Contact: Lisa James Goldsberry (518) 437-4989

ALBANY, N.Y. (March 5, 2003) -- Five students in the University at Albany School of Public Health received epidemiology research awards at the American Public Health Association�s (APHA) 130th Annual Meeting and Exposition, held recently in Philadelphia.

�For five of our students to be honored at such a prestigious national meeting reflects well on the level of preparedness our students have,� said Peter Levin, dean of the School of Public Health.There are 32 schools of public health nationwide.

Ping Du, a Ph.D. student, received an award for his paper, �Comparability on knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors between STD clinic clients and high-risk individuals in community.� Ph.D. student Eve M. Waltermaurer was honored for her paper, �Issues in estimating the prevalence of intimate partner violence: the association between abuse status and participation in research conducted in the home.�

Gary Brooks, a Dr.P.H. student won the James Zimmer New Investigator Research award for �Impact of diabetes on activities of daily living in long-term care.� Motao Zhu, a Ph.D. student, received an award for �Impact of maternal birthplace on major congenital malformations in New York Hispanics,� and Trang Nguyen, won in the Medical Care section for �Variation in hospital death rates: A surprising finding.�

Dr. Robert McKeown, chair of the APHA epidemiology section, said �The public health challenges of the 21st century are wide ranging, including enhancing well-being across the life span in an aging population, responding to newly emerging infectious diseases, and preparing for disasters and terrorist attacks. Epidemiologists are an essential part of the core public health workforce that will enable us to address these challenges.� The epidemiology section is the second largest section of the organization.

For more information about the School of Public Health please visit their web site at https://www.albany.edu/sph/.

Established in 1844 and designated a center of the State University of New York in 1962, the University at Albany's broad mission of excellence in undergraduate and graduate education, research and public service engages 17,000 diverse students in eight degree-granting schools and colleges.

For more information about this nationally ranked University, visit https://www.albany.edu.

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