Five projects from students at the Maxwell School’s Public Health Department will be presented at the American Public Health Association’s (APHA) 2026 Annual Meeting and Expo, scheduled for November 1-4 in San Antonio. The projects cover various topics, including postpartum depression and pesticide exposure in children. They were developed with guidance from faculty members Bernard Appiah, Brooks B. Gump, David Larsen, and Bryce Hruska, alongside other research collaborators.
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The conference, centered on the theme “Together We Thrive: Health Across the Lifespan,” is anticipated to attract around 11,000 public health professionals and students globally, marking it as the largest public health event of the year. The Maxwell projects will be shared in different formats: a roundtable discussion, a formal oral presentation, and a poster session.
One project originates from the course PHP 448/648, Global Health Communication and Advocacy, taught by Appiah. Students Fikayomi Okunzua, Hannah Fuchsberg, and Aneesa Haque, along with Max Loccisano from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, analyzed newspaper coverage of postpartum depression in Southern U.S. states from 2016 to 2025. Their research revealed gaps in public awareness and education about the condition, which disproportionately affects women of color and those from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Fuchsberg highlighted the lack of information, stating the project aims to address this gap.
Another project, accepted for a roundtable presentation, addresses medical assistance in dying (MAiD). Graduate student Eulena Banzer, under Hruska’s mentorship, compared policies in Oregon and Canada regarding MAiD. Banzer's research utilized a public health framework to analyze both policies, emphasizing the need to consider broader public health concerns beyond individual rights.
A third project, presented as an oral session, focuses on the health impacts of pyrethroid exposure on children. Graduate students Jane Apiyo Abok and Jannat Ara Disha collaborated with Gump and Larsen on this study, which examined connections between insecticide exposure and adverse health outcomes in over 240 children aged 9-11. Their findings indicated that higher exposure was linked to lower IQ scores and increased depressive symptoms, particularly in children facing additional adversities.
Two additional poster projects investigate media coverage of climate change-related health issues in Africa and Asia. Disha and Abok analyzed how newspapers addressed the relationship between climate change and tuberculosis, identifying gaps in prevention coverage. Another poster by Abok, alongside students Michael Lovier and Collins Annor, focused on the links between climate change, kidney, and liver disease, finding limited discussion of treatment options.
This achievement continues Maxwell School's tradition of presenting significant student research at APHA, building on past successes. In 2023, a team of Appiah’s students received an award for their analysis of prostate cancer coverage, and in 2025, other students won the same honor for their work on prenatal care access in Asia.