News from the School of Public Health

When the world started to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic earlier this year, there was little information on the racial differences of incidence and mortality.

But health equity experts like Dr. Stephen Thomas knew that this information was crucial to documenting and addressing potential racial disparities.

"As states began to report race-based data, we started to see a bleak picture," said Dr. Thomas, a professor of health policy and management and the director of the University of Maryland Center for Health Equity (MCHE).

New research exposes full spectrum of misinformation online, reveals even well meaning vaccine proponents can spread misleading information

Exercise could be useful in recovery from COVID-19, Sushant M. Ranadive, associate professor of kinesiology, and his fellow researchers theorized in a recent publication. COVID-19 progression has been suggested to have a metabolic origin given that elevated glucose and lipid levels are risk factors, the authors explain. And, Fenofibrate, a promising medication, has positive effects on inflammation and endothelial function. The authors compare Fenofibrate to exercise and hypothesize that exercise could be a possible therapeutic strategy to bolster resilience against (and help manage recovery from) COVID-19.

“We’re so afraid of aging that we begin to devalue ourselves and others with each passing year,” Isabel Tom, an MPH graduate from the Department of Behavioral and Community Health, wrote. “The phrase '30 years old' incites panic. Seniors live in separate communities and barely interact with young people, while middle-aged people spend millions each year on anti-aging products.”

But what if we have it all wrong? 

Environmental injustices abound in Maryland. From industrial pollution in Baltimore to unsafe worker conditions on the Eastern Shore, disadvantaged communities often bear the brunt of environmental harms. 

In a letter to Governor Larry Hogan and his administration, Associate Professor Sacoby Wilson-- along with the executive director of the Assateague Coastal Trust and seven other community health, environmental justice and civil rights leaders-- stated that Maryland is not doing enough to combat these injustices. 

We are standing at a pivotal moment in history: the most important election year of our lives, MPH student Cameron Etessami wrote in a Maryland Matters editorial. 

"The last years of the 2010s is what historians will describe as a time when the nation was lost, arguing turning to yelling, led by a populist that cared more about riling his base than the health of his nation," Etessami wrote.