Richard Sadler, an assistant professor of public health at Michigan State University, has been awarded a Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health fellowship. Sadler’s current research focus as an urban geographer is on issues including access to healthy food in Flint and the impact of the city’s water contamination on children.
The fellowship will allow Sadler, who already holds a doctorate in geography, to earn a master’s degree in public health while continuing his regular responsibilities at the College of Human Medicine’s Flint campus.
“First of all, his work lends itself to public health,” said Debra Furr-Holden, interim director of the college’s Division of Public Health and a former associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “Sadler’s work already has contributed much to improve the health of Flint residents. Honestly, what we need in Flint is more people trained in public health.”
Since joining the college three years ago, Sadler has worked closely with other public health researchers to study the impact of the human environment, food systems and land use on health.
“I came back to Flint so I could be a part of making it a nicer place to live,” Sadler said. “This fellowship will make it possible for me to gain more skills in public health that will amplify my ability to give back to the community that has given so much to me.”
