We are celebrating National Public Health Week with many great events. Our signature annual Public Health Research @Maryland event will bring together hundreds of public health students, researchers and working professionals tomorrow to explore new opportunities for translating research into action for health equity. Dr. Leana Wen, Baltimore City Health Commissioner, is kicking off the day (at 9:00 a.m. in Stamp Union Atrium) and doing incredible, innovative public health work in her community. Dr. Tony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIH), will give our keynote talk about Zika virus (at 3:15 p.m. in the Atrium), just following the release of a new CDC report on Zika Virus–Associated Birth Defects in U.S. Infants and the call for better prevention and screening. We’re also co-sponsoring the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH) conference in Washington, DC, taking place April 7-9, and are proud of our growing number of global health initiatives and opportunities for students. Read more >>
Our fifth annual Public Health Research at Maryland day, held in partnership with the University of Maryland School of Medicine, will focus on action for health equity and feature a keynote on Zika Virus in the Americas, 2015-2017by NIH's Dr. Anthony Fauci. Dr. Fauci's talk and other events will be livestreamed at: go.umd.edu/phrm17live
A Maryland bill that permanently bans hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, in the state was signed into law yesterday by Gov. Larry Hogan. "Maryland has set a precedent for the rest of the country and should continue to do so by investing in creating a clean energy economy and green jobs of the future,” said Dr. Sacoby Wilson, who was a co-author of a 2014 UMD study about the potential health impacts of fracking in Maryland.
Family Science Associate Professor Mia Smith-Bynum co-authored an article examining the relationship between racial discrimination, racial identity, implicit bias towards African Americans, and depressive symptoms in African American men. "African Americans are not immune to the longstanding, toxic racial stereotypes about African Americans; they affect some African American men even when these biases are not operating at a conscious level," Dr. Smith-Bynum said. Read more >>
Twelve-year-old Deamonte Driver died ten years ago this month because he needed dental care. His death sounded an alarm about the delivery of basic dental care to low-income children in the state of Maryland. Ten years on, health writer Mary Otto has written Teeth, a book on the strange disconnect between medical and dental care in America, using the boy's story as its centerpiece. The young boy’s unnecessary death, and the resulting public outcry, resulted in statewide health reforms that created more access for low-income children to oral healthcare. Read more >>
Health Services Administration Asst. Professor Dylan Roby co-authored a study investigating health care experiences among Latino children according to parental citizenship status and household language in California. The study found that parents who spoke only Spanish were half as likely as English-only Latinos to think that their children’s doctor listened to them, and those in bi-lingual families were 25 percent less likely than exclusively English-speaking Latinos to feel they were being listened to by their children’s providers. Read more >>
A study led by Dr. Typhanye Dyer (Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics) mapped out drug use, sex risk, and STI/HIV among men who have sex with men and women (MSMW) and their female partners. The paper highlights the bidirectional nature of risk within networks, and suggests that there may be something that is missed in research as it pertains to partner ‘selection’. Learn more >>
Kinesiology alumnus and celebrity trainer Steve Jordan will lead a group workout on Maryland Day 2017 to get folks moving and improve mental and emotional well-being. Plus, you can help us break the world record for the 60-second plank challenge! We need at least 1,650 participants to do it! Sign up to attend!
Department of Behavior and Community Health PhD students Tracy Zeeger and Heather Platter brought home the 2017 Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) Case Study Competition award last week. Teams of students are challenged to solve a real-world health issue using the competencies required of a community health educator. “It was a lot of work; it was intense. But in the end it paid off so well,” Zeeger said. “It was so fun! We were nervous at first, but we knew what to do. We were trained well.” Read more >>
Alyssa Todaro Brooks, PhD '15, and five other SPH alumni have volunteered to plan and lead activities that will connect UMD SPH alumni (as well as those who graduated from the colleges that pre-dated the formation of the School of Public Health in 2007) for networking, educational and recreational opportunities. Learn more about these inspiring alumni!
The School of Public Health’s Department of Health Administration masters students Nygel Williams and Brenton Andreasik, together with Ashish Uppala, a masters of science student in Business Systems, presented a communications and technology solution at the Health Innovation Competition at Georgetown University Hospital. Their project, which will be presented in a TED Talk format, aims to improve the communication between emergency medical services and emergency departments. Read more >>
Thanks to generous donors who put up matching funds, and the many alumni, faculty, staff and friends who also gave, the school raised over $27,000 for student programs and scholarships in March. That’s roughly triple what was earned last year. Giving Day is an opportunity to engage all members of the University of Maryland community—alumni, faculty, staff, students and their families—and emphasize the importance of giving to support our collective success. Read more >>
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THANK YOU to alumni and friends! SPH triples last year's donation totals on 2017 Giving Day
