UMSON Names New Co-Directors of Center for Health Equity and Outcomes Research

Baltimore, Md. – The University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON) has appointed Marik Moen, PhD ’19, MPH, RN, associate professor, and Charvonne Holliday Nworu, PhD, MPH, assistant professor, as co-directors of the Center for Health Equity and Outcomes Research (CHEOR), one of the School’s research Centers of Excellence.

CHEOR aims to improve health outcomes and eliminate health inequities by generating knowledge about their complex causal influences; by addressing institutional systems and structures that impede health equity and outcomes, including racism and social determinants of health; and by creating social impact through changes in policy and in clinical and community practice.

Moen’s research focuses on social determinants of health, including social isolation, housing insecurity, basic income, substance use disorders (SUD), and infectious diseases. She has established urban and rural research advisory committees of people with lived experience of SUD to co-design and evaluate interventions. She is nationally recognized for advancing nurse-peer and community health worker approaches in HIV and addiction care and for building cross-sector collaborations in low-income and senior housing communities. She has extensive experience in global health, as co-lead of multi-year Centers for Disease Control and Prevention nursing capacity-building programs in Rwanda and Haiti from 2007 - 15.

“I am pleased to be a part of the next era of the Center for Health Equity and Outcomes Research as co-director,” said Moen, who joined UMSON in 2009. “The work of our center members is driven by a commitment to equity and strong interdisciplinary partnerships that improve health and care systems for people facing complex challenges. Our scientists, practitioners, students, and community partners will advance solutions that honor lived experience, strengthen communities, and inform policies and systems to improve health for all.”

Holliday Nworu joined UMSON in October. Her research focuses on intimate partner violence, reproductive coercion, and racial and gender equity, emphasizing community-engaged approaches that address the social and structural factors shaping violence and health outcomes. Through innovative work with men who have used violence against an intimate partner, Holliday Nworu brings a critical perspective often missing from public health research and practice. Most recently, she partnered with House of Ruth Maryland to develop and evaluate the first 24/7 hotline in the United States for people at risk of causing harm to an intimate partner. Her commitment to community-driven research advances equitable solutions for preventing violence and promoting health.

“I am honored to serve as co-director of the Center for Health Equity and Outcomes Research, joining a team of exceptional scientists, practitioners, and students committed to advancing health equity,” Holliday Nworu said. “I look forward to contributing my expertise in health equity and intimate partner violence prevention and to collaborating with colleagues and community partners as we work together to drive meaningful change.”

As co-directors, Moen and Nworu will encourage inclusivity in the culture and practice of research; help coordinate interdisciplinary and multiprincipal investigator research proposals, center proposals, and training grants; and help evaluate preproposals. In addition, they will advance CHEOR’s infrastructure development and communications with stakeholders and provide members with direct research engagement opportunities in the fields of geriatrics and dementia care.

They envision CHEOR to be a thriving research center for interprofessional scientists to collaborate to address complex health outcomes and health inequities through contextually rich research. The center will continue to maintain an interdisciplinary membership; involve researchers at all phases of experience, from students to National Institutes of Health grant recipients; and engage in clinical, community, and research-intensive perspectives.

“We are thrilled to have two new leaders, Drs. Moen and Holliday Nworu, of the CHEOR research center,” said Barbara Resnick, PhD ’96, RN, CRNP, FAAN, FAANP, professor, Sonya Ziporkin Gertshowitz Chair in Gerontology, and associate dean for research. “They bring an exciting perspective and research focus on pragmatic studies and community-based work across the life span.”

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The University of Maryland School of Nursing, founded in 1889, is one of the oldest and largest nursing schools in the nation and is ranked among the top nursing schools nationwide. Enrolling nearly 2,100 students in its baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral programs, the School develops leaders who shape the profession of nursing and impact the health care environment.