Katie Pearce

Can laws make social media safer for young people?

Mary Cunningham — Mon, 24 Aug 2026 13:33:58 +0000

Can laws make social media safer for young people? Mary Cunningham Mon, 08/24/2026 - 09:33

In This Story

Melissa L. Villodas, PhD, LMSW, LCSW-A

Key Takeaways

A 911��-led study identified three main approaches U.S. states are using to protect youth online: limiting access, reducing harmful exposure, and teaching media literacy.
Most enacted laws focused on age verification and parental consent, though evidence supporting those approaches remains limited.
Media literacy appeared in just one state law, despite evidence suggesting it may be one of the more promising strategies for supporting youth mental health.

Topics

College of Public Health

From TikTok bans and age verification requirements to media literacy lessons in schools, U.S. states are exploring a wide range of strategies to protect young people online.

The flurry of legislation reflects growing concern about social media's role in youth mental health, as rates of depression and anxiety have increased in recent years. But policy approaches have varied considerably, and the scientific evidence backing their effectiveness is mixed.

Melissa Villodas, assistant professor of Social Work. Photo provided.

To better understand how states are responding, a research team led by social work researcher Melissa Villodas of 911��’s College of Public Health analyzed 16 enacted laws across 10 states. The study, published in The Journal of Policy Practice and Research, offers one of the first frameworks for organizing and assessing the growing patchwork of state social media laws.

Researchers found the policies generally fell into three broad categories:

1) Limiting access through measures like parental consent requirements, age verification, internet restrictions in school, and, in one case in Montana, an attempted ban on TikTok. This was by far the most common approach, despite relatively limited evidence that many of these measures improve mental health for young people.

2) Reducing harmful exposure by restricting targeted advertising to minors, limiting potentially addictive platform features, and expanding parental controls. Existing research offers somewhat stronger, though still mixed, support for these approaches.

3) Building media literacy by teaching students about topics such as misinformation, cyberbullying, online safety, and social media's effects on mental health. This was the least common approach, even though existing evidence suggests it may be a promising strategy, particularly when it addresses both the risks and benefits of social media use.

Why does this matter?

"Most research on this topic has focused directly on how social media affects young people's mental health," said Villodas, associate professor in the Department of Social Work and the study's lead author. "We wanted to understand what state governments are actually doing in response, whether those approaches are supported by existing evidence, and where additional research is needed.” She also emphasized the study’s “person-in-environment” perspective, a fundamental approach in social work that considers how broader forces, including public policy, can influence a young person’s experiences and mental health.

The study uncovered one glaring disconnect: the policy approach used most often, limiting young people's access, had the least supporting evidence of its effectiveness. Meanwhile, media literacy training, included in just one enacted law in Florida, appeared to have some of the strongest evidence behind it.

"Many states have focused on measures like parental consent and age verification, but the evidence for those strategies is still limited," Villodas said. "Media literacy has received much less attention, even though it may be one of the more promising approaches when it teaches young people about both the risks and the benefits of social media."

The study captures the policy landscape through November 2024, but Villodas said its findings are designed to help policymakers evaluate future proposals as the evidence continues to evolve.

In addition to Villodas, the study was coauthored by Michael Wheeler and Natalia Acevedo, both recent graduates of 911��’s Master of Social Work program; Fadi Hamati of Columbia Cornell Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at New York-Presbyterian; and Ishita Kapur of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Food as medicine: Six insights from a 911�� nutrition expert

Heather Carroll — Mon, 17 Aug 2026 15:08:52 +0000

Food as medicine: Six insights from a 911�� nutrition expert Heather Carroll Mon, 08/17/2026 - 11:08

In This Story

Raedeh Basiri, PhD, RDN

Key Takeaways

911�� nutrition expert and registered dietitian Raedah Basiri shared six key lessons with Honors College students, emphasizing that personalized, gradual nutrition changes are often more effective than one-size-fits-all approaches to preventing and managing chronic disease.
Basiri highlighted the importance of nutrition in health care, noting that diet-based interventions, supported by technology and real-time feedback, can improve long-term health outcomes and encourage healthier behaviors.
She also stressed that nutrition support remains essential even when patients use weight-loss medications, and that building trust between patients and health care providers is critical.

911�� community health students share their insights from nutrition professor and registered dietitian Raedah Basiri for their Honors College project exploring nutrition interventions for chronic disease.

Community Health student Janay Hopgood

The concept of food as medicine is gaining traction as a way to prevent and manage chronic disease. During an Honors College consulting course (Honors 260), community health student Janay Hopgood and a teammate interviewed Raedeh Basiri, assistant professor of nutrition and a registered dietitian, to inform their approach.

Their project challenged them to develop an innovative solution to improve long-term health outcomes and prevent chronic disease among a health care organization partner.

