News from the School of Public Health

Hongjie Liu, professor and chair of the department of epidemiology and biostatistics, has turned his passion for photography into a self-care practice that is yielding beautiful results. 

This semester, Dr. Kathleen (Kate) McPhaul will leverage her expertise and experience protecting workers to teach the School of Public Health's first undergraduate course on occupational health in six years. The class, which is open to Public Health Science majors, introduces students to the field of occupational health and safety and emphasizes that workers' health should be considered in all public health practices and policies.

A team of environmental policy advocates, community members and public health scientists, including Rianna Murray, an assistant research professor and Suhana Chattopadhyay, a doctoral student both with the Maryland Institute of Applied Environmental Health, partnered on a project to assess and safeguard drinking water for residents of Maryland's Lower Eastern Shore who rely on private wells.

The science is clear: transgender and gender diverse youth who have access to gender affirming care, particularly in schools, have better mental health and academic outcomes.

Family Science PhD candidate and UMD-PRC Investigator Natasha D. Williams (she/her) was recently selected for a dissertation award through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Health Policy Research Scholars program. Her dissertation, titled: Mental health among Black lesbian, gay, and bisexual people: Examining patterns of risk, treatment utilization, and mental health management strategies will use quantitative analyses of population-level data and interview-based grounded theory methods to elucidate the mental health challenges Black LGB adults face and the ways in which they manage their mental health.  

A $1.75 million gift from Meta (formerly Facebook) to the Center for Community Engagement, Environmental Justice and Health