The Department of Public Health Sciences in the College of Health and Human Services will host long-time public policy advocate and community organizer Vincent DeMarco, who will speak at 4 p.m., Monday, April 7, in the Student Union Theater.
DeMarco, subject of Michael Pertschuk’s work “The DeMarco Factor: Transforming Public Will into Political Power,” has advocated for a number of public health causes, including reducing teen smoking and gun violence and expanding health care access. During his April 7 presentation, he will discuss his passion and approach to improving public health, particularly his work to build grassroots coalitions to move important public health policies. His approach to policy implementation in Maryland, by making public health a top election issue, has been a model in other states.
Currently, DeMarco is president of the Maryland Citizen's Health Initiative, which is a coalition of more than 1,000 organizations seeking to ensure quality, affordable health care for all residents of Maryland. It was the lead organization working for the Governor's Working Families and Small Business Health Care Coverage Act of 2007 that expanded health care to more than 100,000 uninsured Maryland residents.
As an adjunct assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health, DeMarco educates public health students from around the world on effective methods to advocate for public health policies. He also is national coordinator of Faith United Against Tobacco, where he mobilizes religious leaders to help reduce smoking.
DeMarco’s presentation is being held in partnership with the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Center for Professional and Applied Ethics and the Graduate Public Health Association.
National Public Health Week is April 7-13, and this year’s theme is “Public Health: Starts Here.” The Department of Public Health Sciences has organized a number of events planned for this observance. Details are on the Web.