"We aimed to integrate nutrition into health care by leveraging technology, community partnerships, and data-driven strategies to promote healthier lifestyles and advance health equity," Hopgood said. "Dr. Basiri helped us better understand which avenues of research and implementation were realistic, challenged common misconceptions, and provided thoughtful feedback. Most importantly, she created a space where we could openly discuss our developing concept and draw upon her knowledge and experience."

Here are six insights that Hopgood and her partner developed from their interview with Basiri:

Personalization matters.
Effective nutrition interventions start with collecting comprehensive data to understand the whole person, including their food access, finances, lifestyle, physical activity, and living environment. One-size-fits-all recommendations rarely work, Basiri said.
Start small.
Bombarding people with too much nutrition information at once isn't sustainable. Introducing small, personalized changes gradually is more likely to improve health outcomes.
Nutrition is too often overlooked in favor of medication.
Basiri highlighted a gap between nutrition research and clinical practice. When lifestyle changes don't produce immediate results, patients often get moved to medication despite strong evidence supporting the long-term benefits of dietary interventions.
Real-time feedback encourages behavior change.
Basiri said technology can help patients better understand how food affects their health, especially for those with limited access to a physician. Continuous glucose monitors provide real-time feedback that can increase compliance, while artificial intelligence tools can help deliver similar personalized guidance.
Weight-loss medications still need nutritional support.
Although GLP-1 medications are effective for weight loss, Basiri noted that they can also contribute to issues such as malnutrition, hair loss, and bone density loss. Nutrition support, she said, can help ensure patients don't "solve the problem and create another one."
Trust is the foundation of lasting impact.
Basiri emphasized that successful nutrition programs are built on trust, both between nutrition practitioners and patients, and between nutrition practitioners and other health care professionals. Positive outcomes are most likely to create that trust, leading to more referrals and greater demand for nutrition-based services.

Topics

CPH Student Research

Nutrition and Weight Management

Weight Control

College of Public Health

Research

Students

Honors College

A high-schooler's path to research, via 911��

Heather Carroll — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 19:13:59 +0000

A high-schooler's path to research, via 911�� Heather Carroll Thu, 07/23/2026 - 15:13

Through a partnership between the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies and Thomas Jefferson High School, Bhavya Yendapalli conducted diabetes research, presented her findings nationally, and found a new interest in studying nutrition.

This month, Bhavya Yendapalli will stand beside her research poster at a national scientific conference, answering questions about a diabetes study she helped conduct at the 911�� College of Public Health.

Bhayva Yendapalli using the BodPod.

Only weeks earlier, she graduated from high school.

The opportunity began through Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology's research practicum program, which allows seniors to spend part of their school year conducting research with professional mentors. Yendapalli chose the lab of 911�� nutrition expert Martin Binks, who chairs the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies.

At first, the experience was intimidating. "I thought, 'I'm going to be with all these super smart people uncovering new things about the world,” Yendapalli said. “What can I contribute?'"

Bhayva Yendapall and Halide Aydin with the BodPod.

But Binks entrusted her with meaningful research responsibilities working alongside the lab's graduate students and postdoctoral researcher Halide Aydin, from interviewing participants and collecting data to helping write the study's research protocol.

"It taught me that there's always more to learn, and you can always contribute," said Yendapalli.

A year in the lab

Yendapalli sought out Binks' lab because diabetes hit close to home. Her father and other relatives have Type 2 diabetes, and she wanted to better understand the disease.

Working alongside the research team, Yendapalli investigated whether the timing and frequency of meals—not just what people eat—are associated with measures of metabolic health, including blood sugar levels, metabolism and body composition.

At the College of Public Health’s Celebration of Student Scholarship in April, Yendapalli became the first high school student to showcase her work at the event. She had never presented a scientific poster before, so Binks spent a few minutes explaining the basics and asked her to come back for a practice run. "She returned in 45 minutes, and I haven't seen it presented so well in my life," Binks said. "It was almost flawless."

Binks has mentored dozens of high school researchers over the years, first at Texas Tech University and now at 911��, where he works with students from Thomas Jefferson and other local high schools, including Westfield and Madison. “When students come to work with us, it exposes them to what it takes to be a researcher," he said. "It helps them understand career paths, clarify whether they do or don't like the work."

After sharing her research at the American Society for Nutrition's annual meeting this month, Yendapalli will head to Cornell University to study human biology, health, and society. She said her year in Binks' lab sparked a lasting interest in nutrition and its role in health.

"My research experience at 911�� is the reason I chose this major," she said.

Thumbnail and story photos by Evan Cantwell

In This Story

Martin Binks PhD, MBA

Key Takeaways

Thomas Jefferson High School senior Bhavya Yendapalli joined a lab in the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies at the 911�� College of Public Health through a year long research practicum.
Yendapalli spent her senior year working alongside nutrition expert Martin Binks and his research team, contributing to a diabetes study and presenting the findings.
The experience inspired the high schooler to study nutrition and health at Cornell University.

