kibble) as the primary diet component. Most owners (89%) reported that they fed their dogs a consistent diet over time. Owner demographic factors (income, education level) were less correlated with difference in diet choices than dog demographic factors (size, neuter sta- tus, purebred status, activity level), but owner age did correlate with choice: younger owners tended to feed kibble more compared to older owners. Home-cooked diets were most often consumed by small (< 30-lb) dogs, purebred dogs in poorer health status, and dogs with owners aged 45 years or older. Raw diets were more commonly fed to purebred, intact, and highly active dogs. Ten percent of service dogs were reportedly fed a raw diet of some sort. CONCLUSIONS Demographic variables are associated with statistically significant differences in diet types selected. Nutrition stud- ies examining health outcomes associated with the feeding of different diet types should account for these factors during design or analysis in order to avoid bias. An epidemiological tool, the directed acyclic graph, is presented. CLINICAL RELEVANCE This information will help clinicians in their discussions with clients about pet nutrition.
Reconsideration of 2009 Endangerment Finding and Greenhouse Gas Vehicle Standards
Patz, Jonathan; Warwick-Short, Caitlin; Limaye, Vijay; Bratburd, Jenny; Mailloux, Nicholas; Frumkin, Howard; Expert Working Group on Climate Change and Health in the United States (2025-09-23)
An analysis of behavioral characteristics and enrollment year variability in 47,444 dogs entering the Dog Aging Project from 2020 to 2023
Li, Yuhuan; Sexton, Courtney L.; DAP Consortium; Fitzpatrick, Annette; Ruple, Audrey (Public Library of Science, 2025-09-10)
Understanding dog behavior, especially in the context of the human social environment, is critical to maintaining positive human-dog interactions and relationships. Furthermore, behavior can be an important indicator of health and welfare in companion dogs. Behavioral change can signal transitions in life stages, alert caretakers to potential illnesses or injuries, and is an important factor in understanding and measuring stress. In order to take advantage of behavioral change as a biomarker, however, we must first have a behavioral baseline to assess. Thus, using owner-reported data from dogs enrolled in the Dog Aging Project (DAP) from 2020-2023, our aim was to establish baseline behavioral measures for 47,444 dogs, with the goal of using these measures in future research investigating behavioral change in dogs and short- and long-term health outcomes. Given that the data collection period spanned the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) lockdown period and its immediate aftermath, a secondary aim of this study was to evaluate whether year of project entry impacted average reported behavior scores in dogs and to investigate additional variables that may influence observed differences. In our analyses of cohort baseline and year-over-year changes among four composite behavior domains - Fear, Attention/Excitability, Aggression, and Trainability - we find that time (year of enrollment) had the highest influence on Trainability, wherein dogs enrolled in all three years after 2020 (2021-2023) had lower average reported scores than dogs enrolled in 2020. Several other variables, including breed, life stage, sex, spay/neuter status, size, primary residence, and primary activities, have positive and negative statistical associations with mean behavioral scores in all four domains.
Trends and disparities in motor vehicle collision injuries in Washington, D.C.
Calder, Ryan S. D.; Summa, Claire; Clark, Rachel (2025-09)
Nonfatal traffic injuries are ~40 times more frequent than traffic fatalities in the United States, but little is known about racial or ethnic disparities in injury-only collisions because commonly used databases report racial/ethnic data only for fatalities. Crash data from police departments (e.g., Vision Zero) are subject to error and bias arising from changing patterns of police intervention and increased use of alternative or automated traffic enforcement. Here, we leverage Trauma Registry data to quantify racial/ethnic, temporal, and spatial patterns of trauma injuries from motor vehicle collisions among adults in Washington, D.C. and compare results to the commonly used Vision Zero database. We report results by year (2019–2023), road user type (motorists, pedestrians, cyclists, and other vulnerable road users), and ZIP code tabulation area (ZCTA) to identify primary contributors to total injury rates and racial/ethnic disparities. Between 2019 and 2023, the overall incidence rate (IR) rose from 69 to 132 per 100,000 persons per year and increased among all road user types and races/ethnicities. Compared to white people, the incidence rate ratio (IRR) was ≥4.3 among Black/African American people and ≥2.9 among Hispanic/Latino people. The IRR between Black/African American vs. white motorists is ≥9.9. Disparities were observed across 21 of 26 ZCTAs, revealing that disparities cannot be explained by solely by higher minority populations in ZCTAs with more hazardous infrastructure. The commonly used Vision Zero dashboard suggests a downward trend in injury only crashes, but our analysis suggests that this trend is the result of a bias from reduced police intervention.
