PFRH E-NEWS Spring 2021
Welcome to the spring 2021 edition of PFRH E-NEWS.
What a year we have had! Many thanks to each of you for all you have done to help our PFRH community continue to flourish amid very challenging times. I am so appreciative of the amazing work of staff, students, and faculty and their generosity in supporting each other during the past year.
Our E-NEWS is filled with wonderful accolades -- from recognition of Gia Naranjo-Rivera as the Harper awardee to Morgan Prioleau who received an Excellence in Public Health Practice award to ME Hughes who earned a 2021 Golden Apple Award for excellence in teaching. Our culture of excellence in education is further highlighted by 19 courses earning distinctions of excellence in the past two terms – a tribute to the dedication and efforts of both faculty and teaching assistants.
Our department continues its efforts to promote Inclusion, Diversity, Anti-Racism and Equity (IDARE). We look forward to sharing the department’s IDARE strategic plan in the next E-NEWS. Check out the foundational work of the Gates Institute to uncover and address racism, oppression, and discrimination within our own community and the systems in which we work.
Many teams within the department have embarked on projects related to COVID-19. Read further to learn about the pandemic’s impact on contraceptive use in sub-Saharan Africa and collaborative efforts in Baltimore to expand vaccine outreach and uptake. And also listen to the inspiring perspectives of Asari Offiong on the role of public health in addressing the injustice and tragedy of the pandemic.
Do you know about the application of precision to home visiting? HARC’s research is addressing What works best for whom, under what conditions, why and how, to strengthen and broaden the impact of home visiting.
Each spring we celebrate the accomplishments of our incredibly accomplished PFRH masters and doctoral student graduates. This year, we celebrate their talents and resilience even more as they overcame incredible challenges to complete their studies amid many public health challenges. Warm congratulations to all!
Best wishes, good health, and looking forward to seeing many of you in person soon in 2021,
Cynthia Minkovitz, MD, MPP
William H. Gates, Sr. Professor and Chair
Population, Family and Reproductive Health