Topics

Food and Nutrition

Student Research

Diabetes

College of Public Health

Students

The AI-powered classroom: tutors, avatars, and new models for learning

Mary Cunningham — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 19:17:45 +0000

The AI-powered classroom: tutors, avatars, and new models for learning Mary Cunningham Thu, 07/09/2026 - 15:17

As health informatics expert Sanja Avramovic introduces new artificial intelligence (AI) tools into her classrooms at 911��, she's also made a point of asking students what they think, both through formal research and casual conversation.

In one early experiment, Avramovic designed AI avatars to present course material in short, on-demand videos students could watch at their own pace. Some students balked a little, finding the digital instructors monotone and robotic. They said they preferred a human.

So Avramovic asked a follow-up question: Should she remove the videos?

AI avatar created by Sanja Avramovic. Image created by AI.

"They said, 'don't you dare,'" she recalled. "'They're excellent supplemental material. Leave them. But we want you to teach.'"

That push and pull has become a central dynamic at the College of Public Health, as faculty respond and adapt to the undeniable rise of AI in higher education. The question is no longer whether AI belongs in the classroom, but how to use it in ways that actively benefit students.

“The goal isn’t AI-free learning,” Avramovic said. “It’s AI-augmented thinking.”

Learning to think with AI

Sanja Avramovic, assistant professor in the Department of Health Administration and Policy

One challenge is persistent: How do you keep students learning when AI can provide answers in seconds?

Research by Avramovic, assistant professor in the Department of Health Administration and Policy Abdul Hafeez, and colleagues found that students can become overly dependent on AI-generated answers, reducing their engagement, interaction, and critical thinking.

Rather than prohibiting AI use, faculty developed and tested AI tutors that function more like coaches than answer generators, walking students through assignments one step at a time. In order to build them, instructors map out common mistakes and teach the systems how to respond in ways that promote deeper learning. “It interviews students,” Hafeez said. “It compels them to think critically.”

Early findings suggest this approach can help counter passive AI use, with students showing stronger performance and engagement than their peers. In one analysis, undergraduates using the tutors improved performance by nearly 9 percentage points. This research was supported by 911��'s Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning Curriculum and Teaching Leadership Funds.

Tempering the trust

Along with the enthusiasm for AI’s potential, faculty are just as focused on teaching students where the technology falls short.

Vanessa Chee, an assistant professor in the Department of Global and Community Health, warns students against relying on it too early in the learning process, likening it to “using roller blades when you’re crawling.”

In one global health course, Chee requires students to develop a 2,500-word narrative and a presentation proposing a public health intervention entirely on their own. Afterward, they use AI to generate a version of the same project, and compare the two.

That exercise is often revealing. Many students walk away disappointed by the quality of the generated work, but with a sharper understanding of what their own thinking contributes, Chee said.

Katherine Scafide, an associate professor in the School of Nursing, introduces AI early in the research process, using it to help students scan the literature and identify possible gaps worth investigating. But she draws a line between assistance and analysis. Students are expected to verify sources, refine their own research questions, and critically test whether AI summaries actually hold up.

"I encourage AI to assist in some structural aspects of writing, like outlining and grammar, but not to author the work," she said. " AI can be a writing tool, but it cannot be an author."

For Avramovic, the biggest concern is that students will trust AI too quickly. She recalled one student who relied heavily on AI while studying, learned flawed logic, and then repeated it on an exam.

“Don’t use AI until you know enough to correct it,” she tells her students.

Rebuilding the classroom

As AI changes how students learn, faculty are also rethinking how they create and deliver their own course content.

With one undergraduate health informatics class, Avramovic and colleagues realized that much of the content felt disconnected from the clinical realities that nursing students—who are required to take the course—would eventually face. So, the instructors used AI tools to rewrite assignments around nursing-specific scenarios, like identifying problems in electronic health records. They also introduced AI-generated videos narrated by digital avatars, guiding students through technical material.

The updates made a difference. Nursing students in the AI-redesigned course showed statistically significant learning gains, more than half said AI-generated videos were more helpful than assigned readings, and nearly four out of five reported that the tools improved their overall learning experience.

Farrokh Alemi, a professor in the Department of Health Administration and Policy, took a similar approach in his graduate statistics course, using AI to help deliver lectures and tutor students.

For students, the change meant more access to their instructor. “Because the AI handled a lot of mechanical tasks, I used the extra time to have more interactions with students, give them career advice, call up at-risk students, just be more available,” he said.

Evolving the toolkit

Faculty at the College of Public Health compare the current moment to earlier technological shifts in education, from the arrival of calculators in math classrooms to the rise of the internet and online learning.

Students still need to learn the fundamentals, faculty said, but once they understand the underlying concepts, AI can help them explore more complex problems and apply knowledge in new ways.

“You still need the human in the loop,” Avramovic said.

The technology continues to evolve quickly. But faculty say the larger goal remains to help students build the skills they’ll need in a world where AI is already becoming part of the job.

