News

The rapid emergence of COVID-19 reminds us of the importance of the public health system and the central role of local health departments (LHDs) in preparedness and response. Effective epidemic response rests on the performance of the essential public health activities—assessment, policy development, and assurance—by LHDs.

In the final minutes of a shortened legislative session due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Maryland General Assembly passed a bill to ban pesticide chlorpyrifos-- legislation that Devon Payne-Sturges has been pushing for three years. 

Chlorpyrifos, a toxic, nerve-agent pesticide, has been found to damage children’s brain development and poses threats to aquatic life, pollinators and the Chesapeake Bay. 

Associate Professor Jie Chen, Lecturer Priscilla Novak and doctoral students Ivy Benjenk and Deanna Barath in the Department of Health Policy and Management, discuss the vital role of local health departments in preparedness and response measures needed to respond to disease threats such as COVID-19, and call for increased funding and support in a new article to be published Thursday, March 26 on the 

By Dina L.G. Borzekowski, Ed.D., Research Professor, Department of Behavioral and Community Health. Read: Advice for Parents of Elementary School-Aged Children in a Time of Anxiety

By Dina L.G. Borzekowski, Ed.D., Research Professor, Department of Behavioral and Community 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.