News

A few years ago, Vasanthi Shanmuganandam struggled to keep up with her studies. She had just given birth and was taking prerequisite courses in pursuit of a doctorate.

Brooks Barlow Kenny ’95 got her first taste of pickleball a few years ago, and quickly understood why the sport that sounds like a snack was the fastest-growing in the nation: It’s easy to learn, accessible for many age groups, fast-paced and fun. For the longtime health advocate, that all added up to another savory benefit: boosting—and even protecting—the brain.

By Maryland Today and SPH staff

The Hollewas have lived happily in their home in a tidy neighborhood in rural Adamstown, Maryland for over a decade. But during the last eight months these empty-nesters have been troubled by the water coming out of their faucets: it’s often brownish-yellow, with a strange sediment.

Nearly a month after a wastewater pipe broke and spewed hundreds of millions of gallons of raw sewage into the Potomac River just north of Washington, D.C., the latest water testing results from the University of Maryland School of Public Health continue to show high levels of E. coli and S.

In October 2025, early-career researchers and doctoral students from U21 member institutions and a policy leader convened in Dublin for the biannual Universitas 21 Health Research Exchange (U21HREx) symposium. Chaired by Dr. Negin Fouladi of the University of Maryland (UMD), the U21HREx network brings together participants from UMD, the University of Birmingham and University College Dublin as a growing global community of practice.