Key Takeaways

911�� College of Public Health faculty are using artificial intelligence tools including AI tutors and digital avatars to enhance teaching and student learning.
Instead of prohibiting tools like ChatGPT, instructors are teaching students to think critically, verify AI outputs, and use AI responsibly.
AI is helping redesign courses, personalize learning, and prepare College of Public Health students for an AI-integrated workforce.

In This Story

Sanja Avramovic, PhD

Katherine Scafide, PhD, RN, FAAN, FAAFS

Topics

Artificial Intelligence

College of Public Health

innovative classes

Students

GCI-Education

Maternal obesity linked to 64% increase in childhood obesity risk

Mary Cunningham — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 15:16:36 +0000

Maternal obesity linked to 64% increase in childhood obesity risk Mary Cunningham Mon, 06/22/2026 - 11:16

The roots of childhood obesity may begin in the womb.

New research led by the 911�� College of Public Health found that children whose mothers entered pregnancy with obesity were 64% more likely to become overweight or obese by age 3. Excessive weight gain during pregnancy was associated with a 39% increase in that risk.

Participant in 911��'s cohort of NIH's Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO). Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

“Our findings suggest that childhood obesity risk may not develop in a single, uniform way, but maternal health before and during pregnancy may play a larger role than many people realize,” said study lead author Hua Min, associate professor in the Department of Health Administration and Policy.

Different pregnancy-related weight factors appeared to matter at different stages, with excess pregnancy weight gain more closely linked to infant weight and maternal obesity more strongly associated with weight later in toddlerhood.

Researchers also found that excess pregnancy weight gain was common, affecting about four in 10 mothers in the study.

Published in the International Journal of Obesity, the research is among the largest and most ethnically diverse U.S. longitudinal studies to examine how maternal weight may influence obesity risk in early childhood. Researchers tracked nearly 3,000 mother-child pairs, using data from a Northern Virginia birth cohort participating in the National Institutes of Health’s Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program.

The 911�� research team included Michael S. Bloom of the Department of Global and Community Health, and Grace Lawrence, Alma Fuller and Kathi C. Huddleston of the School of Nursing.

Why this matters

Researchers in 911��'s cohort of NIH's Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO). Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

Childhood obesity remains one of the most pressing health challenges in the United States. The study notes that nearly 90% of children with obesity at age 3 will continue to be overweight or obese into early adulthood. Those early patterns can carry long-term consequences, increasing risks for diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other chronic health problems.

Researchers say the findings reinforce the importance of maternal health before and during pregnancy—not just for pregnancy outcomes, but also for a child’s long-term health trajectory. The findings also suggest that obesity risk may develop differently across populations, with patterns varying among demographic groups.

Study details

Findings were based on the First Thousand Days of Life Study, a Northern Virginia birth cohort participating in the ECHO Program, which examines how early-life experiences affect child health. 911�� was selected as an ECHO research site in 2019.

Researchers enrolled 2,899 mother-child pairs in Northern Virginia between 2012 and 2019, following families from pregnancy through age 3.

Key findings include:

Children whose mothers were obese before pregnancy were 64% more likely to be overweight or obese by age 3.

For every one-point increase in maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI), childhood overweight/obesity risk increased by about 4%.

Children whose mothers gained excessive weight during pregnancy were about 39% more likely to be overweight or obese by age 3.

About 41% of mothers in the study gained more weight during pregnancy than recommended by national guidelines.

Excess weight gain during pregnancy showed stronger links to higher weight earlier in infancy, while maternal weight before pregnancy became more strongly associated with higher child weight later in early childhood.

The associations between maternal weight factors and childhood obesity differed between Hispanic and non-Hispanic families, suggesting that obesity risk may develop differently across populations.

Key Takeaways

Maternal obesity and excessive pregnancy weight gain were both linked to higher childhood obesity risk.
Researchers found obesity risk patterns varied across developmental stages and demographic groups.
An NIH-supported 911�� study followed nearly 3,000 Northern Virginia mother-child pairs from pregnancy through age 3.

In This Story

Michael S. Bloom, PhD, MS, FACE

Dr. Kathi Huddleston, PhD, MSN

Topics

Maternal Health

Child Health

Maternal Child Health

National Institutes of Health

Research

GCI-Health

Public health meets the AI moment

Mary Cunningham — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 14:08:44 +0000

Public health meets the AI moment Mary Cunningham Fri, 06/05/2026 - 10:08

911��’s AI in Public Health Summit examined what artificial intelligence (AI) could mean for health equity, education, and the future workforce.

The Future of Public Health in an AI-Enabled World with Dean Melissa Perry and Easan Selvan, National Director, Academic Medicine and Public Health, Microsoft. Photo by Heather Carroll/CPH

For a field built to prevent and respond to disruptions, public health now faces a defining new challenge: harnessing the rapidly evolving power of artificial intelligence.

“There are moments in every profession when it becomes clear that change is not simply coming, that it has already arrived,” said Robert Weiler, senior associate dean for academic affairs at the 911�� College of Public Health.

