Given their scholarship, experience, and expertise, UMD President Darryll J. Pines appointed Professors Jo Richardson and Woodie Kessel to co-direct PROGRESS in November of 2023.

About Professor Jo Richardson, PhD:

In addition to serving as the Co-Director of PROGRESS, Dr. Jo Richardson is the MPower Professor of African-American Studies, Medical Anthropology and Epidemiology. The MPower Professorship supports Dr. Richardson's innovative research on gun violence, trauma, mental health and community violence interventions for Black boys and young Black men. Prior to receiving the MPower Professorship, Dr. Richardson was awarded the prestigious Joel and Kim Feller Endowed Professorship. In 2023, Dr. Richardson was elected as a member of the National Academy of Medicine.

Dr. Richardson holds a Joint Appointment in the Department of Anthropology (Medical) and a Secondary Appointment in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Division of Preventive Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Dr. Richardson's research focuses on four specific areas: 1) Gun violence; 2) The intersection of structural violence, interpersonal violence and trauma among Black boys and young Black men; 3) The intersection of the criminal legal and healthcare systems in lives of violently injured young Black men; 4) Parenting strategies for low-income Black male youth. Trained as a criminologist and medical anthropologist, Dr. Richardson uses an interdisciplinary, intersectional and longitudinal qualitative research approach. He is specifically interested in understanding the ways that the healthcare and criminal legal systems intersect and impact the lives of Black male survivors of violence.

Read more about Professor Richardson.

About Professor Woodie Kessel, MD, MPH:

In addition to serving as the Co-Director of PROGRESS, Dr. Woodie Kessel is a community pediatrician and child advocate with experience as an educator, investigator, and practitioner in medicine, public health, bioengineering, community-based initiatives, and public policy for more than four decades. Dr. Kessel is currently Professor of the Practice at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Health and the C. Everett Koop Institute Senior Child Health Scholar in Residence and Professor of Pediatrics, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College. 

Dr. Kessel is focused on practicing public health and applying public health science to implement community-based strategies to prevent gun violence. He is engaged in teaching public health policy and advocacy, improving maternal and child health, advancing prevention teaching and research, mentoring students, and improving community data systems to solve public health problems in the community. Dr. Kessel is the recipient of the C. Everett Koop Courage Award, APTR Ambrose Scholars Award, USPHS Surgeon General’s Medallion, and USPHS Distinguished Service Medal.

Regrettably, a top priority for Dr. Kessel—since he first experienced it decades ago in the South Bronx—is preventing gun violence to children. He is a long standing member of the MCH Section and a member of the APHA Governing Council to advance APHA’s efforts to prevent gun violence in America. In response to the horrific actions of December 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, he has worked to promote brain health research and education to prevent violence and strengthen communities. Most recently, he led the planning and implementation of the Gun Violence Prevention National Research Collaboration Summit bringing key national scientists together on the University of Maryland campus to formulate a public health approach to prevent the epidemic of gun violence in America. He is also an established expert witness appearing before the Maryland General Assembly testifying on safe storage, active shooter drills, and child access prevention to firearms.

Read more about Professor Kessel.