Anna Posbergh, kinesiology PhD candidate at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, received a grant to explore the “science” of fair play and medicalized ideas of fairness in sports policy, particularly relating to transgender eligibility and gender-verification processes from the Olympics Studies Centre. 

The grant will fund a month-long stay in Lausanne, Switzerland, during which Posbergh will pursue archival research at the Olympic Studies Centre. 

As we usher in the new year and decade, we’re looking back at the School of Public Health’s successes in innovative research, service and education in 2019. 

Here are our top 10 most popular stories published this year. 

Zeina Mohamad Alkhalaf didn’t plan to go into public health, at least not at first. She received a degree in communications and public relations and conducted humanitarian work through a non-profit. But at the age of 23, Zeina was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a hormonal disorder that affects around 200,000 individuals in the US every year and can lead to infertility, diabetes and even cancer.

A recent article in The Diamondback profiled a new group at the School of Public Health for LGBTQ+ students and allies. The group’s draft mission statement is to promote LGBTQ+ health equity and social justice by engaging in research, advocacy, education and leadership projects and initiatives at UMD and beyond. 

Victory Plaine (Tori), a community health major, was chosen as the student commencement speaker for the December 2019 graduating class. She has excelled in all of her courses and remained on the Dean’s List while maintaining a full-time work schedule as a clinical consultant at Clinique. Tori hopes to further her career in community health by working to decrease incidence rates of STD/STIs throughout the state.

Mikayla Walker earned a Master of Public Health with a concentration in health equity from the University of Maryland School of Public Health and a BS in public health, with minors in biology and criminal justice at George Washington University.

The Horowitz Center for Health Literacy welcomes Dr. Daniel Park as our new Post-Doctoral Research Associate. Dr. Park received his doctoral degree this past August in Health Communication from Indiana University. His research interests involve assessing the utility of electronic health and mobile health technologies to promote technology use for those with limited health literacy.

Before coming to the University of Maryland, Dr. Heather Platter received her Bachelor's and Master of Science degrees in Family, Youth and Community Sciences from the University of Florida. As a doctoral student in behavioral and community health at the University of Maryland, she was a graduate assistant in the Horowitz Center for Health Literacy, as well as a Rudd Health Literacy Fellow.

Health Policy and Management doctoral student Deanna Barath’s abstract will receive the Outstanding Student Abstract Award at the 2019 American Public Health Association (APHA) annual conference.