Public health students develop health literacy messages for campus community

Izzy D'Ambro stands next to a small poster display of her social media messages for making an appointment at UAlbany's Counseling Center. She holds a cup of coffee.
Master of Public Health student Izzy D’Ambro presented her work from HPM 533: Adolescent Health.

ALBANY, N.Y. (Dec. 10, 2025) -- Public health students enrolled in a graduate course focused on adolescent health recently had the opportunity to apply their health communication skills through a collaboration with UAlbany’s Office of Health Promotion, which provides resources and services to the campus community. 

Christine Bozlak, associate professor and co-director of UAlbany’s Maternal and Child Health Program, teaches HPM 533: Adolescent Health, a course focused on the health and well-being of young people up to age 26. During the fall 2025 semester, guest lecturers for the course included Kelly Gorman, director of UAlbany's Office of Health Promotion, and Jennifer Manganello, professor of Health Policy, Management, and Behavior with expertise in health literacy. 

Keshanti and Michael stand on either side of their small poster that displays their public health messaging to the campus community.

“Many of our UAlbany students fall into the adolescent age range,” Bozlak said. “Consequently, when I was planning the course, it seemed like a natural fit to reach out to Dr. Gorman to see if my students could work on a health promotion project that may directly benefit UAlbany students, while also allowing my students to work on their public health communication skills.” 

For their final projects, after engaging in coursework related to health literacy, students were required to focus on one specific health literacy topic for UAlbany students and to develop infographics, social media posts and text to enhance student awareness and comprehension. On Dec. 4, the students presented drafts of their work to the Office of Health Promotion and other stakeholders, with topics ranging from making an appointment with Student Health Services to accessing free sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing. 

“What I love about Dr. Bozlak’s course is that we’re doing real work that impacts our peers,” said Izzy D’Ambro, a second-year Master of Public Health student. “Our campus has so many health resources, and helping make them clearer, more accessible and easier to navigate has been such a meaningful way to put my coursework into practice.” 

“It has been energizing to work with the students in Dr. Bozlak’s class to connect theory to practice in a real-life setting,” said Gorman. “We look forward to using some of the products from this class to help support health at UAlbany!”