Kent State University has partnered with Greater Akron community organizations to conduct the first comprehensive and specific LGBTQ+ Community Needs Assessment (CNA). Efforts of this assessment focus on producing a better-informed public health system and improving the health and well-being of the LGBTQ+ community members.

As part of the university’s strategy to stop the spread of COVID-19, the College of Public Health at Kent State University partnered with the Kent City and Portage County Health Departments to conduct contact tracing for students and faculty on Kent Campus. Melissa Zullo, Ph.D., an associate professor of epidemiology in the College of Public Health, reached out to students within the college to ask for volunteers for the testing events. The health departments then ask the students to assist with contact tracing across the university.

While it's no secret that many college students drink alcohol, how COVID-19 affected these behaviors and patterns is the focus of recent research published in the journal Addictive Behaviors by the collaboration of William Lechner from the Department of Psychological Sciences and Deric Kenne from the College of Public Health. The pair sought to study the effects that a major stressor such as the pandemic could have on addictive behaviors and how vulnerabilities such as anxiety and depression played a part in the coping process of college students. 

Preparations for the 2020 Global Health Immersion: Geneva course began like any other back in August 2019. As we approached spring, things picked up speed as students booked flights, began to learn about the World Health Organization, and made friends with their classmates.