Eugenia South

Last updated
Eugenia South
Eugenia South at WFU Humanities Institute.jpg
South speaks in 2022
Alma mater University of Pennsylvania
Perelman School of Medicine
Scientific career
Institutions Harvard University
Washington University in St. Louis
University of Pennsylvania

Eugenia South is an American physician who is Professor of Emergency Medicine and Director of the Center for Health Justice at the Perelman School of Medicine. Her research looks to understand how neighborhoods impact health and safety in urban environments. She has demonstrated that people are safer after "community greening" programs (i.e., introducing gardens and parks), showing they reduce violent crime and improve mental health. She was elected Fellow of the National Academy of Medicine in 2024.

Contents

Early life and education

South completed her undergraduate studies at Harvard University. She moved to Washington University in St. Louis for her medical studies, and completed a Masters of Public Health at the University of Pennsylvania.[ citation needed ]

Research and career

At the Perelman School of Medicine, South investigated health disparities in urban neighborhoods. Much of America still lives in racially segregated neighbourhoods, where environmental factors have poor implications for public health. South led a trial of greening vacant spaces, introducing parks, planting hundreds of trees and instituting weekly trash clean ups. She worked with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society to pilot a randomized controlled trial. [1] South showed that greening was protective against gun violence, [2] [3] reduced heart rates, [1] and improved both mental health and cardiovascular outcomes in pregnant people. [4] South and colleagues from the Perelman School of Medicine were awarded $10m from the National Institutes of Health to study structural inequity in health care. [4] [5] She is investigating how remediating abandoned buildings impacts chronic stress. [6]

South is Faculty Director of the Penn Medicine Center for Health Justice and the Urban Health Lab. [7] The center has three main activities: research, community action and health system transformation. [8]

South was named vice president for Health Justice in 2023 [9] and elected Fellow of the National Academy of Medicine in 2024. [10]

Awards and honors

Selected publications

References

  1. 1 2 Hingston, Sandy (2023-03-12). "A Penn Doc's Green Initiative Shows How Environmental Factors Impact Gun Violence". Philadelphia Magazine. Retrieved 2024-12-23.
  2. ↑ "A large-scale research study of health, wealth, and greening". www.pennmedicine.org. Retrieved 2024-12-23.
  3. ↑ "Opinion | To Combat Gun Violence, Clean Up the Neighborhood (Published 2021)". 2021-10-08. Archived from the original on 2024-07-16. Retrieved 2024-12-23.
  4. 1 2 "Health, greenery, and justice for all". www.pennmedicine.org. Retrieved 2024-12-23.
  5. ↑ "Eugenia South, MD, MSHP". MD Diversity Programs. Retrieved 2024-12-23.
  6. ↑ "Eugenia Catarina South | Faculty | About Us | Perelman School of Medicine | Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania". www.med.upenn.edu. Retrieved 2024-12-23.
  7. ↑ "Team 1". Urban Health Lab. Retrieved 2024-12-23.
  8. ↑ "Eugenia South, MD, MSHP". Penn LDI. 2014-10-09. Retrieved 2024-12-23.
  9. ↑ "Eugenia South Named Penn Medicine Associate Vice President for Health Justice". Penn LDI. 2023-10-11. Retrieved 2024-12-23.
  10. 1 2 "LDI Fellows Bowles, Halpern, and South Named to National Academy of Medicine". Penn LDI. 2024-10-22. Retrieved 2024-12-23.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.