The University of Maryland School of Nursing has been awarded a five-year, $5 million Health Equities Resource communities grant from the Maryland Community Health Resources Commission to support the West Baltimore Reducing Inequities in Cardiovascular and Mental Health Collaborative-Stronger Together (RICH 2.0), which brings together community, faith-based, academic, and health care organizations to reduce cardiovascular health disparities; improve health outcomes, especially related to mental health; improve access to primary care; and reduce health care costs.On Oct. 22, 2024, UMSON hosted a news conference about the award, bringing together UMB leadership, representatives of community partner organizations, representatives of the Maryland agencies, and community members to discuss the work of RICH 2.0.

Nicol Tugarinov is on a mission to not only care for patients, but to also promote the well-being of the doctors who treat them.Tugarinov, a fourth-year medical student at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), has made her mark on the school through her research, volunteer, and leadership endeavors as well as her dedication to exploring the intersection of clinical medicine, leadership, research, humanism, and advocacy.“Physician burnout is a prevalent and devastating issue in the medical field that I am deeply passionate about addressing,” said Tugarinov, who was named the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s (UMB) 2024 Founders Week Student of the Year.Learn more: https://www.umaryland.edu/founders/founders-week-award-winners/student-of-the-year/

"Professor Hoke is the go-to expert for public health law support for Maryland delegates and senators.” … “She exemplifies the best of UMB.” … “Kathi is a crown jewel in our public health community.” … “She is a dedicated expert that we all trust and respect deeply.”This is just a small sampling of praise that law school colleagues, public health officials, and Maryland legislators heaped upon University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law professor Kathleen Hoke, JD, in support of her nomination for the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s (UMB) 2024 Founders Week Public Servant of the Year Award.Leigh Goodmark, JD, the Marjorie Cook Professor of Law and associate dean for research and faculty development at Maryland Carey Law, is one of the supporters who raved about Hoke’s work and impact.Learn more: https://www.umaryland.edu/founders/founders-week-award-winners/public-servant-of-the-year/

What is the anatomy of an effective teacher?For Adam C. Puche, PhD, it is to be engaging, approachable, organized, respectful of the learner, and mindful of what it is like not to know something. This philosophy has led Puche, professor and vice chair, Department of Neurobiology, to become one of the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s (UMSOM) most popular teachers.Puche is widely known across the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s (UMB) schools for teaching the foundational medical disciplines of gross anatomy, histology, and embryology. He has received awards from every graduating medical class he has taught. And now he has been named the 2024 UMB Founders Week Educator of the Year.Learn more: https://www.umaryland.edu/founders/founders-week-award-winners/educator-of-the-year/

Luana Colloca, MD, PhD, MS, first became fascinated with the placebo effect and pain management when she was in medical school.“I was captivated by the brain’s functions, especially how little we know about its role in healing and how it influences the perception of pain-related symptoms,” said Colloca, professor, Department of Pain and Translational Symptom Science, University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON), and University of Maryland MPower professor.Colloca is an international expert in the fields of placebo effect and nocebo effect — the opposite of the placebo effect in which instead of having a positive response, patients have negative outcomes to treatments that cannot be explained by the treatments’ pharmacologic effects — and mechanisms of pain modulation. She has secured multiple National Institutes of Health awards, including several R01 grants and an R21 grant. For her pioneering work, Colloca has been named the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) 2024 Founders Week Researcher of the Year.Learn more: https://www.umaryland.edu/founders/founders-week-award-winners/researcher-of-the-year/