News

The Spring 2018 SPH faculty and staff assembly included plenty of great news about school and department-level accomplishments, and laughter and good cheer during the faculty and staff awards.

Dean Boris Lushniak spoke warmly about this being the culmination of the SPH ten-year anniversary celebration, highlighting the various celebrations that happened over the course of the academic year. He noted that the SPH commencement ceremony, happening this Saturday, May 19th, will mark the end of our anniversary year and the start of our second decade. 

The Gamma Zeta chapter of the Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health at the University of Maryland School of Public Health is pleased to announce its 2018 inductees. At the induction ceremony and awards reception on May 14, 2018, Dean Boris Lushniak and Principal Associate Dean Dushanka Kleinman inducted 16 students, seven faculty members, five alumni and one honorary member, Mr. Mark Luckner. The ceremony also recognized student research poster winners from each department of the school.

Congratulations to the winners and finalists of the first annual Gold Award competition! Ivy Benjenk (PhD candidate, Health Services Administration) won $3000 for her Patient Personal Assistant with Amazon Lex technology. Theresa Tassey (MPH candidate, Health Policy Analysis and Evaluation) won $2000 for her Naloxone Smart Kits project. 

"Why are cookies unhealthy?” A common question asked by kindergartners wondering why their favorite snack is bad for them. On a recent trip to Edward M. Felegy Elementary School in Hyattsville, MD, members from Schools for Smiles educated children in pre-K and kindergarten on oral hygiene through fun activities and demonstrations.

New research published in the journal Medical Care by Associate Professor Jie Chen (Health Services Administration) looks at the roles of local health departments in promoting mental health in reducing 30-day re-admission rates in Maryland. Thirty-day re-admission rates are  a statistic considered as a quality measure under Medicare’s Readmissions Reduction Program. When hospitals exceed their targeted re-admission rate, they receive a financial penalty from Medicare.

It is easier to spread the influenza virus (flu) than previously thought, according to a new University of Maryland-led study released today. People commonly believe that they can catch the flu by exposure to droplets from an infected person’s coughs or sneezes or by touching contaminated surfaces. But, new information about flu transmission reveals that we may pass the flu to others just by breathing.