Terps like to say that they are “fearless”, always pushing “fearlessly forward”. For SPH Dean’s Council member Deborah Gebhardt, Ph.D. ’79, “fearless” means jumping into the action, not always knowing what lies ahead. This trailblazer has spent a lifetime breaking barriers and forging a path of excellence, from early days playing baseball alongside the boys in her Hazleton, Pennsylvania, neighborhood, to founding a company that regularly counsels leaders of the nation’s largest organizations.  

After a dreary winter—and brutal flu and cold season—most of us are welcoming a new kind of affliction: spring fever. Coma-like weeks on the couch, whether brought on by a super virus or the new season of “Vanderpump Rules,” may have you itching to resuscitate your fitness routine—or reluctant to emerge from hibernation.

This summer, the University of Maryland will partner with Ohio State University to launch LiFEsports, a nationally acclaimed summer camp for children ages 9 through 14 from low-income families.

At 79, Ed Vilade has a jammed social calendar. Between his choir practice (he’s in two), voice lessons, community theater and overseeing the writer’s guild at his Silver Spring, Md., retirement community, Vilade’s brain was getting a regular workout, critical, he thought, to staying sharp as he aged.

But what wasn’t in shape was his body. So, three years ago, Vilade joined a clinical trial at the University of Maryland’s Exercise for Brain Lab, which used MRI and other diagnostic tools to study how physical exertion affects the neural networks that control memory and cognition.

The School of Public Health continued to move fearlessly forward this year, tackling pressing issues at the local, national and global level, while educating the next generation of public health practitioners. Here's a look back at some of the school’s achievements in 2023.

Prior, associate professor and associate chair for research in the Department of Kinesiology, will receive $150,000 to fund his research on how exercise impacts vascular and functional impairment in older adults.

Gedion joined the School of Public Health in spring 2023 after earning her associate degree from Howard Community College. She is studying with Associate Professor Sushant Ranadive, exploring the effects of acute inflammation on vascular function and how those effects vary among different racial and demographic groups. 

Totalling $75,000, the funding program is designed to support collaborative, multidisciplinary public health research that enriches lives. Research topics includes racism, mental health and mucosal immunity.

The Department of Kinesiology has named Associate Professor Sushant Ranadive the inaugural endowed Burris F. and Margaret C. Husman Professor. Ranadive, who studies how women’s hormonal changes related to menopause affect cardiovascular health and predisposes them to high blood pressure, will receive $20,000 annually for three years to support research activities.

Looking for a book to inspire you as you recharge your batteries this summer? Or maybe you’re searching for a new perspective on public health. Either way, the School of Public Health has you covered! Our summer reading list, created with input from faculty and staff, touches on everything from the complexity of the disabled experience to racism, oppression and mistakes made in the healthcare industry.