Symphanie Key, an MPH student in the Global Health concentration, used her MPH Travel Award funding to support part of her global field experience with the University of Maryland, Baltimore, in collaboration with Imo State University in Owerri, Nigeria. Alongside a faculty member, Symphanie embarked on a two-week trip to Owerri, where she participated in monitoring a mental health program for HIV patients. During the first week, she visited 10 Nigerian hospitals, and participated in interviews with doctors, nurses, and research assistants about the programs progress over the past year. In the second week, Symphanie took part in a training program focused on teaching research assistants how to detect and manage mental health disorders in HIV patients. 

Symphanie shared that this experience provided her invaluable skills in program monitoring and deepened her understanding of interacting with individuals from different cultural backgrounds. She hopes to use this experience to advance her career in global health and eventually return to continue contributing to this project. 

Photo from Our Lady of Mercy Hospital Umulogho, Obowo. We took this picture after meeting with the nurses. They were interviewed to monitor progress of the mental health clinic for HIV patients.

Photo taken at the training workshop for the research assistants. During this workshop we learned about different mental health disorders. We also learned how to identify and treat HIV patients with these disorders.

Summer 2023 Recipients

Molly Reisman

Molly Reisman, MPH student in the Community and Population Health concentration, used her MPH Travel Award funding to support a portion of her in-person MPH practicum experience with Mount Tamalpais College (MTC) at San Quentin Prison in California. MTC is an independently accredited liberal arts college that provides higher education to people incarcerated at San Quentin prison. It is the only independent liberal arts college specifically dedicated to serving incarcerated students. The focus of Molly's MPH practicum experience was working with the college's research and evaluation team and alumni affairs associate to better understand the needs and issues facing their alumni.

During her trip to California, Molly led two listening sessions with MTC graduates who are still incarcerated at San Quentin to better understand their experience and ongoing engagement with the college, how they would like to be involved, and what support and/or resources the college could provide for them.

When we asked Molly how this experience would further prepare her for a career in public health, she noted that this in-person experience provided her with insight into the US carceral system and how programs can improve outcomes for those whose lives have been affected by incarceration—both while inside and after release.

Bronwen Hall

Bronwen Hall, an MSN/MPH student in the Community and Population Health concentration, used her MPH Travel Award funding to support a portion of her international course experience - GERO 710: Global Aging: Gerontology in Japan. Bronwen, along with ten other University of Maryland Baltimore students, and four faculty members embarked on a two-week trip to Japan. During this trip, they examined the various policies, infrastructures, industries, and grass-root interventions in place to aide in Japanese citizens living longer, and healthier lives.

One of Bronwen’s favorite site visits during the trip was to the Shonan Industrial Promotion Foundation Robo Terrace. While there, the team learned about various assistive mobility devices and robots designed to meet human needs such as companionship. Bronwen noted that the companion robots were most fascinating to her because they are designed with older adult in mind, especially those with dementia, and/or anxiety.

Upon Bronwen’s return from Japan, she shared that this experience enabled her to broaden her perspective on how public health initiatives can positively impact a community. Also, she hopes to use many of the lessons learned from this trip in her future career as a public health nurse.

Spring 2023 Recipients

Hanna LeBuhn

The MPH Program was thrilled to provide a Student Travel Award in January 2023 to Hanna LeBuhn an MPH student in the Global Health concentration. This award funded a portion of Ms. LeBuhn’s eight-day, MPH practicum experience to The Gambia with two UMB faculty members. The focus of her MPH practicum experience is a health system strengthening’ campaign, to fortify fragile health systems in low- and middle-income countries, realizing their sustainability is dependent on the safety andresilience of the health workforce.  And the purpose of this trip was to follow-up on the status of the Hepatitis B pilot projects currently underway in country, meet with pilot project partners, and collaboratively work through barriers to the implementation of the pilot projects. 

When we asked Ms. LeBuhn how this experience will further prepare her for a career in public health, she noted that this in-person hands on experience provided unparalleled exposure to real “boots on the ground” global health work. Ms. LeBuhn was able to observe first-hand how the political, social, and economic factors affect decision making for global health projects. Ms. LeBuhn also learned about the importance of partnership, key stakeholders, and working in a mutually beneficial, culturally competent manner. We encourage current MPH students to apply for the MPH Student Travel Award. For more information, visit our website at https://www.medschool.umaryland.edu/epidemiology/mph/Current-Students/Scholarships-and-Awards-/. 

 
Above: Dr. Melissa McDiarmid, Ms. Hanna LeBuhn, and Dr. Joanna Gaitens stand outside of the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital where the team attended all-day meetings.

Above: The UMB team met with the Provost of the School of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, and Director of the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital Liver Clinic along with other clinical partners to discuss the pilot project.

Summer 2019 Recipients

Salma Sharaf

Salma Sharaf is an MPH student in the Epidemiology concentration who traveled to Guinea in June 2019 through funding from the MPH Travel Award and the Center for Global Education Initiatives. Salma joined an interdisciplinary team of UMB faculty, students, and international partners in studying and assessing the environmental and health impacts of Chinese bauxite mining in Guinea. The team conducted air quality monitoring and semi-structured interviews with community leaders and members in five rural villages in Boké, Guinea. Findings from this trip and future data collection and analysis will be used to document adverse impacts of Chinese companies on the villages surrounding the mining sites.


Salma talks with a grandmother and her grandchild in the village of Dapilon, in Boke, Guinea.
Photo courtesy of Abigail Trumpy.

The UMB team interviews community leaders and members in the village of Banire, in Boke, Guinea.
Photo courtesy of Abigail Trumpy.


The UMB team meets with Jim Wormington, Researcher in the Africa Division of Human Rights Watch. Photo courtesy of Abigail Trumpy. 

