“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? 

Infant mortality rates in Maryland are highest for African American and rural infants, and researchers at the University of Maryland School of Public Health are helping the state determine why.

Faculty from the Department of Family Science and the Maryland Center for Health Equity are embarking on a year-long study for the Maryland Health Care Commission analyzing risk factors for infant mortality, examining the use of community health workers and pregnancy navigators and cataloging what innovative health programs already exist.

This story was first published on the Maryland Today website on Tuesday, May 19, 2020.

During the COVID-19 crisis, children can be leaders in modeling effective health behaviors for their peers—and adults.

When the U.S. Surgeon General, Luther Terry, announced that smoking was bad for our health on January 11, 1964, it was a big deal.

In an episode of the History this Week podcast, University of Maryland School of Public Health Dean and Professor Boris Lushniak sheds light on the historical, economic and social context behind the announcement and it’s ramifications.

Marie Thoma, an assistant professor of family science in the School of Public Health received an honorable mention in the 2019 Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Global Health NOW Annual Untold Stories of Global Health Contest for her submission putting forth the untold st

The University of Maryland School of Public Health held its first Big Data in Public Health conference on Feb. 28, with 202 attendees from 35 different institutions and organizations. 

In this year's conference, 10 speakers from different application areas of big data analytics—including social media, genomics and bioinformatics, health care, imaging and neuroscience—presented about their cutting edge research using big data and its connection with public health data science. 

On Wednesday, May 13, faculty, staff and SPH leaders convened for the virtual spring assembly where faculty and staff were honored for their outstanding service and commitment to the school.

School of Public Health Professor Don Milton is leading a research study that brings both healthy people and people exposed to or diagnosed with COVID-19 into his research lab in the School of Public Health (SPH) building. The study is aimed at gathering new evidence related to how SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, may spread by air. Dr. Milton’s team has carefully designed the study to limit risk to those in and around the SPH building.

The Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics will host the first UMD Big Data in Public Health conference on February 28, 2020. The event is free and open to all interested in learning more about collaborations using big data methods to advance public health.