College of Public Health

Second annual CPH Maternal and Child Health and Health Disparities poster symposium highlights outstanding student work

December 15, 2022 • News

By Sally Crocker

The College of Public Health hosted its second annual Maternal and Child Health (MCH) and Health Disparities Poster Symposium, featuring more than 30 graduate student poster presentations from five courses in the public health core curriculum: Introduction to MCH, Introduction to Health Disparities, Human Sexuality and Reproductive Health, MCH Epidemiology and Epidemiology.

These presentations represented a synthesis of students’ scholarly work throughout the semester. Winners were selected by ballot voting from among their peers and CPH faculty and staff.

Attendees had an opportunity to view the posters and visit with each of the presenters to learn more about their projects and the far-reaching public health implications.

The event was well attended by faculty and staff, with opening remarks presented by Dr. Shafik Dharamsi, CPH Dean.

The symposium was planned and produced by CPH faculty Dr. Stacey Griner, assistant professor, health behavior and health systems, and program director for both the MPH maternal and child health program and MPH public health leadership program; Dr. Erika Thompson, associate professor, biostatistics and epidemiology; Dr. Nolan Kline, assistant professor, health behavior and health systems; and Dr. Malinee Neelamegam, assistant professor, biostatistics and epidemiology.

Two CPH students received the Best Overall Poster award this year:

• Allison Cross, first-year Ph.D. student for her presentation on “Disparities in Substance Use and Treatment for Sexual Minorities.”
• Aria Walker, first-year MPH MCH student for her poster on “The Emerging Epidemic of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome”

The Best Oral Presentation award was presented to:

• Sally Stockett, first-year MPH MCH student for “A Systems Thinking Approach For Understanding Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.”

“Hosting this symposium each year is a wonderful opportunity for our students to translate their class public health projects to a community and school audience,” Dr. Thompson said. “I enjoy celebrating their success at the end of the semester, while at the same time preparing students for presenting their work. What also makes this a great event is the collaboration across several of our public health courses so students are learning from one another.”

“These types of events deepen students’ learning, help prepare them for professional roles after HSC and allow them to learn from their peers,” added Dr. Kline. “We’re fortunate to have the capacity to organize this symposium, which wouldn’t be possible without the assistance of Vikas Tomer, Manager, Educational Technology, who printed the posters; our facilities team who provided us with the poster boards; and support from our CPH department chairs, Dr. Arthur Mora and Dr. Tracey Barnett.”