By Nathan Stiff

U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams urged public health researchers and professionals to speak the language of business, education and city government in his keynote address at a public health expo in the Stamp Student Union on April 2.

Adams spoke at Public Health Research at Maryland, the university’s yearly public health research exhibition. He discussed his priorities as surgeon general, most notably his focus on the opioid crisis. He also spoke on the benefits of collaboration between public health and other fields, from education to architecture.

“It’s one thing for us, from a health point of view, to say ‘this is what you should do,’” Adams said. “You go into half of these buildings, you can’t find the stairs. We need to think about how we design our buildings so they promote health.”

Adams explained the need for public health researchers and professionals to show politicians, teachers and businessmen the advantages that come with health improvements. Public health advocates could achieve better policy by showing the economic and social benefits of public health, he said.

“[People] don’t vote on health … We need to translate what we’re selling to a language that resonates with voters,” Adams said.

According to Adams, it was no coincidence that Amazon chose Crystal City, Virginia, surrounded by four cities highly ranked for health, for their new headquarters. He said local politicians would prioritize health issues if they realized that high-paying companies value healthy cities.

He also explained how he persuaded teachers to prioritize exercise by showing them research that linked daily activity with improved test scores. Adams said the public health community should be more outspoken about these kinds of unseen benefits for healthy communities.

Adams also talked about the importance of diversity and representation in medicine and discussed his own experiences as an African American from rural Maryland. Adams said despite getting good grades in high school, at the time he never imagined he could become a doctor.

“I’d never in my wildest dreams thought I could—would—be a physician, because I’d never met a black doctor. Didn’t know they existed, didn’t know that was such a thing,” Adams said.

Freshman public health major Eseose Azobua said she found Adams’ ideas on interdisciplinary collaboration interesting.

“[Adams showed] how to engage the community and show what matters to them is related to public health,” Azobua said.

Several academic leaders gave opening remarks, including university President Wallace Loh and Boris Lushniak, former acting surgeon general and dean of the School of Public Health. The event, which took place during national health week, also featured several panel discussions and a poster showcase for student health research.

Sydnie Hathaway, a dental hygiene major at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, came to present at the poster showcase.

“[Adams] gave a great address on how to move forward with public health,” Hathaway said. “He didn’t side with one extreme or the other.”