Maria Trent Named Bloomberg Professor of American Health

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has appointed Maria Trent, MD, MPH, as a Bloomberg Professor of American Health in the Department of Population, Family, and Reproductive Health. This is an endowed position supported by the Bloomberg American Health Initiative through a gift from Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Trent is a leading national expert in the field of adolescent sexual and reproductive health. Her research centers on developing interventions to reduce health disparities among youth at high risk for sexually transmitted infections and their associated complications. She serves as the principal or key investigator on multiple research projects funded by the National Institutes of Health and other funding agencies.

“Dr. Trent is an outstanding educator and physician and is passionate about improving the lives of young people,” says Dean Ellen J. MacKenzie, PhD, ScM. “We extend to her our warmest congratulations on this honor.”

Trent is the training director for the Adolescent Medicine Fellowship in the Division of Adolescent Medicine at Johns Hopkins Medicine, and principal investigator for the associated NIH-funded postdoctoral research training program. She is also a faculty leader in the Colleges Advisory Program, a learning community within the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine that optimizes the training of the next generation of physicians. She is the inaugural division director of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins.

“Dr. Trent is an incredible clinician, educator, and researcher focused on improving the health of young people. As an advocate for adolescents and young adults and advocate for health equity, she is a leader and changemaker,” says Tina L. Cheng, MD, MPH, Given Foundation Professor of Pediatrics and director of the Department of Pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Trent provides primary and subspecialty clinical care to adolescents and young adults in the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, the pediatric hospital at Johns Hopkins Medicine, and has directed the Johns Hopkins Physician consultation service for the Baltimore City Health Department School-Based Health Program. The Hopkins Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine team operates an outpatient and inpatient consultation clinical program designed to provide high quality preventive services and treatment for key health issues facing adolescents and young adults in our region. She is also the adolescent medicine lead of the Center for Adolescent Health at the Bloomberg School.

“Dr. Trent is nationally recognized for her leadership and expertise in addressing adolescent and young adult sexual and reproductive health disparities,” says Cynthia Minkovitz, MD, MPP, William H. Gates, Sr. Professor and Chair in the Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health at the Bloomberg School. “She is a strong contributor to the educational program in our department, where she holds a joint appointment.”

Originally from a small rural town in North Carolina, Trent is a graduate of the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, Yale University (BA), the University of North Carolina School of Medicine (MD), and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (MPH). She is the immediate past president for the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine, a liaison between the Society and the American Academy of Pediatrics, and a member of the board of the American Sexual Health Association. She is the recipient of the 2020 Adele Dellenbaugh Hofmann Award by the Section on Adolescent Health for the American Academy of Pediatrics, which recognizes a physician who exemplifies excellence in the field of adolescent health.

“Dr. Trent’s research and advocacy call attention to the urgent need to support America’s youth,” says Joshua M. Sharfstein, MD, director of the Bloomberg American Health Initiative. “Her commitment to their future will inspire new approaches to respect and support adolescents in Baltimore and beyond.”

Trent is the author of scientific research articles, editorials, book chapters, and patient-directed media materials in the field of adolescent health. Her advocacy writings can be found in medical journals and the lay press. She is the lead author of the landmark statement by the American Academy of Pediatrics on the impact of racism on children and adolescents.

“So many of America’s biggest health disparities affect children and young adults,” says Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies. “Dr. Trent has made outstanding contributions to improving adolescent health, and I join her colleagues in congratulating her on her exciting new appointment.”

This professorship endowment is part of the Bloomberg American Health Initiative, which is supporting 25 new endowed positions. The Initiative focuses on addressing major health challenges facing the nation, including obesity and the food system, environmental challenges, addiction, violence, and adolescent health.