News from the School of Public Health

Laura Koo, a University of Maryland School of Public Health PhD candidate in the Department of Behavioral and Community Health, has been selected as a Rima E. Rudd Fellow. The fellowship will provide up to $30,000 to support Koo’s dissertation research in health literacy.

Leyla Merlo graduated in May 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in public health science and a minor in sustainability studies. While at the University of Maryland, Leyla was the president of ROOTS Africa, a student organization that works to promote sustainable agricultural practices in developing countries. She traveled to Liberia with the program and received an award from the Do Good Institute for her work.

A new report, “Improving America’s Oral Health Literacy,” published by the Delta Dental Institute and co-authored by Alice Horowitz, a research associate professor in the University of Maryland School of Public Health, calls on the need for health literacy to address oral health in the United States.  

Devlon Jackson, assistant research professor of behavioral and community health at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, received an Investigator Diversity Research Supplement grant to explore how Health Information Technology (HIT) can improve health for African Americans and Hispanics living with mental health issues and chronic diseases.

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.