Nicole Campion Dialo

Nicole Campion Dialo is an MD/MPH student in the Community and Population Health concentration and as part of Ms. Campion Dialo’s MPH practicum, she spent 10 days in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with two UMB faculty and another student. They visited Saude Crianca Association, a non-profit that uses a unique family-centered methodology to assist socially vulnerable families whose children require medical care. Through a longitudinal partnership with Saude Crianca, Dr. Yolanda Ogbolu, Assistant Professor UMSON and MPH faculty, is leading a research study to adapt Saude Crianca’s methodology for implementation with similarly vulnerable families in West Baltimore, with the aim of promoting social inclusion and addressing the social determinants of health. During the trip, the team collected quantitative and qualitative data about social isolation among program participants and volunteers at Saude Crianca and learned the in-depth details about the program methodology and operations. Also, they received a tour of Saude Crianca’s facility (including the hair salon where program participants can receive hair dresser training) and spent many hours discussing their vision for adapting the program to the context of Baltimore with their Saude Crianca partners.

ASC Facility Meeting

ASC Facility Tour

UMB Group and ASC staff

Fall 2019 Recipients

Amos Dike

Amos Dike is a Master of Public Health (MPH) student in the Community and Population Health track who participated in the APHA 2019 Annual Meeting and Expo through funding from the MPH Travel Award. The event took place November 2nd through 6th at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia, and Amos participated in the Community Health Planning and Policy Development (CHPPD) and Health Administration (HA) sections, including business meetings, social hours, and award ceremonies. Amos also participated in industry expert theater and early career development events. Amos is now a member of the program planning committee of the HA section. And, as a result of this trip, is looking forward to greater involvement with the APHA.

Amos at the University of Maryland School of Medicine MPH program boot. Pictured with the program director on the second day of the annual meeting and expo.

Fall 2018 Recipients

Deborah Olumuyiwa

Deborah Olumuyiwa is an MPH student in the Global Health concentration and traveled to Monrovia Liberia with students from School of Nursing, Office of Global Health for their global health field project. She and the team spent two weeks conducting a qualitative assessment of maternal and child health in the country.

During her time in Liberia, Deborah was able to interview health care providers, trained traditional midwives and administrators on the care they give mothers and newborns at their respective healthcare facilities.

In addition to providers, she also conducted focus groups with women from the community to further understand respectful perinatal care.

 Michelle Peraltra

Michelle Peralta is an MPH student in the Community and Population Health concentration and she traveled to the American Public Health Association’s (APHA) Annual Meeting and Expo in San Diego, CA in November of 2018. During the meeting, she presented an abstract and it was entitled “Impact of an intensive integrative medicine rotation on medical students’ attitude toward Complementary and Integrative Medicine.”

This was Ms. Peralta’s first trip to the APHA Annual Meeting and Expo. She found the conference to be a great educational and professional experience.  However, she also thought it could be overwhelming. So, here are her top five tips to navigating your first APHA Annual Meeting:

1. Utilize the APHA phone app - The phone app provides you with valuable information to plan out your time while at the conference.
2. Get out your comfort zone - At the conference, it is easy to choose sessions that you are interested in, however, this is the perfect time to see what other people are doing in public health and learn.
 3. Create meaningful relationships - APHA offers socials for networking opportunities at night. And remember: more business cards do not always lead to meaningful relationships. After the conference, follow up with your connections with a phone conversation or email.
4. Buddy up - I was lucky enough to find out that a classmate would be going, and we were able to share the experience together. There is nothing better than seeing a familiar face in a crowd of 12,000 people.
5. Rest up - It is easy to want to do everything and learn as much as you can. However, you can (and will) burnout. Try to pace yourself by choosing a few sessions each day; give yourself time to explore the exhibitor hall and adequate time to relax, eat, and sleep.

2018 Spring Recipient

Arit Essang

Arit Essang visited the Mukono District in Eastern Uganda for a multi-week global health program with OmniMed. Omni Med is an organization that focuses its effort on global health equity. The picture above shows Ms. Essang engaged in a meeting with Village Health Team (VHT) members prior to scheduled home visits.

 Arit at VHT training on healthy pregnancy.

Renee Royak-Schaler, PhD, MEd, Memorial Endowment Award

Associate Professor Renée Royak-Schaler, PhD, MEd, passionately spearheaded the formation of and directed the MPH and dual degree programs, and taught students in the MPH, MS and PhD Programs. At the request of her family following her untimely death in May 2011, the Renée Royak-Schaler, PhD, MEd, Memorial Endowment Award was established to honor her memory and legacy in the department. The fund provides merit-based awards to students in the MPH, MS, or PhD programs in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health. This prestigious award recognizes excellence in the student’s academic work and in research and/or service in areas deeply important to Dr. Royak-Schaler: health disparities, health behavior, women’s health, cancer prevention, and/or community engagement and participation. Work in these areas can include an ongoing or completed capstone project, volunteer work, a presentation or publication, and/or a project related to the student’s program or research.

Award amount: Determined annually

Number of awards/year: Up to two

Application process:

The following should be submitted electronically to Diane Marie St. George, PhD, MPH Program Director

• a CV or resume
• a 1-2 page application describing current and/or completed work in health disparities, health behavior, women’s health, cancer prevention, and/or community engagement and participation. The application should also include the student’s background, interests, and any previous public health experience other than in the areas listed above.
• One (1) letter of recommendation submitted electronically to Dr. St. George by a member of the UMB faculty (other than a member of the Award Selection Committee), a research mentor, a supervisor, or a capstone site preceptor.

Application deadline: March 15

Awards announced: May commencement ceremony