Milken Institute SPH Research Day Shows Broad Reach of Public Health

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Like most people, Jianna Sparrow has owned plenty of electronic devices over the course of her life. She grew up in the digital age, so phones, laptops and tablets appear in some of her core memories: she remembers being a child when her mother brought home a BlackBerry, then a groundbreaking piece of technology.

But Sparrow, a master's student at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, was also becoming uncomfortable about what she perceived as an unnecessary and wasteful push to constantly update and replace these devices. Her interest in environmental health made her wonder what had happened to the electronics she'd moved on from-and what the effects of that discarded technology might be on the communities receiving them.

Sparrow undertook a systematic literature review, pulling together all published work examining the effects of electronic waste exposure on pregnancy and neonatal health. Although limited research had been conducted-most of it in Guiyu, China, considered a global center of informal e-waste recycling-the studies she found were consistent. An elevated concentration of heavy metals from electronic waste was reliably associated with adverse outcomes, including lower birth weight and endocrine disruption.

Those findings have implications for the future, Sparrow said. "Whatever will impact the rest of the world will start in utero."

Sparrow was one of hundreds of students, postdoctoral researchers, research staff and alumni presenting their work at the Milken Institute SPH's 2026 Research Day last Wednesday. Organized by the Office of Research Excellence, this Research Day was the school's largest ever, with 274 project posters-representing nine academic disciplines and programs with support from more than 20 research centers and institutes-lining six of the building's seven above-ground floors.

"Research Day is a powerful reminder of what defines a school of public health at its best: curiosity in action, collaboration across disciplines, and a shared commitment to improving lives," Michael and Lori Milken Dean of Public Health Kelly Gebo said. "Seeing our students, faculty, and staff come together to showcase work that spans discovery to impact is both inspiring and deeply affirming of our mission."

The work on display reflected how public health intersects with a staggering range of focus areas, from the hyper-specific (how "fun determinants" affect dropout rates in youth water polo) to the global (natural disasters' impact on continuity of care for vulnerable communities). Research examined the ethical implementation of artificial intelligence in public health, pandemic preparedness, equitable research participation and more.

Many presenters engaged with GW's home community by collaborating with organizations in Washington, D.C. Master's student Rehma Malik built a comprehensive dashboard for the nonprofit D.C. Hunger Solutions that compiles and displays data related to local use of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Some of her findings were surprising and pointed toward potential new directions for research, like last year's skyrocketing SNAP enrollment in D.C.'s Ward 6, the Southwest neighborhood that includes the Waterfront, Capitol Hill and Navy Yard.

Others stepped into online communities. Ola Owodunni, a graduate student in the Physician Assistant (PA)/M.P.H. program, surveyed social media users about their understanding of gut health and overall digital health literacy. While the work is specifically about the potentially harmful effects of misinformation with regard to gut health, Owodunni said, it's also part of her broader interest in the problem of miscommunication between providers and patients-something she may encounter and will work to combat as a PA.

"Anything you learn in research, you can apply to the clinic," she said.

At the end of the day, presenters packed the school's auditorium for an award ceremony, at which about 60 prizes were distributed. Projects were rated by an interdisciplinary panel of judges drawn from eight GW schools and dozens of university offices, as well as seven GW alumni. A full list of awardees is available here.

The audience cheered raucously as each set of awardees appeared on screen at the front of the room, whipping around in seats to find and congratulate their friends, classmates and colleagues. Paul Gael Gomez, a first-year SPH student, looked stunned when his name appeared as the first-place undergraduate winner of the Climate and Health Research Prize. (His delighted and enthusiastic friends practically hauled Gomez out of his seat to take a photograph with Gebo and fellow awardees: "They grow up so fast!" one joked afterwards, pretending to wipe away a tear.)

Gomez's project, "Public Knowledge of Data Centers, Public Health Impacts and the Effects of Education," examined Atlanta-area residents' level of knowledge about how data centers can affect the health of the communities in which they are built and measured support for a proposed new data center complex nearby. He found that the majority of respondents had a limited understanding of how data centers can decrease air quality, raise local utility costs and create potentially dangerous "heat islands" unless mitigation efforts are put in place. The project eventually brought Gomez and his fellow researchers to Atlanta's City Hall, leading an educational presentation for voters and state politicians. Afterwards, Gomez said, at least one politician verbally expressed that he would not support building multiple data centers in his district. It was a firsthand experience of the power of public health research.

Gomez said he was previously "not that knowledgeable" about the world of voter education and legislative impact: "I would pride myself on knowing my limits." But working on the project gradually made him more passionate about his subject-a trajectory shared by several Research Day participants.

"I was so blessed to be part of it," Gomez said.