Featured Post from University of Delaware

Florida measles outbreak highlights the cost of vaccine hesitancy

Feb 28, 2024

1 min

Jennifer Horney


A measles outbreak that started in a Florida elementary school has spread and is now up to ten cases. 


University of Delaware epidemiologist Jennifer Horney can comment on the outbreak as well as the risk to U.S. eradication status for measles and the role that vaccine hesitancy plays in the emergence and reemergence of vaccine preventable diseases.


Vaccine hesitancy is relevant in the Florida case, as the state's top health official defied federal guidance to contain it. 


Horney has more than 20 years of experience conducting outbreak investigations and providing technical assistance during pandemics to public health groups domestically and internationally.


To set up an interview, visit her profile and click the contact button; or, contact UD's media relations office.

Connect with:
Jennifer Horney

Jennifer Horney

Professor and Director, Epidemiology

Jennifer Horney's research focuses on the health impacts of disasters and public health emergencies including climate change.

EpidemiologyepidemicCOVID-19Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency ResponseRapid Assessment

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1 min

Researchers find ‘narrow’ depictions of fatherhood in children’s literature

When children read picture books, they are often greeted with depictions of family and life lessons their young minds soak up. What happens then, when those depictions don’t offer a thoughtful image of gender or family as they have changed over the years? That is one of the questions University of Delaware Professor Bill Lewis and Social Science Research Analyst and UD alumna Laura Cutler explored in their recent paper, published in the quarterly journal Children's Literature in Education. In “Portraits of Fatherhood: Depictions of Fathers and Father–Child Relationships in Award-Winning Children’s Literature,” Lewis and Cutler looked at more than 80 children’s books to analyze how authors and publishers depicted fathers and fatherhood. What they found was that over a span of nearly 20 years, from 2001 to 2020, these books presented "a narrow view of fatherhood," both in what roles fathers have in familial units and which types of fathers are presented. They also noted that these portrayals have remained relatively static over the last two decades. Lewis, a professor in the College of Education and Human Development’s School of Education, broke down what spurred the research and what he and Cutler hope changes as a result of the research in a new Q&A. Contact mediarelations@udel.edu to set up an interview with Lewis.

1 min

Professors address students' climate anxiety

Professors at the University of Delaware preparing students for careers working on climate change are making sure to consider mental health issues as they send them out into the world. UD's Climate Change Science and Policy Hub, led by director A.R. Siders, is starting a series of initiatives – on campus and in the region – to tackle the challenge of what is known as climate anxiety. This involves traditional trainings but also innovations with creativity, art, video games and play. "Learning about and working on climate change causes climate anxiety, ecogrief, solastalgia – there’s a whole new set of terms being created just to describe the problem," said Siders, also an associate professor in UD's Disaster Research Center and Biden School of Public Policy and Administration. "This is a real mental health concern." This new way of approaching climate education has become even more critical as universities expand climate education – such as new climate schools, degrees, courses and even embedding it in general education courses, Siders said. The U.S. government is supporting a growing climate workforce, and it is expected that more people will work in climate-related careers. To reach Siders and set up an interview, visit her profile and click on the "contact" link. This will automatically send an email directly to her.

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