Comparison of Gait Characteristics for Horses Without Shoes, with Steel Shoes, and with Aluminum Shoes
Gottleib, Katherine; Trager-Burns, Lauren; Santonastaso, Amy; Bogers, Sophie; Werre, Stephen; Burns, Travis; Byron, Christopher (MDPI, 2025-08-13)
Differences in horseshoe materials may have effects on gait that could change perceived esthetic qualities. Objective information regarding effects of shoeing on gait characteristics of horses is scant. The aim of this study was to determine differences in gait characteristics for horses under various experimental shoeing conditions (barefoot, aluminum shoes, steel shoes) on two surfaces (asphalt and soft footing) using body- and hoof-mounted sensors. We hypothesized that shoeing would affect hoof arc height during early (arc height a) and late (arc height b) swing phases but would not affect other gait variables. Twelve healthy, adult, client-owned horses were evaluated at a trot on asphalt and soft footing under the three experimental shoeing conditions. No significant (p < 0.05) effects of shoeing were detected for gait symmetry (Q score), mediolateral hoof deviation, stride length, or midstance, breakover, swing, and landing stride phase times. Hoof arc height a was significantly (p < 0.001) lower for aluminum versus steel shoes for right and left forelimbs on asphalt and soft footing. Hoof arc height b was significantly higher for aluminum versus steel shoes on soft footing for left (p < 0.001) and right (p = 0.02) forelimbs. Findings indicate that shoe weights affect early and late swing phase hoof heights differently. Further investigation is warranted to determine whether measured hoof arc height changes affect subjective esthetics of gait.
Testing for heavy metals in drinking water collected from Dog Aging Project participants
Sexton, Courtney L.; O'Brien, Janice S.; Lytle, Justin; Rodgers, Sam; Keyser, Amber; Kauffman, Mandy; Dunbar, Matthew D.; Dog Aging Project Consortium; Edwards, Marc A.; Krometis, Leigh-Anne H.; Ruple, Audrey (PLOS, 2025-08-06)
Heavy metals are commonly found in groundwater and can affect the quality of drinking water. In this pilot study, we analyzed the quality of drinking water for dogs participating in the Dog Aging Project (DAP) who lived in homes not served by a municipal water supply. In order to capture both diverse and localized environmental factors that may affect drinking water, 200 owners of DAP dogs located in one of 10 selected states were invited to participate. We tested for the presence of 28 metals in dogs’ drinking water, including eight (8) heavy metals that have maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) designated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and five (5) heavy metals that have EPA health guidance levels. The eight metals with MCLs are known to cause chronic health issues in humans after long-term ingestion. Our aim in this pilot was to determine whether such elements could be detected by at-home sampling of dogs’ drinking water, and, using regression models, to examine associations between water source variables, metal values, and developed disease. We found detectable levels of all metals tested. There were 126 instances when an analyte (arsenic, lead, copper, sodium, strontium, nickel, or vanadium) was above the EPA MCL or health guidance level. We further identified potential association between the presence of titanium and chromium, and occurrence of a known health condition in dogs. This prompts further investigation with a larger, stratified sample analyzing dogs’ drinking water composition and long-term health and wellness outcomes in dogs living in diverse geographies. These results may impact veterinary care decisions and husbandry, and underscore the validity and importance of utilizing dogs as sentinels of human health outcomes in the context of drinking water contamination.

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