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With more than 12 years of experience in humanitarian disaster relief and major humanitarian health crises across more than 25 countries, MPH student Michael McCusker found it a natural calling to deploy to the frontlines to assist displaced populations evacuating from Ukraine following Russia’s invasion.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s graduation ceremony was presented virtually to family, friends, students, faculty and staff. This semester, 541 undergraduates, 83 students seeking their master’s degree and five doctoral students graduated and entered the public health profession. 
Three COPH undergraduate students were recently honored with two prestigious, university-wide leadership awards.

The COPH is introducing a new undergraduate pathway program, Maternal and Child Health Scholar for Social Justice, starting July 11.

It’s not hard to see how suicide is a public health issue. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one person dies by suicide every 11 minutes in this country. Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in the U.S., and certain groups, including young people, seniors, veterans and those in the LGBTQ+ community, are at particularly high risk. 
Improving financial wellness is a key factor to preventing negative health outcomes, according to Gabriela Cruz. She presented her poster, “Closing the Health Gap Requires Vital Financial Education: Results From a Community Needs Assessment Among Housing Authority Residents,” at this year’s USF Health Research Day.

It’s something of a catch-22: Sleep is essential to good health, yet sleep is often reduced after traumatic events like sexual violence. 
As a reporter for the Tampa Bay Times, COPH grad Charlotte Sutton frequently covered public health topics like maternal/child health and Medicaid. But it wasn’t until she rose through the ranks and became the paper’s health editor that she really saw the value in earning a public health degree.
Class Notes

Ryan Bowser, MPH, is a senior biostatistician at Medsource in North Carolina.

Dana Longo, MPH, is a nurse practitioner at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.

Kelly Roy, BSPH, is a community liaison with Empath Partners in Care in Tampa, Fla.

Ryan Tokarz, PhD, MPH, CPH, is an assistant professor of global health at Mercer University in Macon, Ga.
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