Solving a Weighty Issue

By: Susan Cosgrove

New discipline, led by Carnegie Mellon’s Kristen Kurland, tackles health problems

What does a new computer-based discipline have to do with obesity—one of today’s most significant health issues?

A great deal, as it turns out.

GIS—Geographic Information Systems—captures, displays, and analyzes data based on geographic references. Think of Google maps, and imagine being able to pile on multiple layers and types of information: location-specific data about health, crime, income, education, and more.

Then imagine being able to visualize and analyze that data in multiple ways. The result: images that convey more information—and make more powerful arguments—than words often can. With GIS, seeing is truly believing.

Kristen Kurland, a Carnegie Mellon faculty member with a joint appointment in the School of Architecture and the H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management, is a nationally known expert on GIS, particularly as it relates to health.

CDC Using the Book

Kurland focuses on community design, its influence on public health, and how public policy can improve public health through thoughtful design decisions. With co-author Wilpen Gorr, professor of public policy and management information systems in the Heinz School, Kurland has written several books that are considered by many to be the gold standard for learning GIS—the GIS Tutorial for Health, for example, is used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Today, much of Kurland’s health work concerns obesity

The availability of healthful food is a contributing factor. One example: Pittsburgh’s Hill District. Kurland has used GIS to show how difficult it is for Hill residents to get to stores that sell healthful food; the entire neighborhood is served only by convenience stores. And, with low income levels in the area, many residents don’t own cars to get to full-service grocery stores. (That knowledge is being put to work: A student group is spearheading an effort to attract a full-service grocery store to the Hill.)

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