Mr. Brian Gilchrist, a second year PhD student at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, authored two grants that were recently funded by the New York State Department of Health. Mr. Gilchrist, who studies in the School’s department of public and community health, wrote the grants for the Jewish Community Center of Staten Island, where he previously worked. The two grants total more than a million dollars over five years to educate young people about tobacco.

"Having these grants funded has been very important to me," Mr. Gilchrist said. "I have contributed to several grant proposals in the past, however, these were the first two for which I was the primary author. One of my career goals is to demonstrate mastery of the public health professional competencies and sub-competencies through my experiences. Successfully completing these grant proposals has provided more experience allowing me to move closer to that goal."

The first grant allocates $125,000 per year over five years to a set of programs called "Advocacy in Action." The programs will "engage young adult leaders to work on and off the college campus to limit where and how tobacco products are promoted, advertised and sold, and to advance local and statewide policy action to prevent and reduce tobacco use," according to the grant literature.

The second grant gives $175,000 per year over five years to a set of programs entitled "Youth Action." These programs will engage teenagers "in action-oriented activities and teach them the leadership skills needed to work on policy-related tobacco control issues aimed at improving the health status of communities by changing community policies and norms about tobacco," according to the grant literature.

"It is important to educate young people and college students about tobacco use because most adults who smoke began before the age of 18," Mr. Gilchrist said. "I believe that if we effectively prevent tobacco use initiation among young people, we would increase life expectancies and improve quality of life while conserving resources necessary to improve and sustain our health care systems."

At Maryland, Mr. Gilchrist's primary research interests include adolescent and emerging adult health behaviors, primarily among African American and urban populations. For more information on Gilchrist, visit the University of Maryland School of Public Health web site here.