Deputy Director for Clinical Training and Intervention, Dr. Elizabeth Aparicio (she/her), is an integral member of the University of Maryland Prevention Research Center (UMD-PRC). As a community-engaged, clinically trained public health social work researcher and scholar, Dr. Aparicio specializes in addressing the mental, sexual and reproductive health needs of youth in and formerly in foster care and youth experiencing homelessness. She brings the important lenses of trauma-informed care and the reproductive justice framework to inform and test mental health and sexual and reproductive health interventions for trauma-affected and marginalized children, youth and families.
Meaghan McHugh earned a PhD in Behavioral and Community Health at the University of Maryland's School of Public Health in the spring of 2018. She serves as Director of the Office of Evaluation at Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in Rockville, Maryland.
Behavioral and Community Health PhD candidate and UMD-PRC Investigator John Salerno (he/him) is incredibly active in research and advocacy. An exemplar of the PRC’s mission, Salerno centers some of the most vulnerable LGBTQ+ communities in his work, including immigrants and Latina/o/x persons.
On Wednesday, January 6th, the UMD-PRC team joined the world in watching with horror the violent mob of white nationalists attack the Capitol building in an insurrection. This event disrupted the counting of the Electoral College vote, threatening a peaceful transition of power and once again demonstrating the long history of white supremacist violence in America.
John Salerno, a PhD candidate in behavioral and community health, was one of 28 students nationwide selected to present research at the Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health poster session at this year’s American Public Health Association (APHA) annual meeting.
Associate Professor of Family Science Mia Smith-Bynum (she/her) identifies as a scholar-activist, harnessing her personal experience as a Black woman and vast research expertise to dismantle racism and improve African American mental health. As the director of the Black Families Research Group, an affiliate of the Center for Health Equity and an investigator with the University of Maryland Prevention Research Center (UMD-PRC), Dr. Smith-Bynum has quickly emerged as a necessary and leading figure in psychology and family science.
