In the Field

Selected Projects

Making a Nationwide Impact: Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPO) 

Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) laws are helping to prevent gun deaths and protect communities. Their implementation—in 21 states and the District of Columbia—is part of a national effort to reduce the daily loss of life due to firearm violence, including gun suicide. Bloomberg School faculty members Shannon Frattaroli, PhD, MPH, and Josh Horwitz, JD, through their work with the Consortium for Risk-Based Firearm Policy, are leading national efforts to advance ERPO implementation. They have designed an interactive, central website to access information about ERPO laws, research, training, and communications to help inform policy development and implementation in local jurisdictions across the nation. This ERPO effort is part of the Bloomberg American Health Initiative, which supports a broad range of practice efforts at the School and with partner organizations to advance the nation’s health across the issues of addiction and overdose, adolescent health, environmental challenges, obesity and the food system, and violence.
 

Driving Policy Translation for Suicide Prevention and Mental Health 

The Center for Mental Health and Addiction Policy (CMAP) works to advance and strengthen mental health and addiction services and systems across the nation. The Suicide Prevention Policy Research Hub at CMAP takes an interdisciplinary approach to identify and inform effective public policies to reduce suicide. CMAP researchers and Bloomberg School faculty members Andrew Anderson, PhD, Catherine Ettman, PhD, Sabriya Linton, PhD, MPH, and Olivia Sugarman, PhD, MPH are engaging in various projects focusing on the intersection of policy, suicide prevention, and crisis response.

Anderson's work examines the prevalence of mental health crises among U.S. adults and patterns of help-seeking, highlighting gaps in access to mobile crisis services that are critical for suicide prevention. Ettman studies how individual characteristics and financial, physical, and social resources influence mental health, use of mental health services, and suicide risk. Linton’s work engages Black teens in Baltimore to explore how their environments and social conditions influence suicide risk, while Sugarman studies jail policies and practices to identify ways to better support mental health in a high-risk population.
 

An Inside Look at a Potential Cancer Cluster:

Community Impacts and Challenges for Public Health Investigators

A Bloomberg School investigative team of faculty, staff, and students examined and documented the difficulties community members and public health officials face in dealing with a potential cancer cluster. Those challenges are captured through oral histories about decades of disease in the neighborhoods surrounding Fort Detrick, U.S. Army Base in Frederick, Maryland. In interviews, public health researchers discuss obstacles they confront around epidemiological issues in investigating the potential disease cluster in Fort Detrick and other local communities across the country. Resources and advice for communities and public health professionals looking to address similar issues are also available.
 

Strengthening Indigenous Health through Community-driven Partnership and Practice

The Center for Indigenous Health (CIH) partners closely with Indigenous communities to design and implement public health programs, education, research, and policy efforts grounded in community priorities and cultural strengths. The Center's programs reach Indigenous communities across the nation in addition to Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Learn more about the Center's work here and explore selected program highlights below.

Celebrating Life is a youth suicide prevention program that tracks suicide-related behaviors and connects individuals and families to timely, culturally grounded support. Developed in partnership with the White Mountain Apache Tribe, the model is now being adapted with other Native American communities to strengthen local prevention and response efforts.

The Family Spirit program is an evidence-based home visiting program that supports caregivers from pregnancy through early childhood through structured lessons delivered by trained community members. Created by CIH in collaboration with tribal partners, it has been evaluated through research and is now used by Indigenous communities across the country to strengthen parenting, child development, and family well-being. 
 

Advancing Global Humanitarian Efforts and Healthcare

The Center for Humanitarian Health leverages interdisciplinary approaches and community partnerships to address and improve health and service delivery in humanitarian and crisis-affected settings. The Center's work spans topics such as nutrition, maternal and child health, displacement, violence, climate impacts, and health systems, with the goal of informing more effective responses worldwide. Explore the Center's ongoing and completed projects here.