University of Maryland, Baltimore’s Center for Health and Homeland Security (CHHS) Becomes the Center for Cyber, Health, and Hazard Strategies (CHHS)
Baltimore, Md. — The University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) recently announced that its long-standing Center for Health and Homeland Security (CHHS) will now be known as the Center for Cyber, Health, and Hazard Strategies (CHHS). The new name reflects the center’s growing portfolio of work that integrates expertise in emergency management, public health, cybersecurity, and resilience strategies.
For more than two decades, the center has been a trusted partner to public and private sector organizations in Maryland, across the country, and around the world—helping leaders prepare for and respond to complex emergency management challenges.
“Our new name captures the breadth of what we do today,” said Markus Rauschecker, JD, executive director. “From foundational emergency management planning to advancing public health preparedness, building community resilience, and exploring the implications of artificial intelligence, we are committed to delivering integrated strategies that help organizations and communities thrive in the face of 21st-century challenges.”
CHHS partners with state and local emergency managers, and public health officials, as well as universities, hospitals, community organizations, and businesses, to develop customized, actionable solutions that enhance preparedness and resilience.
Areas of expertise include:
- Continuity of Operations – Ensuring organizations can maintain essential functions under any circumstances.
- Cybersecurity and Emerging Technologies – Providing guidance through the evolving technological landscape with education, planning, training, and exercises.
- Public Health - Supporting hospitals, health departments, long-term care facilities, and healthcare coalitions with coordinated preparedness and response plans, trainings, exercises, and after-action reports.
- Public Policy and Legislative Affairs – Assisting legislators, policymakers, and stakeholders in understanding and analyzing laws, regulations, and policies.
- Resilience – Applying a cross-cutting approach to address the complexities of modern emergency scenarios.
- Exercises and Training – Enhancing preparedness by testing plans against realistic scenarios.
- Academics - Providing thought leadership and educational programs to train the next generation of cybersecurity, public health, and emergency management professionals.
Through its research, training programs, and hands-on technical assistance, the center serves as a bridge between cutting-edge academic expertise and practical, on-the-ground solutions.
“The challenges facing our communities rarely fall into a single category—cybersecurity breaches can disrupt health systems, natural disasters can overwhelm infrastructure, and public health crises demand both human and technological coordination,” said Rauschecker. “Our name now reflects the reality that our work is interconnected, interdisciplinary, and deeply rooted in the needs of the people and communities we serve.”
With this rebranding, the Center for Cyber, Health, and Hazard Strategies reaffirms its commitment to safeguarding the resilience of communities everywhere—today and for the future.
The new website for the Center for Cyber, Health, and Hazard Strategies can be found at www.umaryland.edu/chhs.
About the University of Maryland, Baltimore
The University of Maryland, Baltimore is the state’s only public health, law, and human services university. With six professional schools and the interdisciplinary Graduate School, UMB combines education, research, clinical care, and public service to improve the human condition and serve the public good.
