Well now that I got my happiness about University of MD’s new School of Public Health out the way, I want to introduce myself and what this blog will be about. For starters, my name is Andre and I’m a graduate of the University of Maryland - College Park (Go Terps!) and got my undergrad degree in Public and Community Health, hence the interest in health.

Prior to college, I was heavily involved in everything science and engineering related. I did internships and summer programs at places like the Naval Research Lab, Walter Reed and even NASA. I loved each and every one of those experiences! However, as I got to college, majoring in aerospace technology - I felt like something was missing. Making a long story short, I decided that I wanted to interact with people and not crunching numbers for the rest of my life. I’ve always been fascinated with medicine and health and figured that preventing disease would be a better use of my time than treating it.

So that’s pretty much how I got to this point - with the advances in technology, both personal and online, I figure that there has to be someway to make use of it to benefit the health of people across the globe. Whether we are giving out pedometers at a local health fair to make sure people keep track of their movement, implementing GIS software to track disease, or starting a conversation about our survival after a devastating disease - we are using technology to improve some aspect of health.

So in summary, this blog will look at how technology is making a difference to improve our health and well being. Contrary to popular belief, being healthy isn’t just about you - it’s about everyone working together (read: if I sneeze on you when I have a cold, you will also share in my misery).

So if I haven’t bored you to tears yet, here are ten more more things about yours truly:

  1. I’m a computer/web geek.
  2. I love the whole Web 2.0, social media revolution that’s going on - to me, there is alot of opportunity for good.
  3. I practiced Okinawan Goju-ryu karate in college and loved it (need to get that going again).
  4. I love pens.
  5. My greatest interests lay in public health/health education, technology, education and philanthropy.
  6. I’m married (I know, I know - your heartache will end soon, I promise).
  7. I read constantly - from personal finance books to accounts of infectious disease epidemics.
  8. I’m an information nut - which is why I read and surf the net all the time.
  9. I’m a former member of Eta Sigma Gamma (national health education organization) - hoping to re-up my membership.
  10. I’m half Jamaican and half Trinidadian. This is what I look like –> Andre

Til next time…