Briana Lockhart has worked with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of Montgomery County, MD, since July 2018. She was originally hired as the Youth Program Coordinator, specializing in implementing an in-school suicide prevention program, Sources of Strength.

Behavioral and Community Health PhD candidate and UMD-PRC Investigator John Salerno (he/him) is incredibly active in research and advocacy. An exemplar of the PRC’s mission, Salerno centers some of the most vulnerable LGBTQ+ communities in his work, including immigrants and Latina/o/x persons.

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!

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.

John Salerno, a PhD candidate in behavioral and community health, was one of 28 students nationwide selected to present research at the Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health poster session at this year’s American Public Health Association (APHA) annual meeting. 

Dana Ackerman '19 (BCH) recently got engaged to her fiancé, Jared in upstate New York. Dana and Jared met at a soccer game through his roommate and bonded over soccer and hiking.

André Blackman '05 was an aerospace engineering major, but a public health elective sent his life on a different trajectory when he learned how tuberculosis disproportionately sickened Black communities.

“Didn’t we eradicate tuberculosis like 5,000 years ago, why is it still a thing?” he recalled wondering. “The other question is, why for this particular community?”

“We’re so afraid of aging that we begin to devalue ourselves and others with each passing year,” Isabel Tom, an MPH graduate from the Department of Behavioral and Community Health, wrote. “The phrase '30 years old' incites panic. Seniors live in separate communities and barely interact with young people, while middle-aged people spend millions each year on anti-aging products.”

But what if we have it all wrong? 

The racism and discrimination that Black people regularly experience gained wider recognition after the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer shook the world in June 2020. The stress and trauma associated with experiencing racism and violence has negative impacts on health, particularly among young Black men.