"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.

During the fall 2014 semester, Diana Wang, Sama El Baz, Megan Keane, and Sarah Younan teamed up in HLTH 371: Communicating Safety and Health to design a health communication campaign for what they thought was just going to be another class project. Based on personal experiences abroad in Thailand, where children living in poverty were required to brush their teeth in school, Ms. El Baz and Ms. Wang suggested they craft their project around oral health.

Clara Richards wants young professionals to know that it’s okay to not have it all figured out. She’s experienced that herself and says it has made her stronger. She has dedicated herself to helping fellow millennials, who define themselves as creators and builders, to find community and create “expansive impact” through her social entrepreneurship project called The Community Cooperative. She feels this mission is even more important in the context of the coronavirus pandemic.

A national survey of LGBTQ+ college students conducted during the Covid-19 pandemic finds that large numbers are struggling with substance use, psychological distress, and social isolation. The survey was led by doctoral student John P. Salerno (behavioral and community health) and the LGBTQ+ Students and Allies in Public Health organization.

On Thursday, September 17, 2020, the SPH Alumni Network held a webinar featuring University of Maryland alumnus Dr. John Hart, MS '12 (Marriage and Family Therapy), PhD '17 (Family Science). The webinar, "Restoring Promise: Disrupting the US Prison System," focused on the current prison conditions in the United States and Dr. Hart's ambition to improve them.

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. 

Where we live impacts our health in many ways, including how susceptible we are to contracting Covid-19. Quynh Nguyen, assistant professor of epidemiology, uses big data techniques to analyze massive volumes of visual information about our neighborhood environments and their relationship to population health.

The leadership of the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH) sent letters to President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden on how presidential leadership can address the increasingly serious and complex public health issues facing the United States and the world.