That urgency carried through 911��’s inaugural AI in Public Health Summit, where conversations centered on what generative AI, machine learning, and large language models could mean for the future of research, education, and practice.

“Today’s meeting is not about AI,” said College of Public Health Dean Melissa Perry. “It’s about the future of public health.” The challenge, she argued, is not simply grasping AI, but preparing future public health professionals to leverage it in ways that benefit humanity.

To achieve that goal, the College of Public Health convened a brain trust of academics, practitioners, industry leaders, and students from across the country. Helping anchor the discussion was the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH), whose AI task force is helping shape national conversations around responsible AI adoption in higher education and practice. According to ASPPH representatives, 911�� is “leading in this space” among its 150 member institutions.

Several themes emerged across the day:

We must lead or risk being left behind.

Keeping Public Health at the Center of AI: Reflections on the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health Task Force Report. Photo by Heather Carroll/CPH

At this point, the debate has shifted from whether AI belongs in public health to how to use it responsibly and effectively.

“There’s no escaping it,” said Eduardo Ruiz, chief information officer for ASPPH, pointing to rapid adoption across health care systems, public health agencies, and higher education.

Arman Latif, chief information officer at the Virginia Department of Health, framed AI as “less of a tool, and more of a shift in mindset” for public health. While ethical, environmental, equity, and philosophical concerns abound, he argued that the field can't ignore a technology with such potential to improve operations and strengthen how agencies serve the public. “To not do it, in itself, is unethical,” he suggested.

In a field focused on prevention and “upstream thinking,” speakers pointed to the promise of AI to anticipate problems instead of reacting to them: forecasting outbreaks, detecting overdose trends earlier, identifying food insecurity patterns, and uncovering insights buried in massive datasets.

AI can assist, but humans still decide.

AI in Public Health Summit hosted by the College of Public Health at FUSE at Mason Square. Photo by Mary Cunningham/CPH

The summit’s optimism around AI came with a consistent caveat: the technology may support public health work, but it will never replace the people making decisions and serving communities.

Jamie Atchison, senior director of innovation and strategy at ASPPH, pointed to one of her group’s core recommendations: keep AI human-centered, using it as a tool for decision-makers rather than a replacement for human judgment.

In disease surveillance, for example, AI may help detect patterns and flag emerging outbreaks, but people still need to interpret findings and take action. AI may also help tailor public health messaging to specific populations, but humans remain responsible for judgment, nuance, and building trust.

“AI is a non-moral technology,” said Easan Selvan, national director of academic medicine and public health at Microsoft. “Whether or not we decide to use it for good … is incumbent upon” people and institutions, he said.

AI is a new social determinant of health.

Preparing the Public Health Workforce for an AI-Enabled Future: Practitioners' Perspectives panel with representatives from ICF, Virginia Department of Health, Fairfax County Health Department, and Association of State and Territory Health Officials. Photo by Heather Carroll/CPH

If public health gets AI right, speakers argued, the technology could help narrow longstanding health inequities. Get it wrong, and those gaps could deepen.

“The risks [are] that AI can be an inequity multiplier if we’re not careful, but in fact that is up to us,” Perry said.

AI is already influencing many drivers of health, from information access to employment and health services. “We’re really thinking of AI as a determinant of health,” Ruiz said.

Speakers repeatedly returned to one concern: AI systems reflect the data behind them. So, if that data excludes or underrepresents specific populations, the resulting tools risk reinforcing existing disparities.

AI could also improve equity, from identifying vulnerable populations earlier to helping smaller health departments and community organizations access tools and data once limited to better-funded institutions.

Classrooms are adapting in real time.

Banning AI outright in the classroom has become unrealistic, 911�� faculty and students emphasized during the summit’s student panel.

“People are going to be using it either way,” said biology major Anika Tahsin Siddiqui, arguing that faculty should set clearer expectations and encourage open conversation around AI use to reduce stigma.

Students described using AI to learn coding languages, organize notes, create visualizations and presentations, and study for exams. But they pushed back against AI as a substitute for learning itself.

Bridge-builders, translators, and critical thinkers are in demand.

Student Panel: Teach Us What We Need to Know: Student Voices on AI Skills for Public Health Practice. Photo by Heather Carroll/CPH

While AI literacy is quickly becoming nonnegotiable in public health roles, panelists repeatedly argued that deep technical mastery is not the end goal. Instead, they described a growing demand for “bridge professionals” who can move between worlds: understanding community needs, public health practice, and data systems well enough to connect them.

“The translator is really key,” said Tabatha Offutt-Powell, vice president for public health data modernization and informatics at the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

“Those who are early to understand, early to use, early to adapt will be the best prepared,” Ruiz said.

Stay tuned to the College of Public Health for deeper insights from specific panels, as well as recordings of the sessions.

