Program in Health Disparities and Population Health at University of Maryland School of Medicine Moving Forward in Department of Epidemiology and Public Health

Program aims to advance health equity and population health through research, education, and service

Jay S. Magaziner, PhD, MS, Hyg, Professor and Chair, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health (EPH) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UM SOM) and Dean E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, announced today that the Program in Health Disparities and Population Health, formerly the Program in Minority Health and Health Disparities in Education and Research (PMHHD) led by the now-retired Dr. Claudia Baquet, has a new home in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health.

“Following Dr. Baquet’s outstanding and widely-recognized work over many years in this area, we are fortunate to have a department that is already deeply involved in many public health issues facing minorities and other populations in our local community,” said Dean Reece, who is also Vice President, Medical Affairs, University of Maryland and the John and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor. "Under Dr. Magaziner’s leadership, we will continue to play an integral role in making vital connections between the School of Medicine and the city and surrounding region to those people in need."

Led by Co-Directors Wendy Lane, MD, MPH, Clinical Associate Professor and J. Kathleen (Kate) Tracy, PhD, Associate Professor (both in EPH), the Program in Health Disparities and Population Health aims to advance health equity and population health through research, education, and service. They are assisted by Associate Director Lily Jarman-Reisch, MSW, MA. Drs. Lane and Tracy led a workgroup last fall to develop the Program’s vision, mission, and goals.

The growing Program currently consists of over 30 faculty in EPH and other SOM departments with research strengths in cancer disparities, disparities in maternal and child health, aging and health disparities, population health, global health, HIV, and women’s health. These faculty will work with Drs. Lane and Tracy over the coming months to develop a multi-year strategic plan for the Program’s research, education, and service.

“The Program will continue to encourage a rigorous scientific approach to furthering population health and to the identification, investigation and elimination of health disparities,” said Dr. Tracy.

Dr. Tracy is the Associate Director of the Center for Health Informatics and Bioimaging (CHIB), and Research Director of the Center of Excellence on Problem Gambling. She also works with Dr. Magaziner and University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) Senior Vice-President and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Walter Ettinger on issues of population health. Her research is in the area of cancer disparities, and global population health. She is collaborating on an initiative led by Drs. Joanne Dorgan and (UMB) and Cher Dallal (UMD) to develop the Maryland Cancer Survivorship Cohort in the Greenebaum Cancer Center to identify causes of disparities in cancer survival and quality of life outcomes.

Named one of Baltimore’s 2014 Top Doctors for Child Abuse Pediatrics, Dr. Lane is Associate Director of the Preventive Medicine Residency Program and Director of Community Outreach for the Masters in Public Health Program. She also serves on the UMMC Child Protection Team. Her research and advocacy are focused on health disparities in relation to child health promotion and child maltreatment. She is involved in two programs to protect vulnerable children in the city and the state: the Baltimore Citywide Child Protection Team, a program to prevent and treat abuse and neglect of children, and B-More for Healthy Babies Upton/Druid Heights, a community-based program that identifies pregnant women, provides pregnancy and parenting education, assesses their health care and psychosocial needs, and connects them to needed services.

“We plan to expand our community outreach and research partnerships to strengthen population health, improve care in community settings for the most vulnerable citizens, and reduce hospital admissions,” said Dr. Lane.

The Department of Epidemiology and Public Health is one of the largest departments in the SOM and is uniquely qualified to build on the many successes of PMHHD. Focused on population health, EPH faculty educate health professionals about issues related to health disparities, engage in multidisciplinary research, and promote quality clinical care for diverse populations. The department administers a Master of Public Health program, which offers concentrations in Community and Population Health and Global Health, two critically important components of health disparities education and research. It also sponsors the Renee Royak-Schaler Annual Lecture in Health Disparities, which brings the best scholars and policy makers in the country to the university to present their work on pressing issues in population health and health disparities.

The department trains public health experts; conducts population-based, clinical, and translational research; and investigates the causes and consequences of diseases.  It translates the results of interdisciplinary studies into clinical practice and community-based interventions to prevent disease and improve public health. The department serves as a resource for methodological expertise to the University of Maryland community, which includes expertise in study design, informatics, biostatistics and clinical trials. For the past 7 years, EPH has been ranked in the top five nationally in Public Health and Preventive Medicine among public Schools of Medicine by the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research. 

About the University of Maryland School of Medicine

The University of Maryland School of Maryland, chartered in 1807 as the first public medical school in the United States, continues today as a leader in accelerating innovation and discovery in medicine. The School of Medicine is the founding school of the University of Maryland, and is an integral part of the 12-campus University System of Maryland. Located on the University of Maryland’s Baltimore campus, the School of Medicine works closely with the University of Maryland Medical Center and Medical System to provide a research-intensive, academic and clinically based education. With 43 academic departments, centers and institutes and a faculty of more than 3,000 physicians and research scientists, plus more than $400 million in extramural funding, the School is regarded as one of the leading biomedical research institutions in the U.S., with top-tier faculty and programs in vaccine development, cancer, brain science, surgery and transplantation, trauma and emergency medicine, and human genomics, among other centers of excellence. The School is not only concerned with the health of the citizens of Maryland and the U.S., but also has a global presence, with research and treatment facilities in more than 30 countries around the world. http://medschool.umaryland.edu/