When the world started to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic earlier this year, there was little information on the racial differences of incidence and mortality.

But health equity experts like Dr. Stephen Thomas knew that this information was crucial to documenting and addressing potential racial disparities.

"As states began to report race-based data, we started to see a bleak picture," said Dr. Thomas, a professor of health policy and management and the director of the University of Maryland Center for Health Equity (MCHE).

Want to know if the symptoms you are having are allergies or a mild case of COVID-19? Ask Chat Health.

André Blackman '05 was an aerospace engineering major, but a public health elective sent his life on a different trajectory when he learned how tuberculosis disproportionately sickened Black communities.

“Didn’t we eradicate tuberculosis like 5,000 years ago, why is it still a thing?” he recalled wondering. “The other question is, why for this particular community?”

Air pollution is more damaging to the cardiovascular health of adolescents living in poverty-stricken areas than to adolescents living in wealthier areas, according to a new study published in the journal Annals of Epidemiology.

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.

Kimberly Stinchcomb, a master's in environmental health alumna, is working to fight the COVID-19 pandemic here in Prince George’s County. Stinchcomb is an emergency preparedness consultant for the UMD Center for Health and Homeland Security, and is contracted to the Prince George’s County Health Department. Her job is to plan for public health emergencies like this one through trainings and exercises, outreach and grant management.

Clark Johnson Lee, an MPH alumnus and current PhD candidate at the School of Public Health, is fighting the COVID-19 pandemic locally, in Montgomery County.

Since 2019, Allison Breitenother has served as the Natural Resource Planner/Climate Coordinator for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. She received her BS in Environmental Science from the University of Maryland College Park and went on to complete an MPH in Environmental Health from the UMD School of Public Health.

This story appears in Maryland Today, April 3 and was written by Chris Carroll.

Surgical masks may help prevent infected people from making others sick with seasonal viruses, including coronaviruses, according to new research that could help settle a fierce debate spanning clinical and cultural norms.

New research exposes full spectrum of misinformation online, reveals even well meaning vaccine proponents can spread misleading information