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.

Don Milton, professor of environmental health, and Jessica Fish, assistant professor of family science, each received seed grants from the UMD Division of Research for COVID-19-related research.

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.

Donald Milton, an infectious disease aerobiologist at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, says that World Health Organization information about the spread of COVID-19 was given to the public prematurely.

In the final minutes of a shortened legislative session due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Maryland General Assembly passed a bill to ban pesticide chlorpyrifos-- legislation that Devon Payne-Sturges has been pushing for three years. 

Chlorpyrifos, a toxic, nerve-agent pesticide, has been found to damage children’s brain development and poses threats to aquatic life, pollinators and the Chesapeake Bay. 

This story was originally published in Maryland Today.

As the U.S. government promised to drastically accelerate the pace of testing for novel coronavirus, UMD’s top expert on viral disease transmission said the response should focus on slowing the spread of the epidemic to avoid overwhelming public health systems.

Renee received her nursing degree from Bowie State University and was working as a bedside nurse at Washington Hospital Center when she became discouraged with patients that seemed to come back over and over again with preventable illnesses. Renee said she was burnt out and called her mentor to ask if there was any way to help prevent patients from having these issues.

This story was originally published in Maryland Today on Friday, February 21 and was written by Sala Levin '10.

As the coronavirus outbreak continues to expand around the world, and definitive answers trail behind rising numbers of diagnosed cases, a School of Public Health symposium yesterday sought to shed some light on the emerging disease, its impact and the steps being taken to contain it and ultimately stop it.

College Park, MD — The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation today unveiled that the University of Maryland has one of the highest-scoring proposals, designated as the Top 100, in its 100&Change competition for a single $100 million grant to help solve one of the world's most critical social challenges. 

It’s possible the coronavirus can be spread by aerosol transmission, environmental health professor Donald Milton told The Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) in a recent article.