Regardless of your political leanings or the company you keep, the road to the 2024 presidential polls will likely be studded with conversational potholes. So how do you keep insults (or rolls) from flying at the dinner table?

LGBTQ+ as well as Black and Latinx populations are at increased risk for using tobacco products, so youths of color who are LGBTQ+ are squarely in the sights of Big Tobacco. As a result, they experience greater tobacco-related health burdens than their non-LGBTQ+ and white peers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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.

Dr. Mona Mittal, associate professor in the Department of Family Science and supervisor at the Center for Healthy Families, explains how stress affects us in different ways, why so many people seem to be stressed out year-round and how we can find relief.

Named for the late university supporter and Washington-area publisher, the Philip Merrill Presidential Scholars Program recognizes top graduating seniors at the University of Maryland and the professors and K-12 teachers who mentored them.

Dr. Braun, a professor emerita in the University of Maryland School of Public Health’s Department of Family Science and the first Endowed Chair and Founding Director of the Herschel S. Horowitz Center for Health Literacy, held a dual faculty appointment with the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Dr. Fish has served as the center’s deputy director since 2019. In her new role, she will develop and oversee the center’s external communications, partnerships, student engagement and strategies for translation research growth and sustainability.  

Naomi Whitaker, Ph.D. ’27, founded the Association for Black Public Health Students at University of Maryland to create a hub and welcome space for Black student researchers.

A faculty member since 2010, Dr. Smith-Bynum will provide academic and strategic leadership and advance the teaching, research, service and outreach missions of the department and School of Public Health.

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.