Key Takeaways

911��’s College of Public Health convened academics, practitioners, industry leaders, and students from across the country to examine how public health can adapt to AI while keeping equity, ethics, and human judgment at the center
The inaugural AI in Public Health Summit centered on what generative AI could mean for the future of research, education, and practice.
Five main themes emerged from the event: (1) We must lead or risk being left behind. (2) AI can assist, but humans still decide. (3) AI is a new social determinant of health. (4) Classrooms are adapting in real time. (5) Bridge-builders, translators, and critical thinkers are in demand.

Learn more about AI at 911��

Topics

Artificial Intelligence

Public Health

College of Public Health

Machine Learning

Social Determinants of Health

Campus News

In This Story

Melissa J. Perry, Sc.D., MHS, MBA

Robert M. Weiler, PhD, MPH

Nutrition support during pregnancy improves birth outcomes, global study finds

Heather Carroll — Thu, 14 May 2026 15:07:07 +0000

Nutrition support during pregnancy improves birth outcomes, global study finds Heather Carroll Thu, 05/14/2026 - 11:07

911��-led research finds that food-based prenatal supplements improve birth weights across Africa and South Asia.

Dongqing Wang of the 911�� College of Public Health

In parts of the world where daily nutrition is unstable, pregnancy and newborn health are more precarious. A new study led by epidemiologist Dongqing Wang of the 911�� College of Public Health adds to the evidence that improving maternal nutrition during pregnancy may be a key intervention to improve birth outcomes.

Looking across eight clinical trials across Africa and South Asia, the study finds that balanced energy and protein (BEP) supplements—food-based products like beverages or nutrient-dense pastes designed to increase calorie and protein intake—are associated with healthier birth weights and fewer high-risk newborns in low- and middle-income countries. The findings were published in PLOS Medicine.

“In settings where pregnant women can’t access sufficient calories and protein, it is important to act early,” said Wang, an assistant professor of epidemiology in the Department of Global and Community Health. “Improving maternal nutrition can reduce the risk of vulnerable birth outcomes.”

Why this matters

Maternal malnutrition puts infants at higher risk of death, illness, and developmental delays.

Interventions have often focused on micronutrient supplements, but this study shows that food-based approaches to increase calorie and protein intake may better support fetal growth. BEP supplements can also be delivered through existing maternal health programs, making them a practical solution to scale. Wang is also currently conducting further research in Ethiopia that examines the cost-effectiveness of different approaches to BEP supplementation.

Study details

Wang and his colleagues combined individual-level data from randomized controlled trials conducted in Nepal, The Gambia, Pakistan, and several other low- and middle-income settings. The team compared outcomes for pregnant individuals who received BEP supplements with those who did not.

Key findings include:

BEP supplements were associated with higher birth weights and a lower risk of babies being born with low birth weight or small for their gestational age.
The effects were particularly notable for babies small for their gestational age, a group with elevated risk of neonatal mortality.
Benefits appeared stronger among women who began supplementation earlier in pregnancy, particularly before 20 weeks.

Wang worked with a global network of researchers from institutions including Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Aga Khan University and partners across Europe, South Asia, and Africa.

Photo by Nathana Rebouças on Unsplash

In This Story

Key Takeaways

• A 911��–led global study finds that balanced energy and protein (BEP) supplements can improve birth outcomes, especially in regions where maternal nutrition is limited.

• The supplements are linked to higher birth weights and reduced risk of babies being born small or underweight, with the strongest benefits when started early in pregnancy.

• These supplements boost calorie and protein intake and can be delivered through existing maternal health programs, making them a scalable solution.

Topics

Prenatal Care

Global Health

Birth Outcomes

Maternal Child Health

Maternal Nutrition

GCH Research

public health research

CPH research

Research

College of Public Health

In the George

A future doctor finds a wider path with public health

Mary Cunningham — Mon, 11 May 2026 17:52:05 +0000

A future doctor finds a wider path with public health Mary Cunningham Mon, 05/11/2026 - 13:52

Emaan Emir, Bachelor of Science in Community Health graduate in May '26. Photo provided.

Emaan Amir started at 911�� on a straightforward trajectory toward medical school, studying forensic science. Within weeks, she knew she wanted to expand that path, turning to public health to better understand the forces that influence care.

“I realized early on that medicine extends far beyond the clinical setting,” she said. “So many structural factors affect health. I really appreciated how the College of Public Health helped me better understand how policy, access to care, and broader social factors shape health outcomes and patient experiences.”

Her early shift set the tone for her four years. An Honors College student, Amir majored in community health, pairing it with a clinical science concentration that keeps her on track for medical school while also honing experience in research and clinical settings.

She’s working toward a career that knits all these pieces together, in the clinic and beyond.

Public health, applied

One experience in particular was a turning point: her work with 911��’s Learning Lab for Community Health through Mason and Partners Clinics' Empowered Communities.

The project began as a case challenge focused on chronic absenteeism in Virginia schools. Amir and her team were tasked with designing a solution with a hypothetical $1 million budget, presenting it to a panel of community leaders.

Their concept won.

“I think our team stood out because we approached the issue from a more holistic perspective,” Amir said. “We didn’t view physical health, mental health, and social support as separate issues.”

