E-NEWS Summer 2022
Welcome to the Summer 2022 edition of PFRH E-NEWS!
What a whirlwind of activities both on and off campus! We recently celebrated the accomplishments of our highly accomplished PFRH masters and doctoral students and were thrilled to be able to enjoy in person graduation. Our heartfelt congratulations to each of our graduates as they completed their studies among many, ongoing public health challenges.
PFRH has been a buzz of activity since the last E-NEWS! Sally Safi, PhD, MSPH, assumed the role of Director of Graduate Studies, and we newly welcomed Drs. Cardona, Sarnak, and Hager to our PFRH faculty. Drs. Terri Powell and Kristin Mmari were appointed Bloomberg Associate Professors of American Health. We also are delighted to celebrate Professor Emerita appointments for Drs. Anne Duggan and Donna Strobino; our department is a better place for the many contributions each has made to our research and educational missions. Amid these transitions, we are thrilled to welcome Phil Anglewicz, PhD, MA, to his new role as Vice Chair of Research.
Much also has happened in the world around us—from global events amid COVID to the US Supreme Court overturn of Roe v Wade which ended the Constitutional right for persons to access an abortion. The new ruling threatens access to legal and safe abortions for people living in the more than half the states that are likely to ban abortions. Research by colleagues in PRFH and elsewhere has shown profound inequities in abortion access, the role of unsafe abortion as a leading cause of maternal mortality, and the need for safe access to a broad array of reproductive health services, including abortion. As a department, we remain committed to rigorous research and its translation, advocacy, practice, and education to promote reproductive health, especially among those without full access to economic and health benefits essential to protecting health, saving lives, and deciding their own futures.
This edition of E-NEWS is filled with exciting accolades including awards received by our graduates, teaching excellence in an amazing 24 PFRH courses, and many new faculty awards including Dr. Li Liu’s work on child causes of death estimation, Dr. Anne Duggan’s renewal of the home visiting research and development platform (HARC) and Dr. Dylan Jackson’s project on Social Movements to Dismantle Anti-Black Racism in Policing.
E-NEWS also highlights the work of the department in advancing life courses and population health. Learn about the impactful work of Erin Hager, PhD, on preventing childhood obesity and family food insecurity or a recent forum that Christy Bethell, PhD, led on Prioritizing Flourishing. Our PMA Ethiopia team has examined how COVID lockdowns and restrictions have impacted intimate partner violence during pregnancy. And plans for the sixth annual International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP) are well underway with a record 3200 abstracts submissions received. Fifty global youth leaders working in family planning and sexual and reproductive health and rights also have been awarded the ICFP 2022 Youth Trailblazer Award. Colleagues at the Center for Adolescent Health recently released a federal policy for Reconnecting Opportunity Youth. Did you know it is also the 21st anniversary of continuous NIH funding for the Boston Birth Cohort? And while Dr. Wang’s team continues to explore early origins of cardiovascular disease and other health conditions, the Home Visiting Applied Research Collaborative has partnered with colleagues across JHU to become the new Resource and Coordinating Center for ENRICH, which will test interventions in home visiting to promote cardiovascular health among women and their children.
Finally, we are excited to launch a search for two new Assistant/Associate Professors-- 1 in Maternal, Fetal and Perinatal Health (MFP) and 1 in Women’s, Sexual and Reproductive Health (WSRH). Know someone with research excellence in either of these areas, a commitment to lifecourse, and a passion for training the next generation of public health leaders? Please spread the word – post on social, media, email colleagues, and share the MFP job announcement at Interfolio and WSRH job announcement at Interfolio.
As always, I welcome your input and am most appreciative of your ongoing support of our department.
Best wishes and good health.
Cynthia Minkovitz, MD, MPP
William H. Gates, Sr. Professor and Chair
Population, Family and Reproductive Health