Amanda Hemmer is a Senior Health Care Consultant at Guidehouse, Inc., a global consulting firm providing services to public and commercial clients. She works within the company’s Healthcare Strategy segment and partners with commercial clients, including hospitals and health systems going through transformational change.
After successfully defending her dissertation in December 2018, Rianna Murray began working at the Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health (MIAEH) with Dr. Amy Sapkota as a Postdoctoral Associate in February 2019. Murray’s primary role in this position was Program Manager of the UMD Global STEWARDS (STEM Training at the Nexus of Energy, WAter Reuse and FooD Systems) graduate training fellowship, funded by the National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) program, which prepares future leaders focused on innovations at the nexus of food, energy and water (FEW) systems.
In 2020, Jennifer Guida transitioned from a Cancer Research Training Award Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Cancer Institute (NCI)/National Institutes of Health(NIH) to a Program Director at the NCI/NIH. Her role allows her to stimulate new areas of science and continue pursuing her own research on improving healthy longevity for long-term cancer survivors.
In 2020, Richard Remigio successfully submitted and was awarded an R36 Dissertation grant. He defended his dissertation proposal and presented two abstracts at the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE) virtual conference. Remigio is working on his dissertation and is about ready to defend it.
Darya Soltani, a senior Public Health Science major at the University of Maryland, has served as the project leader of the Peru team of the student organization Public Health Beyond Borders for the past four years. She is also involved in Padres Preparados Jóvenes Saludables, a USDA-funded Latino immigrant family-skills and obesity prevention research project.
The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly altered the research field, leading to institutions struggling to keep career development connections and networks. The virus may also contribute to increasing the research divide, specifically for underrepresented Early Career Researchers (ECR’s) and doctoral students.
Racial and ethnic groups who are underrepresented in Health Management, Services and Policy fields tend to face unique obstacles when it comes to career success.
The university celebrated the accomplishments of our graduates in a virtual commencement ceremony on Sunday, December 20. The main ceremony can be viewed on the UMD Facebook and YouTube channels. Graduates are encouraged to share their photos and memories on social media using #UMDgrad. SPH graduates should also use #publichealthTerps and tag @UMDPublicHealth. See Public Health Terps' photos and reflections and join the conversation on Twitter and Instagram!
In October, UMD students who are a part of the Free the Vaccine Campaign (a group advised by HPM’s Melvin Seale), joined a Funk Rally in Washington D.C. to advocate for publicly funded medicines, including a COVID-19 vaccine, that are affordable and accessible for all. With a coalition of organizations such as Oxfam, UNIAIDs, Public Citizen, Space in Action, Gogo DC, and many more, the group rallied with music and a positive spirit to bring attention to the issue and to demand that the Department of Health and Human Services ensures a safe and effective vaccine for all in the coming months.
This week, the University of Maryland School of Public Health virtually inducted 21 members into the Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health. Inductees included students, faculty, alumni and this year's honorary inductee, Maryland Senator Brian Feldman, who represents District 15 in Montgomery County.