Columbia University - Index

Columbia University - Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health - Index

16 mailman.columbia.edu/experience
LOCAL COMMITMENT, NATIONAL
LEADERSHIP
Located in Washington Heights in
Northern Manhattan, the Mailman
School has been a partner in the community
for decades. Programs developed
by the School provide care to young
children, adolescents, and families, while
its research centers investigate and respond
to fundamental health issues that
arise in an urban environment.
A major initiative to protect family
health is demonstrated through the
School's efforts to stem the growing
asthma epidemic among children living
in Northern Manhattan. Asthma Basics
for Children empowers neighborhood
residents to lower asthma rates by partnering
with physicians, schools, and local
health centers to institute communitybased
screenings and to integrate asthma
education into parenting and early
childhood education.
The Columbia Center for Children's
Environmental Health is working in the
community to identify environmental
toxins, genetic susceptibility factors,
and conditions related to poverty that
increase children's risk of disease. The
Mothers & Newborns Study, the Center's
largest research program, takes place in
Upper Manhattan and the South Bronx
where investigators examine the effects of
prenatal and postnatal exposures to
combustion-related air pollutants,
secondhand smoke, pesticides, and
allergens on children's respiratory
health, cognitive development, and
cancer risk.
Many interventions fi rst piloted in
the School's surrounding communities
by our faculty and students have since