Health Policy and Management
School of Public Health

Health care access and affordability are among the biggest barriers facing Americans today.

When the opportunity presented itself, second-year MPH student Maria Pardo rose to meet it, taking health care supplies and support to people who need it.

HPM Vice Chair for Education and Director of the MHA and MHA/MBA programs, Kevin Broom, was promoted to professor. He has been with HPM since 2017.

“This promotion serves as recognition of Dr. Broom’s outstanding leadership in the field,” said HPM Professor and Chair Julie Donohue, PhD, in her message to the department announcing the decision. “Through scholarship, teaching and service, he has shaped health management and public health education not just here at Pitt but around the country.”

Patient safety is as much a concern for many health care professionals as curing medical ills. In its annual Patient Safety Fellowship, the Jewish Healthcare Foundation posed the question: “What if safety was baked into the care model to prevent issues from happening in the first place?”

MPH student Katie Walters says the experience was a great way to expand her horizons and hear from colleagues from a wide range of disciplines.

Named for educator and hospital administrator Albert W. Dent, who was named the first African American fellow of ACHE and Foster G. McGaw, the founder of the American Hospital Supply Corporation, the scholarship is awarded to just 15 graduate students studying health administration each year.

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HPM alum Youngmin Kwon, PhD (HSRP ’24), has been awarded a K99/R00 grant from the National Cancer Institute.

The grant awards postdoctoral researchers up to 5 years of funding that covers their mentored training and transition into independent, tenure-track faculty positions.

Kwon’s research will focus on the impact of Medicare Advantage enrollment on cancer care delivery.

He was also recognized as the Postdoctoral Fellow of the Year by Ingram Cancer Center at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

“I am grateful to my mentors, as well as the AHRQ T32 leadership,” said Kwon in a post announcing the grant and award. “I owe all my successes to their kind and generous support. I look forward to continuing my fellowship journey under their guidance!”

Assistant Professor Travis Donahoe was honored by his undergraduate alma mater earlier this year. 

Marshall University named him its 2026 Distinguished Young Alumnus.

“These awards recognize the significant contributions of our alumni to their alma mater, their profession and their community. We are proud to honor these outstanding individuals with special recognition during this yearly event,” the university wrote in its statement announcing this year’s honorees.

Crossing the finish line of the Pittsburgh Marathon on the Boulevard of the Allies, Sammy Cohan (MPH ‘27) stretched his arms wide. Clad in his Pitt cap and gown, he was celebrating two major milestones at once: the completion of 26.2 miles and his graduation with a degree in neuroscience.

While the finish line marked the end of his undergraduate career, it served as the starting line for his next chapter at Pitt Public Health.

Cohan, a student in the 4+1 program in the Department of Health Policy and Management, earned his neuroscience degree with minors in chemistry and political science, plus a Conceptual Foundations of Medicine certificate. Having started his graduate-level coursework as a senior, he is now entering his fifth year to complete his MPH.

His ultimate goal? Medical school and a career in emergency medicine—a transition he believes works well. 

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Congratulations to now MHA/MBA alumnae Chloe Schur and Raven Byars, who received awards and recognitions through their work with the Katz Graduate School of Business.

Schur and Byars both took home awards from the school’s annual awards banquet. Schur was recognized with the Dean’s Outstanding Student Service Award.

Byars received Katz’s Marshall Alan Robinson Prize for Excellence. Additionally, she was recognized as one of the ‘Best and Brightest” MBAs in the country by Poets & Quants, which celebrates students who are leaders inside and outside of the classroom.

“What an amazing way to round out the past three years of my MHA and MBA degrees at the University of Pittsburgh,” said Byars. “I am forever grateful for the opportunities I've been afforded during my time here, and I'm honored by this recognition. Thank you to everyone who has been part of the journey.”

• Democratic members of the Senate Finance Committee cited Miranda Yaver’s work several times in a request for information (RFI) on health care reform.
• A Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story on reproductive health and permanent contraception choices cited Jackie Ellison’s extensive research on the rise in young people opting for sterilization in the wake of the Dobbs ruling.
• Measles cases are on the rise. HPM Professor Emeritus Mark Roberts told the Associated Press he worries about innocent bystanders – people who can’t get vaccinated due to age or medical reasons – bearing the brunt of outbreaks.
• The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has canceled more than $130 million in committed future research funding, according to AcademyHealth. HPM Professor and Vice Chair for Research Lindsay Sabik had research in pain medication for end-of-life cancer patients affected by the cuts. “We expected to receive the continued funding, but it never came in 2025,” she told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “We were hoping there were just delays and we tried to just keep it going for five or six months.”

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