That project also led to an atypical opportunity for an undergraduate. Amir contacted her mentor in the case challenge, Lisa Gring-Pemble, associate professor in the Costello College of Business, about a graduate research assistant role connected to the Learning Lab, and Gring-Pemble welcomed Amir into the role.

Amir has worked on a case study examining Afghan refugees’ access to health care and services in Northern Virginia. The project identified gaps in insurance, housing, employment, and legal support, then translated that into a practical resource toolkit.

“One of the most meaningful aspects of the project was turning research into something practical and community-centered,” Emaan said. “We wanted the final product to be actionable and informed directly by the needs we identified through interviews with health providers and community organizations.”

Holistic prep for medical school

Alongside her pre-med requirements in biology and chemistry, Amir rounded out her public health education with classes that examine how social and historical forces shape medical care.

Outside the classroom, she’s gained hands-on experience through volunteering with pediatric patients and working as a medical assistant in urgent care settings.

The clinical work has affirmed what she sees in her research. “Seeing firsthand how financial and insurance limitations impact patients’ ability to access basic care has reinforced many of the inequities I studied in public health,” she said.

Looking ahead

This summer, Amir heads to the Mayo Clinic Summer Research Program, where she’ll study how voice-based artificial intelligence can be used to detect reflux disease.

Building on that line of interest, she next plans to complete the graduate certificate in AI and health care at 911�� while applying for medical schools.

The throughline is consistent: Amir is not choosing between public health and medicine, but blending the two.

“I hope to contribute not only through patient care, but also through research, policy, and innovation that improve health outcomes on a broader scale,” she said.

Learn more about the bachelor of science in community health.

Key Takeaways

• Graduating senior Emaan Amir combined a pre-med track with public health to better understand how policy, access, and social conditions impact patient care.

• Through 911��’s Learning Lab for Community Health, Amir worked on projects involving chronic absenteeism in Virginia schools and barriers facing Afghan refugees.

• Amir will join the Mayo Clinic to study artificial intelligence tools for detecting disease before pursuing graduate training in AI and health care and applying to medical school.

Topics

bachelor of science in community health

Artificial Intelligence

Social work education and practicum lead to life‑changing client outcomes

Taylor Thomas — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 13:22:42 +0000

Social work education and practicum lead to life‑changing client outcomes Taylor Thomas Thu, 04/30/2026 - 09:22

Key Takeaways:

First-generation 911�� social work student Evelyn Carcamo is graduating after six years of balancing work, parenting, and school.
Through her practicum at Ayuda, she connects immigrants and refugee survivors with resources
Carcamo plans to pursue a master’s in social work and become a licensed clinical social worker serving underserved communities.

At the local nonprofit Ayuda, one client came to Evelyn Carcamo overwhelmed. With limited access to food and no clear way to get health care, he wasn’t sure how to provide for his family.

Carcamo, a social work student at 911��'s College of Public Health, helped him sort through his options. She connected him to food assistance and walked him through applying for Medicaid, linking him to medical and mental health services.

Evelyn Carcamo. Photo provided.

Over time, she saw a shift in the way he engaged. “He became more confident, more comfortable asking questions, and more involved in planning next steps for himself,” she said.

Carcamo is completing her practicum at Ayuda as part of her bachelor’s degree program at 911��, conducting intakes and needs assessments for survivors of domestic violence, human trafficking, sexual assault, and other crimes. Many of her clients are immigrants and refugees navigating systems that feel unfamiliar and intimidating to them.

“They’re high-need clients,” she said. “But it's very rewarding.”

It’s work she recognizes on a personal level. Carcamo grew up watching her parents, who came to the United States from El Salvador before she was born, teach themselves English and wade through resources without guidance.

In May, Carcamo will graduate as a first-generation college student. She wants to continue her work serving immigrant and underserved communities as a clinical social worker, with plans to start 911��’s master of social work program next fall.

Shifting goals

For Carcamo, a career in social work marks a shift years in the making.

Growing up in Arlington, Virginia, Carcamo never saw higher education as a given. High school graduation was the milestone. After earning her diploma, she went straight into the workforce as a medical assistant and, at 25, gave birth to her son.

For three years at Mason and Partners Clinic, Carcamo served as an interpreter for largely uninsured, Spanish-speaking patients. Many of them revealed more than their symptoms.

“People would tell me their whole story,” she said. “And then they’d leave, and I’d still think about them, like, ‘Oh, I wonder if they got that resource they needed.’”

Moments like that changed how she thought about helping people. “That’s how I started to realize I wanted to do something beyond medical,” she said. “I wanted to make a difference in another way.”

At the same time, she’d hit a ceiling in her career. “I realized I had to go back to school or I wasn’t going to move forward,” she said.

Carcamo first enrolled at Northern Virginia Community College, then transferred to 911�� through the ADVANCE Program.

