Bus and Metro users in Prince George’s County are looking forward to the forthcoming Maryland Purple Line, but lower-income residents are likely to experience transit-induced neighborhood gentrification and unequal access due to the profit-focused transit design and urban planning models, according to a new University of Maryland School of Public Health study.

The University of Maryland Strategic Partnership: MPowering the State (MPower) has appointed Amy R. Sapkota, professor of environmental health science with the Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, as an MPower Professor.

A $9.4 million gift to the University of Maryland will help fund a daring research initiative aimed at creating the next great public health revolution—innovative and affordable systems that provide clean, safe indoor air and prevent the spread of respiratory infections.

Medicines to prevent HIV infection, called “pre-exposure prophylaxis” (or PrEP), are known to dramatically reduce a person’s risk of getting HIV from sex and IV drug use, cutting the risk by 99 percent and 74 percent, respectively.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has awarded a $1.06 million, multi-year contract to ProChange, a leader in behavior change science, and the University of Maryland Center for Health Equity to help prevent onset of type 2 diabetes in African American adults through programs delivered in barbershops, salons and interactive text messaging. 

Shanéa Thomas, Ed.D., LICSW (he/him; she/her; Dr.), assistant clinical research professor in the Department of Behavioral and Community Health, recently joined the University of Maryland Prevention Research Center (UMD-PRC) as an LGBTQ+ training specialist.

The COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts have taken a disproportionate toll on American mothers who were pregnant or just gave birth. Maternal mortality (i.e., deaths during pregnancy or in the early postpartum period) increased by 18% in 2020, according to data from the National Center for Health Statistics, exceeding the ~16% increase in overall US mortality in 2020.

Story by Sala Levin ’10

A valuable but underutilized resource in the field of maternal health is linked to better pregnancy outcomes and more respectful health care from providers: a doula. 

Research shows that prenatal exposure to air pollution can result in adverse birth outcomes, including low birth weight. Studies have concluded that there are significant racial and ethnic disparities in who is most affected by this, but previous research has mostly focused on how maternal characteristics (e.g., race, education, income) amplify the effects of air pollution on birth outcomes.

From assuming a female patient is married to a man to using incorrectly gendered language in sessions, mental health providers can exacerbate what is often already a fraught experience for the LGBTQ+ community.