News from the School of Public Health

This story was originally published in Maryland Today on Friday, February 21 and was written by Sala Levin '10.

As the coronavirus outbreak continues to expand around the world, and definitive answers trail behind rising numbers of diagnosed cases, a School of Public Health symposium yesterday sought to shed some light on the emerging disease, its impact and the steps being taken to contain it and ultimately stop it.

The Horowitz Center for Health Literacy welcomes Dr. Daniel Park as our new Post-Doctoral Research Associate. Dr. Park received his doctoral degree this past August in Health Communication from Indiana University. His research interests involve assessing the utility of electronic health and mobile health technologies to promote technology use for those with limited health literacy.

Before coming to the University of Maryland, Dr. Heather Platter received her Bachelor's and Master of Science degrees in Family, Youth and Community Sciences from the University of Florida. As a doctoral student in behavioral and community health at the University of Maryland, she was a graduate assistant in the Horowitz Center for Health Literacy, as well as a Rudd Health Literacy Fellow.

Dr. Heather Platter, the Horowitz Center’s 2018-2019 Rudd Health Literacy Fellow and a Center Research Assistant, successfully defended her dissertation in May 2019. Her dissertation explored health literacy and informed decision-making about lung cancer screening among older adults with long-term smoking, which resulted in a health literacy theoretical model on informed decision-making about lung cancer screening.

The Department of Health and Human Services wants to hear from you about an updated definition of "health literacy" for Healthy People 2030.

A team of UMD researchers is developing a new mobile app to help people without regular access to health care cut through the thousands of fitness, nutrition, brain health and other offerings by providing a sort of one-stop wellness shop.