“As a medical assistant, I was very task-focused and centered on immediate physical needs,” Carcamo said. “Now, I take a more holistic and trauma-informed approach. I spend more time listening, building trust, and understanding each client’s lived experience. This shift has made my work feel more meaningful and more connected to the people I serve.”

Her coursework at 911�� has helped her appreciate more fully what her clients are up against. “They’re not just dealing with individual challenges, but also bigger systemic issues like language access, immigration concerns, and financial stress,” she said.

Finding her place

While raising her son, now 9 years old, on her own., Carcamo has earned Dean’s List recognition and received the Rose Rago Braddock Endowed Scholarship, awarded based on merit and financial need.

“It’s been overwhelming sometimes,” she said. “I have to make sure my job is flexible. I have to make sure I get my assignments turned in on time. I have to make sure I make it to practicum and get my hours. I have to be at my son’s events and make sure he’s well taken care of.”

She’s steadied herself by focusing on the long view. “It’s just temporary,” she would repeat. “The finish line is almost there.”

After six years of balancing work, parenting, and school at 911��, Carcamo is now just weeks away from graduating. And her younger sister, now at Virginia Commonwealth University, is also hoping to pursue social work, following a path Carcamo helped clear.

"I always tell her, get it done now," Carcamo said. "It will be so much easier than what I did. If I can show her it's possible, that means everything to me.”

Topics

Bachelor of Social Work

CPH - Social Work

social work students

Social Work

Social Work Education

$1 million U.S. Department of Justice grant will support virtual reality training for domestic violence response

Taylor Thomas — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 14:05:16 +0000

$1 million U.S. Department of Justice grant will support virtual reality training for domestic violence response Taylor Thomas Mon, 04/13/2026 - 10:05

Domestic violence 911 calls often place first responders in the midst of crisis and confusion. The scene may involve conflicting stories, visible injuries, frightened children, and little clarity about what just happened.

At 911��, researchers have secured more than $1 million in federal funding to help frontline professionals prepare for these complex moments. The grant from the U.S. Department of Justice will help fund a novel virtual reality (VR) training program to strengthen interprofessional responses to domestic violence.

Social work professors Denise Hines and Holly Matto will co-lead the one-year project in the College of Public Health, partnering with local law enforcement, domestic violence organizations, and health care providers in Northern Virginia to design and pilot the training. The team also includes social work assistant professors Michelle Hand and Anna Parisi as co-investigators, and Bethany Cieslowski, chief innovation officer for immersive technologies.

The faculty members, as well as College of Public Health Dean Melissa J. Perry, expressed gratitude to U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine of Virginia for their support of the congressional funding, and to the Department of Justice for administering the $1,026,029 award through its Byrne Justice Assistance Grants program.

VR headsets in the college's Lab for Immersive Technologies and Simulation.

“We’re thankful for the leadership and support to bring the power of virtual reality to improve health and safety,” Perry said. “Virginia will lead the way in coordinated, prevention-focused responses to domestic violence. Looking ahead, the model developed here can one day help communities across the country.”

Using technology and resources in the College of Public Health’s Lab for Immersive Technologies and Simulation, the project team will build VR case scenarios that reflect the complexities of domestic violence calls. The simulations will allow frontline professionals to practice coordinated responses and experiment with different approaches before facing similar situations in real life.

“The innovation here is bringing together professionals like law enforcement, social workers, and health care providers to co-design new VR cases that are relevant to challenges on the ground,” Matto said.

Domestic violence remains a public health and safety crisis. In Virginia alone, the statewide domestic and sexual violence hotline received more than 70,000 calls in 2023. Family and intimate partner violence accounts for roughly one-third of all homicides in the state annually. And for first responders, these calls can also be among the most volatile and unpredictable situations they encounter.

“Domestic violence calls are some of the toughest calls, but also some of the most common calls that law enforcement will come across,” said Hines, the Elisabeth Shirley Enochs Endowed Professor of Social Work. “They're often coming in at a precarious and dangerous moment.”

Thumbnail photo via Pexels.

Topics

federal funding

grants

Department of Justice

Intimate Partner Violence

Domestic Violence

CPH Faculty

Lab for Immersive Technologies and Simulation

virtual reality

Research

GCI-Grand Challenge Initiative

GCI-Health

In the George

Learn more about 911��'s Grand Challenge Initiative

Key Takeaways:

Domestic violence calls can be complex and dangerous situations for first responders.
911�� researchers secured more than $1 million from the U.S. Department of Justice to develop a virtual reality training program to improve domestic violence response.
The VR simulations will allow law enforcement, health care providers, and social workers to practice coordinated responses to difficult domestic violence scenarios in a safe training environment.

In This Story

Denise Hines, PhD

Holly Matto, PhD, LCSW-C

Michelle D. Hand, PhD, MSW, LSW

Bethany Cieslowski, DNP

Melissa J. Perry, Sc.D., MHS, MBA

Katie Pearce

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$1 million U.S. Department of Justice grant will support virtual reality training for domestic violence response

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